Brothers roaming without mask in lockdown beat up policeman, HC refuses to quash FIR

The Delhi High Court has refused to quash an FIR against two men accused of assaulting a policeman on being stopped for loitering without masks during the lockdown, saying the breach of restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic might result in loss of millions of lives.

The court said the charges against the two men are unquestionably serious and their acts, if found true, are inherently inimical to public and societal interest as a whole.

Breach of the lockdown restrictions, imposed by the Government, which, if permitted unchecked, may result in loss of lives of millions, and cannot be tolerated for an instance, Justice C Hari Shankar said, conducting the hearing through video conferencing.

While the two brothers alleged atrocities by the police, the FIR showed that they were roaming around without face masks and had beaten up the official on the evening of April 20.

When the police official stopped one of the brothers and queried him on the reason for roaming outside, he ...