Tendency To Settle The Dispute In The Street Is Contrary To 'Rule Of Law', Says Himachal Pradesh HC [Read Order]

Tendency to settle the dispute in the street is contrary to the aim of establishment of 'Rule of Law' and to form a civilized society, remarked the Himachal Pradesh High Court in a recent judgment.

Justice Vivek Singh Thakur observed thus while considering anticipatory bail pleas of persons who were allegedly involved in a street fight which resulted in serious injury to the complainants. Some complaints were lodged against the accused. The state opposed the plea stating that the incident is likely to percolate as a communal issue.

Referring to the CCTV footage placed on record, the Court noted that the incident had taken place in broad daylight, where two persons were beaten in presence of mass gathering by calling other assailants through mobile call and out of that mass gathering some persons were actively participating and some persons were silently either supporting or viewing the incident as some appeared to be silent spectators. Persons, who came to rescue the victims, were also beaten on the spot and victims who managed to flee from the spot were also chased and beaten along with those, who came to rescue them, it said. The Court observed:

Such incidents are blur on the civilized society. Even if, there was a grudge against the victims, assailants would not have taken law in their hands, but should have reported to the appropriate authority or their elders so as to resolve the issue. Tendency to settle the dispute in the street is contrary to the aim of establishment of 'Rule of Law' and to form a civilized society. The means and manner to resolve dispute in present case, are definitely highly depricable.

The court said that the accused, except one of them named Khalid, are not entitled to get anticipatory bail. 

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