The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a sharp reminder to the state government and its police forces: truth, not selective framing, is the duty of any investigation. Emphasizing that India’s democratic principles protect the innocent under a rule of law, the court condemned any attempt by police or prosecutors to hide exculpatory evidence to secure convictions.
In a ruling on November 5, the court directed top officials, including the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Director General of Police, and Director of Prosecution, to instruct and train officers to ensure fairness in all investigations and trials. Judges Vivek Singh Thakur and Bipin Chander Negi underscored that the era of hiding inconvenient truths to build a case should be considered a relic, unsuited for a modern justice system.
The high court pointed to a recent case as a prime example. In this instance, an appeal brought by the state involved allegations of corruption and cheating against officials from the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education. In 2007, these officials were accused of tampering with records to allow a student to pass an exam fraudulently. Yet, when the accused were acquitted in 2012, the court uncovered that key evidence, which might have supported their innocence, had been intentionally omitted by an investigating officer.
Such actions, the court observed, not only squander public resources but also clog an already burdened judicial system. The bench asserted that submitting selective evidence is tantamount to dereliction of duty, adding unnecessary strain to the courts and delaying justice for others.
To prevent future occurrences, the court called for a monitoring system to assess the conduct of investigating officers, prosecutors, and government legal representatives. Any attempt to mislead the court, it stressed, should face swift and decisive action, ensuring the system remains committed to justice over mere convictions.
