ACP held guilty of contempt, censured

CHENNAI: A cop who closed a file without proper investigation has been slapped with a contempt charge by the Madras High Court. Narsimhavarman, then Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Adyar Range, was held guilty of  contempt of court though in consideration for his future, the court did not impose any punishment of imprisonment or fine. M Muruganandham had lodged a complaint against his son, born through his first wife, and a case was registered for offences under Sections 428, 379 and 506(ii) of the IPC by the Adyar police on May 26, 2010. As there was no progress, he moved the high court and a single judge directed the Commissioner of Police to hand over the investigation to ACP Narasimhavarman on December 1, 2010. However, the ACP closed the case as ‘mistake of fact’. Hence, the petition to punish the ACP for contempt. During the pendency of the case, the ACP justified his stand, but also tendered an unconditional apology.Holding the ACP guilty under Sec 12 of the Contempt of Court Act, Justice T Mathivanan observed there could not be both justification and apology. The two were incompatible. Apology was not a weapon of defence to operate as universal panacea. It was intended to be evidence of real contriteness. Holding that the action of the ACP was deliberate, the judge rejected his apology.