UP Cop Hunts For Judge Instead Of Accused In Bizarre Mix-Up Of Court Order

A police constable in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad went hunting for a judge after writing down her name in place of the accused man on the proclamation order in a theft case. 

The mix-up happened last month when sub-inspector Banwarilal was assigned to serve a court notice to theft suspect Rajkumar, reported NDTV. However, he informed the chief judicial magistrate, Nagma Khan that the accused "Nagma Khan" could not be found at her home despite a "thorough search". 

Not only did he mixed up the names but also called the proclamation order as a non-bailable warrant (NBW) in front of the judge. 

"When the attached NBW (non-bailable warrant) was served by me, then a thorough search was done at the mentioned address of Nagma Khan, and no accused of this name lives at the said address. Therefore, you are requested to please pass further orders," the cop told the court. 

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'Quite Bizarre' 

In her March 24 order, Magistrate Khan pulled up the cop calling out the mix-up "quite bizarre". She also said that Banwarilal had "little to no idea of what was sent by this court, who exactly sent it and against whom".

"Without giving an inch of attention to the process, he first carelessly mentions the proclamation as an NBW and he then just wrote the name of the presiding officer quite blindly," she said.

The judge further said that the constable lacked basic knowledge on his part of what was asked in the proclamation order issued under Section 82 CrPC. 

"It seems he has not even read it properly. Such patent and grave error on his part reflects poorly on his working as a police officer as he knows nothing of the duties enjoined on him," the judge added.

Magistrate Khan also advised the police officer serving court notices to "exercise the highest level of care" as these processes "entail heavy consequences".

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