Patna: The Patna high court on Wednesday expressed anger against the Nitish Kumar government for not taking action against Madhubani SP Satya Prakash in connection with the alleged assault on additional district judge Avinash Kumar.
A hearing of the case was held in the high court where Justice Ranjan Gupta asked the advocate general to clarify why the state government did not transfer the Madhubani SP. He may destroy the evidence using his power and position.
The court also directed the advocate general to conduct an inquiry through the CID and submit a report in a sealed envelope at the next hearing.
The court has also appointed senior lawyer Mrikang Mauli as Amicus Curiae to look after the case from the prosecution side.
Earlier, the high court took strong cognisance of the incident and served notice to the chief secretary, DGP, principal secretary of the home ministry of Bihar to take the strongest possible action against them.
Additional District Judge (ADJ) Avinash Kumar of Madhubani district court at Jhanjharpur was manhandled by SHO Gopal Krishna and sub-inspector Abhimanyu Sharma of Ghoghardiha police station on November 18.
They also threatened him with dire consequences by pointing a service pistol at him inside his courtroom in Jhanjharpur.
The ADJ was rescued by the lawyers present in the court.
After the incident, Avinash Kumar pointed to a case related to kidnapping and rape of a 15-year-old girl he was hearing, which could be the reason behind the incident. The family members of the victim had lodged a written complaint in the district and SP Satya Prakash supervised it.
When the case came to ADJ Avinash Kumar's court, IPC sections related to kidnapping, POCSO Act and child marriage were not included in the FIR. During the hearing of the case in July this year, Avinash Kumar served notice to SP Satya Prakash questioning his knowledge of law and IPC sections. He also recommended to the union home ministry, state home ministry and DGP Bihar to send Satya Prakash to the police academy again for training.
Despite the recommendation of ADJ Avinash Kumar, the state government and police department did not take any action against Satya Prakash. He continues to serve as SP of Madhubani district.
In a written complaint to the police, the ADJ pointed out the background of the incident of assault on him.
"SHO Gopal Krishna and his junior officers, while thrashing me said, how would I dare to serve notice to SP Sahab and call him to appear in court. I will kill you," ADJ Avinash Kumar had earlier said in his complaint.
"The SHO and junior officers, pointing weapons towards me, also said that I cannot call SP Sahab to appear in court," ADJ Avinash Kumar said.
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