Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on September 2 imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Vesu Police Inspector R Y Raval in the hearing of the contempt of court charges for ignoring a judicial order.

Both the individuals, Raval and Surat Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Deepa Thakar, appeared before the SC’s division bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta.

Magistrate Thakar offered an unconditional apology to the apex court, citing her 14-year spotless career record. Taking this into consideration, her apology was accepted. In contrast, PI Raval was fined for his actions.

A fraud case that led to contempt charges

In the fraud case filed at Surat’s Vesu police station in Surat, an accused was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in December 2023.

However, despite this order, the accused, Tushar Shah, had complained that he was arrested and brought before a Surat court, where police obtained his remand and allegedly threatened to extort ₹1.65 cr from him.

Following this, the SC came down heavily against the concerned authorities in a hearing in January this year and remarked, “Let the magistrate and the investigating officer (IO) come and explain how the remand orders were passed.”

Days after this verdict, Surat police commissioner Ajay Kumar Tomar suspended PI Raval.

Thereafter, on August 7, the SC held the duo guilty of contempt and instructed them to be present for the sentencing, which took place on September 2.

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