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Defining the Limits of : P&H High Court Upholds in Dera Violence Case
In a significant ruling clarifying the boundaries between public disorder and the charge of , the has dismissed an appeal by the against the of four men accused of and during the protests following the conviction of chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The division bench, comprising Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur , underscored that violent protests, while punishable as , do not automatically attract the charge of under .
Background: A Case Built on "May Have Been" The case dates back to , when the office of the in Kalayat, Kaithal, was stormed by a mob. Employees present reported that protesters armed with lathis and petrol bottles set the premises on fire while raising slogans in support of the Dera chief.
Following a lengthy investigation, four individuals—Dharampal, Jasbir, Shiv Kumar, and Balbir—were charged with multiple offences, including , , and destruction of public property. However, after reviewing the evidence, the acquitted all four, noting severe deficiencies in the prosecution's case. The challenged this before the High Court.
Legal Questions and Arguments The central legal questions involved the sufficiency of evidence to link the specific accused to the act of and whether the slogans raised constituted "" against the government.
- The State's Contention : The State argued that the adopted a "hyper-technical approach," ignoring the established facts of communal violence and property damage. They asserted that the recovery of weapons and disclosure statements were sufficient to prove guilt.
- The Respondents' Defense : Defense counsel argued that the case was built on a foundation of suspicion. They pointed to the lack of , the absence of independent corroboration for the arrests, and a glaring lack of forensic evidence to prove that petrol was actually used in the fire.
Key Observations The High Court’s analysis revealed several material lapses in the investigation. The Court specifically noted:
"A violent protest may amount to but such action of violence would not be perceived as an act of bringing in against Government... A frustration or dis-satisfaction or even outrage is not a or hatred."
The Court further criticized the investigative process:
"In , where the identity of an accused constitutes the foundation of the prosecution case and the witnesses are strangers to the accused, holding of a Test Identification Parade assumes considerable importance."
Regarding the lack of forensic proof, the Court observed:
"Despite the allegation that petrol bottles had been used for setting the UHBVN office on fire, the report of the ... did not detect any traces of kerosene, petrol, diesel or their residues on the burnt articles."
The Verdict: The bench concluded that the prosecution had failed to move beyond a "broad suspicion." The Court highlighted the lack of forensic corroboration and the "improved" testimonies of witnesses who had initially failed to identify the accused.
Ultimately, the Court affirmed that:
"Suspicion and suppositions are probabilities and not proof. We find no illegality, , , misreading of evidence or in the judgment of recorded by the ."
Implications of the Ruling This ruling reinforces the high evidentiary burden required to sustain charges of . By distinguishing between democratic dissent—even when expressed through aggressive sloganeering—and the legal definition of , the has sent a clear message: the gravity of a charge requires strict adherence to institutional evidence collection. For law enforcement, the decision serves as a stern reminder that failing to conduct crucial procedures like identification parades or ignoring the absence of forensic residue will result in the collapse of a case, regardless of the severity of the alleged public impact.
