Averting a major agitation by government lawyers, the Delhi Government has agreed to relieve them within two months of the responsibility of vetting police chargesheets before these are filed in courts be the investigators.
Had the prosecutors executed their threat of not scrutinising chargesheets, work in criminal courts would have been crippled.
Police investigators would have been handicapped in filing documents before judges. Apart from accused getting discharged for delay in filing of chargesheets, there could also have been a pile-up of cases.
Prosecutor manhandled
At the bottom of the problem is a recent incident at Saket court where a prosecutor was manhandled by a woman accused from south Delhi after he gave tips to an investigating officer on making the assault case against the woman strong.
Agitated prosecutors threatened to stop reviewing the police chargesheets alleging that the professional advice given to the Investigating Officer was unethically leaked to the woman who manhandled the APP in his office.
"We are in touch with the Raj Niwas to get an old decision on creating a separate Delhi Police legal cell implemented," said a Home Department official, confirming the temporary 60-day understanding reached with Delhi Prosecutor's Welfare Association for not disrupting the present system of scrutinising chargesheets.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Ratnesh Kumar Gupta, with whom the woman misbehaved, said in a complaint to Home Minister Satyendar Jain: "The entire prosecution branch witnessed the untoward incident in which she was threatening me with dare consequences and now it is very difficult to work in these circumstances where an accused can have free access to our office."
Gupta said he filed an FIR over the woman's misbehaviour on September 16 and she retaliated by getting a counter FIR registered against her by levelling allegedly false charges against him.
"I request to have a fair inquiry/investigation of the entire incident so that truth can be revealed and also take necessary action to boost the trust and morale of the officials in the office of prosecution," wrote Gupta in his letter to Jain.
With the help from the authorities, Saket court prosecutors have now got a security guard posted at the entrance of their room and visitors are being allowed only after seeking permission.
No free-access
"This has now started angering the investigating officers who do not like seeking permission to meet prosecutors as the free-access practice has been in vogue for decades," said a Gaurav Singh, president of the DPWA.
The task of scrutinising chargesheet by prosecutors has been continuing from the days when police and prosecution branch were part of the same department.
"The prosecution branch has now been made independent and there is no official obligation to help the IOs make stronger chargesheets for higher conviction rates," said Singh.
We want the Home Department to expedite the implementation of the Lieutenant Governor's decision of 2013 on creation of separate legal cell - within Delhi Police - to scrutinise chargesheets. This would relieve the prosecution branch of the responsibility, he said.
Had the prosecutors executed their threat of not scrutinising chargesheets, work in criminal courts would have been crippled.
Police investigators would have been handicapped in filing documents before judges. Apart from accused getting discharged for delay in filing of chargesheets, there could also have been a pile-up of cases.
Prosecutor manhandled
At the bottom of the problem is a recent incident at Saket court where a prosecutor was manhandled by a woman accused from south Delhi after he gave tips to an investigating officer on making the assault case against the woman strong.
Agitated prosecutors threatened to stop reviewing the police chargesheets alleging that the professional advice given to the Investigating Officer was unethically leaked to the woman who manhandled the APP in his office.
"We are in touch with the Raj Niwas to get an old decision on creating a separate Delhi Police legal cell implemented," said a Home Department official, confirming the temporary 60-day understanding reached with Delhi Prosecutor's Welfare Association for not disrupting the present system of scrutinising chargesheets.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Ratnesh Kumar Gupta, with whom the woman misbehaved, said in a complaint to Home Minister Satyendar Jain: "The entire prosecution branch witnessed the untoward incident in which she was threatening me with dare consequences and now it is very difficult to work in these circumstances where an accused can have free access to our office."
Gupta said he filed an FIR over the woman's misbehaviour on September 16 and she retaliated by getting a counter FIR registered against her by levelling allegedly false charges against him.
"I request to have a fair inquiry/investigation of the entire incident so that truth can be revealed and also take necessary action to boost the trust and morale of the officials in the office of prosecution," wrote Gupta in his letter to Jain.
With the help from the authorities, Saket court prosecutors have now got a security guard posted at the entrance of their room and visitors are being allowed only after seeking permission.
No free-access
"This has now started angering the investigating officers who do not like seeking permission to meet prosecutors as the free-access practice has been in vogue for decades," said a Gaurav Singh, president of the DPWA.
The task of scrutinising chargesheet by prosecutors has been continuing from the days when police and prosecution branch were part of the same department.
"The prosecution branch has now been made independent and there is no official obligation to help the IOs make stronger chargesheets for higher conviction rates," said Singh.
We want the Home Department to expedite the implementation of the Lieutenant Governor's decision of 2013 on creation of separate legal cell - within Delhi Police - to scrutinise chargesheets. This would relieve the prosecution branch of the responsibility, he said.