Mumbai, March 25 A court in Maharashtra has ordered the immediate release of two local NCP leaders, who were arrested on allegations of kidnapping a Satara Zilla Parishad member during the governing body's presidential polls last week, citing their custodial ill-treatment and failure to follow mandatory arrest procedures.
The court criticized the police for failing to provide arrest papers and stated that "custodial interrogation cannot be permitted at the expense of the fundamental rights of the accused".
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) (Mahabaleshwar in Satara) S Ivare, while granting bail to NCP leaders Anil Shivajirao Desai and Sandeep Mandave, on Monday also highlighted that the victim did not support the prosecution's case.
The court has also issued a show-cause notice to the police, directing them to explain their actions.
The NCP leaders were arrested on Monday in connection with allegedly kidnapping a Satara ZP member and intimidating him during the ZP president's election held last week.
When the accused were produced before the court, they complained of ill-treatment at the hands of the police.
In view of this claim, the JMFC directed their medical examination, the results of which confirmed the presence of injuries.
The court noted that the medical report "prima facie" supported the allegations of police brutality.
In a blow to the prosecution's case, the victim himself later denied the police's claim of being kidnapped.
The court further highlighted that the investigating officer failed to provide arrest forms despite repeated requests in order to calculate the time of arrest.
"In view of the medical evidence indicating ill treatment, this court is of the opinion that granting further police custody would not be justified, and custodial interrogation cannot be permitted at the expense of the fundamental rights of the accused," the magistrate ruled.
The court then ordered the immediate release of the two, with a PR bond of Rs 50,000.
The election to the Satara ZP president's post was held on Friday. The police were allegedly seen taking away some ZP members before the voting process started.
State ministers Shambhuraj Desai of the Shiv Sena and Makarand Patil of the NCP have also alleged that the local police manhandled them during the election.