Police gunning down man at Zaheerabad: HC uphold’s revisional court order declaring it act of private defence

The Telangana High Court had dismissed a criminal petition challenging a revisional court’s direction setting aside a magistrate order for issue of process against two police personnel, one of whom gunned down a person attempting robbery at Zaheerabad 22 years ago. 

Justice Juvvadi Sridevi of the HC said there were no grounds to interfere with the order passed by the revisional court. As per the records, a police officer (now Deputy Superintendent of Police) P. Sreedhar Reddy and constable N. Gopal (along with other policemen) were on patrolling duty on the intervening night of May 20 and 21 of 2003 when they got information that theives broke into some shops in Zaheerabad. 

When they entered a grocery store, one of the offenders later identified as Mohammed Shafi snatched the rifle of Gopal when Sreedhar Reddy fired four rounds at him resulting in Shafi’s death. A magisterial inquiry report said the officer fired in self defence. The action was justified and said to be not excessive. 

Following a protest complaint by Lateef Mohammed Khan, the CID conducted an inquiry and concluded that the police officer fired in private defence. Eventually, Mohammed Khan filed a protest petition before the Zaheerabad Judicial Magistrate of First Class court which passed an order for issue of process (issuing summon or warrant after taking cognisance of offence and finding sufficient grounds to proceed) against the DSP and constable. 

The two police personnel moved the Revisional Court (Principal Sessions Judge at Medak, Sangareddy) which set aside the magistrate order. Challenging this, Mohammed Khan filed the criminal petition. He sought quashing of the revisional court order and a direction to conduct trial of murder case against the DSP and the constable. 

The judge held that there was no credible material on record to form a prima facie opinion that the two policemen had committed the crime of a murder. On the contrary, the material strongly indicated that the incident occurred in circumstance of private defence while the police officers were discharging their official duties, the judge said in the order.