Shillong: The High Court of Meghalaya has issued an order directing the Border Security Force (BSF) to cooperate fully in the investigation of the killing of a trucker by its personnel near Wahkdait village, Pynursla-Dawki Road, on May 5.
The court’s decision on Monday was in response to a petition challenging an order issued by the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Shillong on May 15. The order had instructed the Commandant of the 4th Battalion, BSF, to hand over the three accused BSF personnel to the investigating officer for further investigation.
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The Union of India, represented by the Deputy Inspector General of BSF, filed the petition, expressing dissatisfaction with the aforementioned order and seeking its annulment.
“The State respondent has defended the petition, consistently maintaining that the impugned order was lawful and that the learned Magistrate did not commit any jurisdictional or other errors,” stated the court.
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During the hearing, with N Mozika, Deputy Solicitor General of India, representing the petitioner, and B Bhattacharjee, Additional Advocate General, representing the state respondent, both parties mutually agreed to a resolution that would not disrupt the primary intention of the impugned order. The court, adopting a liberal interpretation of the order, subsequently issued directions to the BSF.
In addition to requiring the BSF to cooperate fully in the investigation, the court ruled that the BSF authorities are free to facilitate the questioning of the accused personnel by the investigating officer according to their convenience.
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The court further emphasized that the investigation officer must adhere to the established legal procedures as stipulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Border Security Force Act of 1968, including compliance with Section 45 of the Cr. P.C. as necessary.
To the extent specified above, the court modified the impugned order from May 15.
Consequently, the court, while disposing of the petition, stated that the background of the case involved three BSF personnel, deployed for duty, encountering a vehicle traveling in a suspicious manner suspected of carrying contraband goods or livestock.
Allegedly, when the personnel ordered the vehicle to stop and the driver failed to comply, the three individuals took measures to halt the fleeing vehicle by firing at it, resulting in injuries and subsequent death of one person.
The court acknowledged that following such incidents, the legal procedure necessitates the custody of the alleged offenders, who in this case are BSF personnel. The BSF authorities fulfilled this requirement by taking them into custody. Additionally, an FIR was registered with the Officer-in-Charge of Pynursla Police Station, initiating the investigation into the incident.
The Meghalaya High Court’s directive aims to ensure a thorough investigation into the tragic incident while upholding the rule of law and the rights of all parties involved.