INDIA: Human rights activist charge sheeted upon allegedly false charges

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation based in West Bengal, India that one of MASUM’s staff has been charge sheeted by the local police on allegedly fabricated charges. Mr. Gopen Sharma works with MASUM from Murshidabad district. It is alleged that Gopen is continuously harassed by the local police to deter him from reporting abuses committed by the police officers.

CASE DETAILS:

It is reported that on 1 August 2007 Mr. Gopen was charge sheeted yet again by the Jalangi police station under the direction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Baharampur of Murshidabad district in West Bengal. It is alleged that the complainant in the case Mr. Shanti Ranjan Mondal was not even present at the court while the complaint allegedly filed by Shanti was taken up by the court.

It is alleged that upon receipt of the complaint, the Chief Judicial Magistrate on 1 August 2007 ordered the complaint to be forwarded to the Jalangi Police Station vide the court’s memo number 634/2007 dated August 1, 2007 to register the complaint as a First Information Report and to register a case against Gopen for an offense under Section 420 [Cheating] of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is reported that the allegation in the complaint is that Gopen has accepted Rupees 6000.00 [150 USD] from Shanti promising him that Gopen would arrange for a telephone connection for Shanti. This is however denied by Gopen.

It is alleged that the main intention behind the filing of such a frivolous complaint is that the local police officers are annoyed by Gopen reporting abuses committed by these officers to various human rights groups and the government. It is also alleged that the lower court has also connived with the police so as to entertain the complaint and to consider it in the absence of the complainant.

It is also alleged that Mr. Swapan Saha and Mr. Tuhin Biswas, two police officers with the rank ‘Sub Inspector of police’ are entertaining grievances against Gopen particularly because Gopen has challenged these officers in the past for their misuse of authority. It is also reported that one of the witnesses named in the complaint filed against Gopen, Mr. Surya Kanta Sarkar is in fact an accused in a case at the Jalangi Police Station [Crime 83/2007] which Gopen has been pursuing. This is a case of alleged murder of a woman Ms. Saptami Sarkar, wife of Mr. Joyprakash Sarkar. Surya is the brother of Joyprakash. It is alleged that Gopen was pursing this case and has also found out that the sister of Surya, the witness in the case filed against Gopen is also the brother of Ms. Mira Sarkar, a woman Police Constable.

The AHRC in the recent past has reported several other instances where Gopen was accused of several other false charges. In some cases Gopen was arrested and detained in custody and later released. For further information please see UA-59-2005, UP-44-2005, UA-161-2005, UA-375-2006, UA-045-2007, UP-025-2007 and UA-188-2007.

Of particular importance is the case where Gopen was detained merely for writing down the presiding officer’s name. This case is UA-188-2007. Form the circumstances in which Gopen has worked so far and his past experiences with the local court and the police officers, it is just and reasonable to suspect that this case too is yet another attempt by the local authorities to silence Gopen and to force him to stop working on human rights issues.

The AHRC is concerned about the continuing harassment of Gopen Sharma by the authorities in Murshidabad. The AHRC is also concerned about Gopen’s safety, in case he is arrested and detained by the police.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below, particularly to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to ensure that the alleged abuse of authority against Mr. Gopen Sharma by the local court as well as the police officers is checked. The case registered against Gopen, if found fabricated and based on a false charge, must be dropped and actions taken against the police officers and the lower court judge who are instrumental for registering false cases against Gopen.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER