Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Jun 23: In a suit filed by a person from Patrame village in the taluk relating to his illegal confinement, the High Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on C R Ravish, police inspector of Beltnangady police station.

Patrame Lokaiah Gowda, who ran a provision store in Patrame, was arrested by the policemen of Beltangady station on June 26, 2001, wrongly believing that he was K Lokaiah Gowda from Perar village, an accused, who had been absconding since the last two decades. He JMFC court in Beltangady had remanded Gowda to 15 days of judicial custody, and finding substance in his argument that he was not the accused, released him at the end of the judicial custody term.

Gowda then filed a criminal case, seeking compensation for the injustice faced by him. He cited that the policemen had with them the finger prints and photographs of Lokaiah Gowda from Perar, and that they did not match with his own. As the court did not take up the case for seven years, he approached the High Court. In 2007, the High Court instructed the Beltangady court to immediately start hearing the case. When a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against the inspector concerned by the court, he approached the High Court through an appeal.

The High Court in its final hearing recently, ordered inspector, C R Ravish, to pay Rs 50,000 by way of compensation to Lokaiah Gowda, finding him guilty of holding Gowda in illegal confinement and torturing him, besides harming his reputation. The penalty was promptly deposited at the JMFC court by the inspector concerned. Lawyer, P P Hegde, appeared in the High Court on behalf of the petitioner.