No custodial interrogation of Guj riots accused: India`s SC

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) In a setback to the Special
Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Godhra and the subsequent
riots cases, India's Supreme Court has refused the plea for
custodial interrogation of accused persons.

A bench of Justices S B Sinha and Mukundakam Sharma
dismissed the plea on the ground that neither any sufficient
material was produced before the court, nor the Code of
Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provided for such a method.

"Furthermore, in this case the Special Investigation
Team has already submitted its report to this court. Nothing
has been pointed out before us as to why even the bail granted
to the appellants should be cancelled so as to enable us to
consider that question independently, " a bench observed in
its judgement.

The bench passed the order while setting aside a
Gujarat High Court verdict directing police custody of
Mithabhai Pashabhai Patel and five other persons allegedly
involved in the communal violence that occured on August 20,
2002 at Vadvasa Patia village near Prantij.

After a few days of the incident, they were arrested
and granted bail.

However, pursuant to the March 26, 2008 directions
passed by the Supreme Court, the State Government constituted
an SIT to conduct further investigations into the incidents as
it was alleged that Gujarat police conducted shoddy
investigations to bail out the culprits.


Section 173 (8) CrPC grants powers to the probe agency
to conduct further investigations into a crime, but expressly
prohibits any fresh investigation.

The SIT, which took up further investigations in the
cases, sought police remand of Patel and the five accused, but
the sessions court rejected the plea on the ground that they
were already on bail and only if the same was cancelled they
could be taken into custody.

Aggrieved by the order, the Gujarat government
appealed in the state high court which directed custodial
interrogation of the accused.

The accused then filed a criminal appeal in the apex
court questioning the legality of the high court's order.
Upholding the appeal, the apex court said that
ordinarily once the accused had been released on bail there
could be no further remand of the accused since they were
already interrogated.
"Appellants had been granted bail. They are not in
custody of the court. They could not be taken in custody
ordinarily unless their bail was not cancelled. The high
court, in our opinion, was not correct in holding that as
further investigations werr required, sub-section (2) of
Section 167 of the Code gives ample power for grant of police
remand," the bench said.
According to the apex court, the Gujarat government
had also not submitted any sufficient material to justify the
need for custodial interrogation of the accused.
"No sufficient or cogent material has been placed on
record by the State or the Special Investigating Team in this
behalf. For the reasons mentioned aforementioned, the impugned
judgement cannot be sustained which is set aside accordingly.
The appeal is allowed," the bench held. PTI