Telangana HC jails DSP for contempt, suspends sentence for appeal
Telangana High Court convicts DSP A. Krishnaiah of contempt for arresting a man despite protection from arrest, jails him for a month and fines him ₹2,000, but suspends the sentence till October 19.
The Telangana High Court has convicted a police officer of contempt and sentenced him to one month's imprisonment for arresting a man in defiance of an order protecting him from arrest.
Justice K. Sujana imposed the sentence on A. Krishnaiah, who was serving as Assistant Commissioner of Police at L.B. Nagar in the Malkajgiri commissionerate. The court also levied a fine of ₹2,000 on the officer.
The judge, however, suspended the operation of the sentence till October 19, allowing Krishnaiah time to file an appeal. The reprieve followed a request from Public Prosecutor for Home Palle Nageshwar Rao.
The contempt petition was filed by Katta Vamshi Krishna, who contended that the officer had arrested him in a dowry death case even though the High Court had granted him protection from arrest.
Justice K. Sujana had passed an order on April 21 directing that the petitioner not be arrested till April 23, and later extended the protection on April 27. Krishnaiah, the investigating officer in the case, arrested the petitioner on April 28 and produced him before a local court, which declined remand after learning of the High Court's protection order.
In its reasoning, the court observed that it was incumbent upon the officer to ascertain whether the protection had been extended, and held that he could not claim he was unaware of the orders passed by the court.