FIR lodged against Ghaziabad judicial magistrate

Ghaziabad, May 27 (IANS) A criminal case been lodged against a judicial magistrate posted in the Ghazibad courts on various charges including using force against a woman with the intention of molesting her, police said Tuesday.

Police said the incident occurred April 13 in Modinagar town of the district when Additional Judicial Magistrate Sunil Kumar and Delhi police sub inspector Suresh Bakshi confronted each other after their cars collided on National Highway-58.

After the incident, both, accompanied by their wives, reached the police station and lodged complaints against each other. Police registered a case against Bakshi but refused to entertain his wife's complaint for want of clearance from the district judge.

On the tough stand taken by the judicial officer, police registered the case of attempt to murder against Bakshi under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, despite it being an unintentional incident under a sudden provocation and the magistrate not sustaining any injury.

When the Delhi Police officer came to know he faced a judicial officer, he tried to patch up the case and submitted an unconditional apology. But the unrelenting magistrate did not accept it and forced police to arrest Bakshi. Bakshi was later presented in a court which sent him to judicial custody.

As the magistrate did not agree to compromise, Bakshi's wife also submitted her complaint to the district judge with a copy to the Allahabad High Court.

On Monday, police, after receiving clearance from the Allahabad High Court to register the criminal case against the magistrate, lodged the complaint against him under various sections of the IPC.

"The 29-year-old magistrate was so adamant on sending the 58-year-old Delhi Police officer to jail that he insisted the case be registered under the grave section 307 of IPC which normally does not apply where no injury occurred. The Modinagar police registered the case against Sunil Kumar after it obtained the clearance from Allahabad High Court. The court also issued orders to transfer him immediately and has mentioned that police can arrest him, if so needed in the case," said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Jagdish Sharma.