Legal Rights Forum‘s latest case involves police corruption and violation of legal rights. An eye witness recorded the license-plate number of a getaway car. The witness says that of the five accused, three fled on foot while the other two escaped in the car. However upon receiving a bribe from the accused, the police effectively erased the license-plate number and any mention of the car from police records. They then recorded a new license plate number for the getaway car – that of a rental car – and identified seven new suspects. The police submitted this misinformation in their final report. To make matters worse, the police have been accused of serious violations of the rights of the accused; in addition to physically abusing the suspects, the police did not ensure that the identification process was carried out by a magistrate, as required by law, but instead illegally went through the process in the police station.

The LRF filed a bail application, in addition to arguing for the release of the suspects based on Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that the accused can be acquitted at any stage, “Where the charge is groundless and there is no possibility of conviction of the accused.” The verdict of the case is still to be determined.