A sessions court in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district acquitted two Muslim men, accused of transporting cattle for slaughter, and directed criminal charges to be filed against three police officials and two cow vigilantes for allegedly fabricating the case, reports Live Law.
The 5th Additional Sessions Judge, Parvez Ahmed Malaviya, ruled that the allegations against Nazirmiya Safimiya Malek and Illyas Mohamad Daval, filed in July 2020 under the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act, 2017, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1860, were baseless. The two men had spent nearly 10 days in judicial custody before being cleared of wrongdoing.
Judge Malaviya ordered the District Court Registrar, RS Amin, to file a criminal complaint under Section 248 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Act (previously Section 211 of the IPC) against Assistant Head Constables Rameshbhai Narvatsinh and Sankarsinh Sajjansinh, Police Sub-Inspector MS Munia, and two Panch witnesses, Margesh Soni and Darsan alias Painter Pankaj Soni.
The court further instructed the Superintendent of Police in Panchmahal, Godhra, to initiate departmental action against the implicated officers. It criticised the investigation, stating that the investigating officer failed to conduct a proper and unbiased inquiry and filed a chargesheet despite no evidence of the accused committing the alleged offences.
