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3 hours ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
The court has recorded that there are two alleged incidents from 2019. (Representative image)
A Special Court in Assam’s Karbi Anglong recently framed charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and for sexual harassment against IPS officer Gaurav Upadhyay in a six-year-old case from the time when he was the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district.
In an order issued on June 18, R. Lal., the Special Judge, POCSO of Karbi Anglong framed charges under section 354 and 354A of the Indian Penal Code – provisions that pertain to criminal force to a woman “with intent to outrage her modesty” and sexual harassment – and Section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act against Upadhyay and set July 21 as the next date of hearing. On that day, the court is scheduled to inquire whether he pleads guilty or intends to face trial.
The incident, involving a minor girl, allegedly took place in 2019 and a police case was registered in January 2020. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had probed the case and subsequently submitted its chargesheet against the IPS officer in 2021.
The court has recorded that there are two alleged incidents from 2019. In its order, the court noted that the case has been in the pre-trial for several years. On the June 18 hearing as well, the counsel for the accused had sought directions of the court to call for the investigating officer to produce statements of 13 witnesses not relied upon at the time of submitting the chargesheet.
“The chargesheet is for an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The legislature has mandated a time-bound completion of trial in such cases. Judicial precedents also direct the trial courts to expedite such cases, placing them on the fastest track possible. It is noted that this case has remained at the pre-trial stage for several years and further adjournment runs the risk of infringing Article 21 of the Constitution, a right available to the victim with equal vigour,” states the order.
Upadhyay, is an IPS officer of the 2012 batch. He is currently the additional secretary of the state transport department, the state project director of the Assam Inland Water Transport Development Society, and the project officer of Assam Integrated River Basin Management.
Bringing on record the statement of the victim, the court stated, “The court has perused all relevant materials furnished by the prosecution side, including the statement of the victim. This court has also heard both sides. Based on the materials, there is ground for presuming, under section 288 CRPC, that the accused has committed an offence under Section 10 of the POCSO Act. IT is pertinent to mention here that there were two incidents of sexual assault on the victim. The first assault occurred in SP Bungalow in Diphu. The second assault took place in the hotel room where the victim was staying with her mother and brother”.
English (US) ·