B.S. CHAUHAN, J. - (1.) THE present appeals have been filed against the judgment and order of the Allahabad High Court dated 20.12.2001 passed in Criminal Contempt No. 69 of 1997, convicting the appellants for not complying with the directions issued by this Court in D.K. Basu Vs. State of West Bengal AIR 1997 SC 610, and sentencing them for six months' imprisonment and also imposing a fine to the tune of Rs.2000/- each. Further, direction has been issued to the State Government to terminate the services of the appellants after holding disciplinary proceedings.
(2.) THE facts and circumstances giving rise to the present appeals are that one Ramwati lodged an FIR dated 01.06.1997 in the Police Station Kotwali Ghaziabad with an allegation that her son Tej Veer Singh @ Pappu, a man of absolutely clear antecedents, never involved in any criminal case, who was running a sweet mart shop, was going to Allahabad by Prayagraj Express on 29.05.1997. He was apprehended by Deep Chand, Sub-Inspector of Police, posted at Police Station, Sector 24, Noida and Constable Ramesh Chandra, posted in the office of Superintendent of Police (R.A.) Ghaziabad along with some other policemen, from Shyamal Chauk, Sibbanpura, Ghaziabad. Tej Veer Singh was carrying a briefcase containing clothes and Rs. 40000/- in cash apart from the ticket. At the time of apprehending, neither the reason for his arrest nor the destination, where he was being taken to, was disclosed to him. His family members ran from pillar to post to know his whereabouts but in vain. On 30.05.1997, telegraphic information regarding abduction of Tej Veer Singh @ Pappu by police was sent to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad and Inspector General of Police, Meerut Zone. No action was taken on the aforesaid FIR, thus Smt. Ramwati, mother of Tej Veer Singh made complaint to the Senior Suptd. of Police, Ghaziabad, Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India and the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi. The case was registered only on 04.06.1997 under Section 364 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter called IPC). However, no progress was made in the investigation. Being aggrieved, a Habeas Corpus petition, being numbered as Crl. Misc. (Habeas Corpus) Writ Petition No. 20040 of 1997, was filed in June, 1997 by one M. C. Verma, being next friend of the detenu Tej Veer Singh before the Allahabad High Court. In the said petition, allegations had been made that the respondent therein, Deep Chand, Sub-Inspector of Police and Constable Ramesh Chandra had detained Tej Veer Singh illegally since 29.5.1997 and his whereabouts were not known. As the High Court could not get any information from the State regarding the whereabouts of Tej Veer Singh, the Court, vide order dated 30.07.1997, directed the District Judge, Ghaziabad to hold an inquiry regarding the allegations made in the Habeas Corpus petition. The purpose of holding an inquiry was to find out as to whether the police was responsible for his arrest and thereafter, his disappearance.
(3.) THE District Judge submitted his report dated 03.12.1997 wherein it was mentioned that Yashpal, the elder brother of Tej Veer Singh, was a hardened criminal, and was wanted in large number of criminal cases. THE police had taken away Tej Veer Singh alongwith one Jagdish Kumar to know the whereabouts of Yashpal to Murad Nagar Police Station, where they were beaten up. However, no information could be gathered from either of them about Yashpal. It was found that Jagdish Kumar was released by the police from its custody at 4.00 AM on 30.05.1997 but Tej Veer Singh remained under detention and still remained untraceable. Sub-Inspector Deep Chand was the mastermind in abducting Tej Veer Singh and Constable Ramesh Chandra had participated in illegal detention. Sub-Inspectors R. P. Singh and Satya Veer Singh, who were allegedly participated in abduction, were exonerated. However, Sahdeo Singh, Lila Dhar (appellants) and one Sujan Singh, Constable, were found to have participated in abduction. Sub- Inspector Deep Chand, had died in a car accident on 20.08.1997. After receiving the report from the District Judge, the High Court on 4.12.1997 issued notices to the four indicted persons initiating proceedings for criminal contempt suo motu. Sujan Singh submitted an application before the High Court that during the inquiry by the District Judge, no notice/opportunity of hearing was given to him. THE High Court asked the District Judge, Ghaziabad to provide an opportunity of hearing to the said applicant-Sujan Singh and submit a supplementary report. THE said report was submitted on 10.07.1998 exonerating Sujan Singh from any criminal liability. Sahdeo Singh and Ramesh Chandra submitted their replies to the said Show Cause Notices dated 4.12.1997. Lila Dhar did not submit any reply. As the whereabouts of Tej Veer Singh could not be known, the High Court disposed of the Habeas Corpus petition vide judgment and order dated 20.12.2001 transferring the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter called, "CBI"). In contempt case, the Court came to the conclusion that taking the said Tej Veer Singh into custody, was in violation of the directions issued by this Court in D. K. Basu (supra) and held all the three alleged contemnors guilty. Constable Ramesh Chandra was sentenced for six months' imprisonment and a fine of rupees one lakh was imposed. In addition, Rs. 5000/- was imposed as costs. THE appellants were imposed the punishment of six months' imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2000/- each. Further direction was issued to the State to terminate their services after holding disciplinary proceedings. Hence, these appeals. Sh. Jitendra Mohan Sharma and Sh. P.K. Jain, learned counsel appearing for the appellants, have submitted that the High Court had committed an error as while disposing of the Habeas Corpus petition it observed that Tej Veer Singh had died and, therefore, no purpose would be served in continuing with the Habeas Corpus petition. There was not even prima facie evidence against the appellants in contempt proceedings. The court did not adopt the fair procedure. Even charges had not been framed. The enquiry conducted by the District Judge, at the most, could be treated to be a preliminary enquiry. The High Court erred in placing reliance on a preliminary enquiry report and convicting the appellants without furnishing the copy thereof to them. More so, the contempt proceedings are quasi- criminal in nature. The Court while deciding the criminal case does not have competence to issue any direction affecting the civil rights of the parties. Therefore, the judgment and order impugned is liable to be set aside. On the contrary, Sh. R.K. Gupta, learned counsel appearing for the State of U.P. and Sh. K.C. Lamba, learned counsel appearing for Smt. Ramwati, the mother of Tej Veer Singh, defended the impugned judgment and order contending that a fair trial had been conducted. The appellant Lila Dhar did not even submit the reply to the Show Cause Notice issued by the High Court. Therefore, no fault could be found with the impugned judgment and order. The appeals are liable to be dismissed. We have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.;