A court at Tis Hazari Courts has convicted two officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Inspector V.K. Pandey and DSP Ramneesh for assault, criminal trespass, and mischief during the arrest of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer in 2000, holding that the operation was carried out with “malafide intent” and in abuse of official authority.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Shashank Nandan Bhatt convicted under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief), and 448 (criminal trespass) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The court found that the officials had acted in concert and misused their powers while conducting the search and arrest.
The case originated from a complaint filed by Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, a 1985-batch IRS officer, who alleged that CBI officials forcibly entered his residence in Paschim Vihar in the early hours of October 19, 2000. According to the complaint, the officials broke open the door, assaulted him, and carried out an unlawful arrest. Aggarwal further contended that the operation was retaliatory in nature and intended to undermine a direction issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for review of his suspension.
During the trial, the accused officials argued that their actions were performed in the course of official duty and were therefore protected under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court, however, rejected this defence, observing that the acts bore no reasonable connection with lawful discharge of official functions.
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The court held that the entire search and arrest proceedings were conducted in a malafide manner, with the officials exceeding the authority vested in them. It ruled that such actions could not be shielded by statutory protection, including Section 197 CrPC or Section 140 of the Delhi Police Act.
A key issue examined by the court was the forced entry into the complainant’s residence. The accused had claimed that they broke open the door after observing the complainant and his brother allegedly handling certain files inside the house. However, the court noted that no such files were seized during the investigation, casting doubt on the justification provided by the officials.
Finding the explanation unsubstantiated, the court concluded that breaking open the door without sufficient cause amounted to mischief. It further held that entering the premises with the intent to misuse official authority for personal or professional reasons constituted criminal trespass.
The court also took note of the physical injury sustained by the complainant during the incident. Evidence showed that Aggarwal suffered an injury on his right forearm as a result of being dragged and manhandled by the officials. The court observed that the accused failed to establish any lawful justification for the use of force.
Concluding that the prosecution had successfully established the charges beyond reasonable doubt, the court held that the accused acted with common intention and abused their official position, leading to their conviction under the relevant provisions of law.
