New Delhi, A Delhi court has convicted two CBI officers for assaulting and trespassing into the residence of an Indian Revenue Service officer during a raid over two decades ago.
Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt was hearing a case against retired police officer VK Pandey and Ramnesh, who was serving as a superintendent of police when the raid was made in 2000.
Ramnesh is at present a joint director at the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In an order dated April 17, the court said, “The entire search and arrest proceedings carried out by the accused persons on October 19, 2000, were in sheer violation of the powers bestowed upon them by law and with the sole objective of frustrating and nullifying the order dated September 28, 2000 passed by CAT, whereby the review of deemed suspension of the complainant within a period of four weeks was ordered.”
Both were accused under IPC sections 323 , 427 and 448 in a complaint filed by IRS officer Ashok Kumar Aggarwal.
The case pertained to an incident on October 19, 2000, when a CBI team carried out a search and arrest operation at Aggarwal’s residence in Paschim Vihar.
Aggarwal alleged that the officials forcibly entered his house in the early hours, assaulted him and violated legal procedures during the arrest.
According to the court, the accused acted with ‘malafide intent’ and exceeded their lawful authority while conducting the raid.
“Instead of sending their representation to the office of Directorate of Income Tax , within the prescribed period , the accused persons, in connivance with other officials of CBI, took a conscious decision to arrest the complainant in the wee hours of October 19, 2000, by exercising their powers in a malafide manner by breaking open the door of his house and by causing him injuries at the time of arrest,” the court said.
The judge said that the operation was carried out not as part of bona fide official duty but with the ulterior motive of frustrating a Central Administrative Tribunal order that had directed review of the complainant’s suspension.
“The testimony of the complainant witnesses, the documents relied upon by the complainant and the medical record of the complainant, cogently establish the case of the complainant as per the prescribed yardstick of beyond reasonable doubt,” the court said.
The court said that the accused unjustifiably broke open the door of the complainant’s house, amounting to mischief and criminal trespass.
It also noted medical evidence indicating injury to the complainant, supporting the charge of voluntarily causing hurt.
The court convicted both officers and listed the matter for further proceedings on sentencing.
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