HC awards 4-week jail term to police officer in contempt case

The High Court on Friday sentenced K. Srinivasa Rao, who had worked as the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Vijayawada, to four weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of ₹1,000 in a contempt case.

The court took a serious view of the alleged negligence of Mr. Srinivasa Rao in registering a charge-sheet in a case booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao is currently the Additional Superintendent of Police in the Special Enforcement Bureau at Srikakulam.

The contempt petition was filed by B. Jhansi Lakshmi, a lecturer, in 2017 questioning the alleged inaction of the police in implementing the court order to complete the investigation into a complaint of harassment lodged by her against two lecturers in 2015.

The then ACP claimed to have submitted his report which purportedly stated that the case was closed due to lack of evidence but the court was apparently not satisfied with his explanation.

After hearing arguments on Friday, Justice Battu Devanand awarded jail term to the ACP and also imposed a fine, but suspended his order for a week to enable the police officer to file an appeal.