The Gauhati High Court, Aizawl bench has directed Deputy Commissioner and Superintendant of Police, Aizawl to submit a status report on the incident, wherein Dinthar Local Level Task Force used physical force on 8 youngsters, who had violated the curfew/lockdown, were found smoking ganja.
A single-judge bench of Justice Michael Zothankhuma took up suo moto cognizance of the matter in view of the News Report broadcasted on Zonal Cable TV on 27th April 2020 and article published in a daily newspaper on 28th April 2020.
The Local Level Task Force first used physical force for allegedly smoking Ganja and later, the youngsters were alleged to have been handed over by them to the community leaders, in which the detained youngsters resided.
The Court stated in its order that there has been a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which the State and the Court are bound to protect under the law. No person or authority has the right to take the law into their own hands, in violation of the Constitution of India and the laws made thereunder.
The court also stated that “…if the youngsters had been caught with drugs/Ganja, they should have been handed over to the Police or the Excise, so that they could be tried by a Court having the power to do so under the ND&PS Act, 1985. Similarly, if the Curfew/Lockdown was violated, then the violators should have been handed over to the police, so that appropriate action could be taken under the Indian Penal Code by the enforcement agencies and the Courts.”
The Court has directed the state to ensure that the instructions/ guidelines/ parameters within which the various LLTF/VLTF are to operate are not flouted so that there is uniformity in the manner of functioning of the various LLTF/VLTF.
The court has also directed the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendant of Police, Aizawl to submit a status report on the incident within 2 weeks.
-India Legal Bureau