HC seeks Jalandhar CP’s response on failure to arrest rape accused

The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought the Jalandhar police commissioner’s response on why there was no effective police action to arrest the accused in a minor’s rape case reported in July last year.

Acting on the petition filed by the 13-year-old victim’s grandmother, justice Namit Kumar observed that the police appear reluctant in their approach and the investigation reflects sheer incompetence as no efforts were made to arrest the accused.

“In fact, it was only after the investigating officer (IO) filed the status report that the police moved to the passport authorities and collected the bank details of the accused in January this year, five months after registration of the case,” said the court.

Despite the accused’s anticipatory bail plea being dismissed last year, he continues to roam free.

“Let the commissioner of police, Jalandhar, file his own affidavit answering the concerns of this court and state why the police have not taken proper action to arrest the accused since July 26 last year when the FIR was registered after the court’s intervention,” the court added.

“This reluctant conduct of the police leads this court to infer that the jurisdictional police authorities and senior officers of the police are shying away from performing their duties to ensure the arrest of the accused, who has committed a heinous crime against a minor girl of 13 years and the society at large. This reflects sheer incompetence on their part, since after registration of FIR in July last year, no tangible efforts have been made to ensure the accused’s arrest,” said the court.

As per the status report, it was after the filing of challan before the trial court on January 16, 2025, that the IO wrote a letter to the passport authorities on January 23, 2025, and got the bank account details of the accused just to cover the irregularities in the investigation. Such steps, which have now been taken at the fag end of the investigation, should have been taken at the initial stage to ensure arrest of the accused and not after presentation of challan, said the court.

The case

The petition was filed by the victim’s grandmother, under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for issuance of appropriate directions to the Punjab government to take action relation to an FIR dated July 26, 2024, registered under Section 376(2) IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, at Bhargo Camp police station, Jalandhar.

The petitioner said the police are unable to nab the accused despite the fact that anticipatory bail application filed by him has been dismissed by the additional sessions judge, Jalandhar, on August 29, 2024.