New Delhi: In the Kheda public flogging case, the Gujarat high court has sentenced four of the accused policemen to 14 days imprisonment and fined Rs 2,000 each. However, the verdict has been stayed for three months, at the request of the cops to allow them to appeal against the judgement.

According to the Indian Express, a division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Gita Gopi described on Wednesday, October 18, during the pronouncement of the verdict termed the incident "inhumane" and an "act against humanity".

The policemen in question were accused of publicly flogging five Muslim men by tying them to a pole following their arrest on October 4 last year. The arrested had been accused of pelting stones at a garba event during the Navaratri festival the previous day in Undhela village in the state’s Kheda district.

The Bench went on to underline that the accused cops "have defiled the human rights and dignity of the complainants as if they were conferred with the privilege to do so". The court said arrested persons also have the right to life, which includes the right to life with dignity and cannot be held back even in the case of a person's arrest.

"Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government, they are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of humanity. The right of life does not depend and must not be contingent on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign," the court quoted Mother Teresa.

The police, as custodians of law and order, the court said "should not become depredations of civil liberties for their duty is to protect and not to abdicate". An accused person’s "dignity cannot be allowed to be comatose" once the person is in police custody, it added.

Justice Supehia orally remarked that he never thought there would come a day when he had to order "police officers to undergo simple imprisonment", and that he was "not happy" about it.

During the hearing, the policemen’s counsel, Prakash Jani, had told the court that pronouncing them guilty and awarding them punishment would adversely affect their professional records given that they had already “dedicated” 10-15 years to serve in the police department.

The Wire reported earlier that one of the policemen had told the court, "Giving three to six stick blows on buttocks of applicants… though not proper and acceptable, it would not constitute custodial torture as to punish Respondent No 2 (A.V. Parmar) for contempt of court."

The victims had moved a petition before the Gujarat high court against 15 police personnel – the inspector general (IG), the superintendent of police (SP), Kheda; 10 constables from the Matar police station; and three officers from the local crime branch (LCB).

They had cited the D.K. Basu versus the State of West Bengal case – where the top court laid down basic "requirements" for the police to follow during arrest and detention until legal provisions are made – accusing the policemen of flouting norms. They had urged the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the policemen and also sought compensation be paid to them.

The videos of flogging which had gone viral on social media show accused policemen tying the victims to a poll and beating them with sticks, in full public view and amid cheers from the onlooking crowd.

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