Srinagar: A Srinagar Sessions Court on Tuesday stayed the order of a magistrate court directing registration of a criminal case against Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, Dr G V Sundeep Chakravarthy, in connection with allegations of defying court directions and failing to execute arrest warrants.
The Second Additional District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar, while hearing a criminal revision petition filed by the IPS officer, observed that the matter involved “arguable questions warranting consideration” and stayed the operation of the magistrate’s order at this stage.
The court clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the controversy and fixed the next hearing of the matter for July 27.
“I have heard the counsel for the revisionist at length and have carefully gone through the revision petition, the impugned order, and documents annexed therewith,” the Sessions Judge observed in the order.
“At this interlocutory stage, and without expressing my opinion on the controversy, this court is satisfied that the revision raises arguable questions warranting consideration,” the court said.
The court also called for records of the case while admitting the revision petition filed by SSP Srinagar.
The development comes after a Judicial Magistrate in Srinagar had on July 6 initiated a suo motu case against SSP Srinagar, alleging repeated non-compliance with court directions related to the execution of arrest warrants in a criminal matter.
The magistrate had taken judicial notice of alleged offences under Section 24 read with Section 29 of the Police Act and registered proceedings under Section 210(1)(C) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 against the IPS officer.
The magistrate had alleged that the SSP Srinagar repeatedly failed to comply with court directions and that the police machinery failed to execute warrants issued in a case involving an accused from Bandipora district.
However, the Sessions Court noted that the revision petition raised legal issues requiring detailed examination.
According to the magistrate court’s order, the matter originated from directions issued for the arrest of accused Ajaz Ahmad Lone in February this year.
The court stated that despite repeated directions, the arrest warrant was not executed by the concerned police officials. On subsequent dates of hearing, including March 2 and April 17, the court noted that neither the warrant was executed nor compliance reports were submitted.
Following repeated non-compliance, the court issued further directions involving senior police officials, including SSP Bandipora and later SSP Srinagar.
The magistrate had observed that despite multiple opportunities, the warrants remained pending and described the situation as a failure of the police machinery to comply with judicial directions.
The court had further remarked that the non-execution of warrants reflected a lack of cooperation and prima facie amounted to undermining the authority of the court.
SSP challenges order before Sessions Court
Challenging the magistrate’s order, SSP Srinagar approached the Sessions Court, raising various grounds against the proceedings initiated against him.
After hearing the arguments and examining the documents placed before it, the Sessions Court granted interim relief by staying the magistrate’s order.
The matter will now come up for further hearing on July 27.
