Pithoragarh, April 11 A court here has ordered the registration of an FIR against former IPS officer Lokeshwar Singh for allegedly stripping and beating an RTI activist who had raised a grievance regarding a sewage overflow from the family quarters of the Police Lines.
Laxmi Datt Joshi, a readymade garment businessman and RTI activist from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, has alleged that he was subjected to a brutal beating by Singh, who was a superintendent of police at the time, and other policemen, at the latter's office on February 6, 2023.
Singh, a 2014-batch IPS officer, resigned from his job last October following his selection for a key position at the United Nations.
In an order dated April 7, Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Singh directed Pithoragarh police to register a case against Singh under sections 355 (assault), 506 (criminal intimidation), among other charges of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and to investigate the matter.
In December 2025, the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) looked into a complaint by Joshi on the matter and found Singh guilty. The SPCA directed the state government to take action against him and apprise the Authority of the steps taken.
"Despite repeated attempts, Pithoragarh police refused to register a complaint. Consequently, he was compelled to approach the court to seek justice," said Ashish Howard, the activist's counsel.
On February 23, 2023, Joshi had allegedly approached the police to submit a petition requesting that they stop the sewage overflowing from the family quarters at the Police Lines, which was spreading filth onto the road and into surrounding areas.
"My client was taken to the office of the then-Superintendent of Police, where he and other police personnel stripped him naked and subjected him to a brutal beating," the lawyer said.
Pithoragarh Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Govind Ballabh Joshi said he has not yet received a copy of the court's order. "Action will be taken in accordance with the court's order once a copy of the verdict is received," he said when asked about the court order.