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A police officer of Station Bazaar Police station in Kalaburagi was ordered by a court to clean a public road in front of the station for a week for failing to register FIR on child abduction.
The Station House Officer (SHO) reportedly did not register the First Information Report (FIR) when a woman approached the station stating that her child was abducted, reported Deccan Herald.
A division bench comprising of Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice P. Krishna Bhat passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by 55-year-old Tarabai of Manja Tanda in Kalaburagi.
"I am ready to comply with the direction issued by the court. I render my unconditional apology for not registering the FIR and assure the court that I will not repeat this in future," the Station House Officer (SHO) gave a written undertaking to the court.
The bench observed that the SHO did not make a note in the diary or register an FIR as per the mandatory requirements in law despite being conscious that a cognisable offence of abduction was committed.
"The entire development in the case after the petitioner's son went missing discloses to us a very disturbing facet of the functioning of the police stations in this area of the state. The problem, primarily, is one of the police officers not complying with the procedure prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, which places a high premium on the guarantee of liberty of the individuals," the Bench observed in its order.
After accepting the undertaking given by the SHO, the bench also directed the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district, to hold a workshop for all police officers working within the district on the subject of FIRs as per the apex court's guidelines.
The bench closed the petition as the petitioner's son Suresh was produced before the court.
