ORDER :

“When the State or its agents fear the people there is LIBERTY; when the people fear the State or its agents, there is TYRANNY” .

1. The petitioner, a young advocate laments that his personal liberty is torn into smithereens by a few, megalomaniac and mayhem happy, police personnel in an act of outrage of his human rights.

2. The facts adumbrated are as follows:

The petitioner, a young boy of 23 years, an Advocate, too young to the bar, having enrolled on 02-11-2022 to the Karnataka State Bar Council claims to be practicing in all Courts of the city at Mangaluru. The narration of the story is that, the petitioner owns certain agricultural property, it abuts an agricultural property of Mrs. Bhavani and K.Vasantha Gowda, her husband. It is averred that K.Vasantha Gowda started obstructing the petitioner of his right to use the road leading to his agricultural property and was attempting to erect a permanent gate with an intention to prevent the petitioner and his family from making use of the road that led to his agricultural property. This constrains the petitioner to approach the Court of the Principal Civil Judge and JMFC, Bantwal in O.S.No.391 of 2022. The Court entertaining the suit grants temporary injunction against K.Vasantha Gowda, in terms of its order dated 01-12-2022. The petitioner after securing certified copy of the temporary injunction order communicates it to the Sub-Inspector of Police, Punjalakatte Police Station on 02-12-2022 to take action to protect his property, in terms of the interim order so granted by the civil Court. It is alleged that there was no action taken by the Police.

3. It transpires that the Police closed the complaint against K. Vasantha Gowda holding it to be a land dispute on 02-12-2022, on the same day. Immediately after closure of the said complaint, Mrs. Bhavani registers a complaint against the petitioner at 8.15 p.m. on 02-12-2022. The crime is registered against the petitioner on the complaint made by Mrs. Bhavani for offences punishable under Sections 447 and 379 of the IPC. Therefore, Mrs. Bhavani is the complainant. Even before the FIR could be registered on her complaint, it is alleged that on 02.12.2022 the 4th respondent/Sub-Inspector of Police enters the house of the petitioner at 8.00 p.m. and in spite of resistance of the mother of the petitioner, the Police caught hold of the neck of the petitioner, drag him, boot him and take him to the Police Station and later register a FIR against the petitioner at 8.15 p.m., on the complaint of Mrs. Bhavani, W/o.K. Vasantha Gowda. The incident narrated in the complaint is that the petitioner has attempted to take away the gate that Mrs. Bhavani wanted to erect. Therefore, the offences under Sections 447 and 379 of the IPC were laid against the petitioner in Crime No.94 of 2022. It is the allegation that petitioner’s personal liberty was taken away completely contrary to law.

4. After the arrest, the petitioner applies for interim bail before the concerned Court. The Court records the ill-treatment meted out during arrest of the petitioner by the 4th respondent and assault on the petitioner during the arrest in his house and also observed that intimation to be sent to higher authorities to take action against the Police Officer for violation of personal liberty of the petitioner and grants interim bail. Immediately on release of the petitioner on interim bail, he files a complaint before the Punjalakatte Police Station against the 4th respondent and other officer