The high court on Wednesday, while hearing the petition of DG&IGP Shankar M. Bidari challenging the CAT order which quashed his appointment as the state police head, observed that even the President of India would not have given a gallantry award to the petitioner if he/she had seen the findings of NHRC report on police excesses during the STF operation to nab Veerappan.
The bench, headed by Justice N. Kumar, said that it is not the case of a clerk or a sub-inspector whose appointment is challenged but that of a person who heads the state police department. Hence, his qualities too should be examined. “The duty of a policeman is not just to nab a thief or a criminal. He also has to be an expert in protecting helpless people. In order to catch a culprit (Veerappan), does it mean that poor and helpless women and tribal people should be ill-treated? Is rape a method of investigation,” Justice Kumar questioned, while referring to the NHRC report.
The NHRC, in 2007, had found that the Special Task Force (STF) was involved in violation of human rights. The court said that though it is clear that there are no remarks against Bidari in the NHRC report, who once headed the STF, the culture of the country is that a person who heads a department takes moral responsibility. When the advocate for Mr Bidari argued that the report cannot be taken into consideration as NHRC acted beyond it jurisdiction, the court reacted sharply saying, “If the report had been furnished before UPSC, then things would have been entirely different. When a judicial report submitted by a former Supreme Court judge is of no value, then it is better to abolish NHRC.”
While defending the action of the state in appointing Mr Bidari as the state police head, the advocate-general submitted that CAT had transgressed its jurisdiction by quashing Mr Bidari’s appointment. The matter has been posted to Wednesday for hearing.