Kathmandu, January 29

Chitwan District Court has ruled that heated arguments with police cannot be deemed an offence of indecent behaviour towards police.

This was stated in a full text of the verdict delivered by Judge Hemanta Rawal in a criminal case filed by Chitwan ASI Dharma Raj Paudel against Nawalparasi resident Arjun Malla Thakuri.

Police had invoked Section 118 of the new penal code against Thakuri.  The court had decided the Police had claimed in the chargesheet that the defendant used foul language against Paudel and other police personnel and also tried to beat them up when they took him under control in connection with a case filed by Gorkha resident Tek Bahadur Shreemal.

Thakuri, a resident of Gaindakot Municipality, Nawalparasi, had allegedly beaten up Shreemal on December 10. Thakuri was taken under control by Chitwan police on December 15 for allegedly beating up Shreemal.

Chitwan police had stated that Thakuri was convicted of public offence twice before and he should be punished for repeatedly committing the offence.  The court upheld that an arrest warrant had not been issued by a competent authority against Thakuri for allegedly beating up  Shreemal.

The court also observed that it would be wrong to convict Thakuri in the case for merely reacting angrily against the police who took him under control at a public place without getting an arrest warrant issued by a competent authority against him and without following due process.

The court ruled that Thakuri’s angry reaction against police at a public place could not be termed an attempt to obstruct police for discharging his/her duty. If Thakuri had misbehaved with police, the police had to file a chargesheet as per Section 85 of the criminal code and not Section 118, the court observed.