Two Policemen Suspended For Arresting Women Over Facebook Comment

Shaheen Dhada, left and Renu Srinivasan, leave court in Mumbai, India.

In twin developments in the controversy over the arrest of two young women for their Facebook posting against the Mumbai shutdown for late Bal Thackeray’s funeral, two police officers have been suspended, while a magistrate has been transferred.
Under flak from various quarters, the Maharashtra government in India on Tuesday suspended the police officers, who ordered the arrest of two women at Palghar in Thane district over the innocuous Facebook posting after India’s financial capital was shut down for the weekend for the funeral of the powerful politician.
Simultaneously, the Bombay High Court transferred Judicial Magistrate First Class at Palghar R.G. Bagade, who sent the two women to judicial custody and later granted them bail.
Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil while speaking to newsmen announced that the state government had suspended Superintendent of Police (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar and senior police inspector Shrikant Pingle of the Palghar police station. “We have initiated the action against the two police officers after obtaining legal opinion on the issue,” Patil said.
“There was no need to charge the two young women under wrong sections… There was no need to take hasty action against the women,” he added.
A day after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was cremated, the Palghar police had arrested Shaheen Dhada and Renu Srinivasan, both aged 21 years, over their Facebook comment. While Dhada posted the original message, Srinivasan “liked” the posting.
Dhada and Srinivasan, who were arrested and released on bail on November 19, were booked under section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 A of Information Technology Act (offensive messages through a communication device).
While the section 505 (2) of the IPC deals with statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes, the section 66A of the IT Act is a relevant section which penalizes ‘sending false and offensive messages through communication services’. Both these legal provisions prescribe a maximum punishment of three years each and fine.
Following the arrest of Dhada and Srinivasan, there was a public uproar across the country, with the prominent citizens, including the Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju, coming down heavily on the local police for misuse of office and wrong invocation of law. Most of them said that the police officers had acted in haste and without application of mind against the two women, under pressure from the local Shiv Sena leaders.
Apart from putting pressure on the police officials to arrest the two women, the Sena activists also vandalised a private hospital owned by the Dhada’s uncle on the evening of November 18, following her Facebook comment.
The suspension of the two police officers follows an inquiry conducted by the Inspector General (Konkan Range) Sukhvindar Singh into the circumstances leading to the arrest of two women. In his report, Singh had indicted the erring police officers for wrong application of law and recommended action against them.
What upset the Bombay High Court was the fact that the local magistrate had taken cognizance of the cases booked against two women by the police on flimsy grounds, sent them judicial custody first and later granted them bail.
The same magistrate had also post haste given bail to 10 Sena vandals who ransacked the private hospital — a judicial ruling that was not appreciated by people in various parts of the country.
In the transfer order issued on Monday, the Registrar of the High Court stated: “Judicial Magistrate First Class at Palghar R.G. Bagade is hereby transferred in the same position to Jalgaon with immediate effect.”