A court in Kerala has strongly criticised the police for arresting a man who had only 10 millilitres of liquor. The Manjeri Sessions Court expressed shock that the man, a barber, was put in jail for seven days over such a tiny amount. The judge, K. Sanilkumar, questioned the real motives of the police officer involved and granted the man bail on Saturday, 1st November.
The whole issue started when the Valanchery Police arrested the barber. They found a bottle with just 10 millilitres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in his barbershop. Because of this, the police charged him with a serious crime under Section 55(a)(i) of the Abkari Act, claiming he was keeping the liquor for sale. This charge led to the man being held in judicial custody for a full week before he even got a bail hearing.
During the bail hearing, Judge Sanilkumar pointed out how strange the police’s case was. He noted that the Abkari Act itself clearly allows any person to legally possess up to three litres of IMFL for their own personal use. The judge was baffled as to why the police would arrest someone for 10 millilitres, an amount vastly smaller than the legal limit and then charge them with intending to sell it.
The court didn’t stop there. Judge Sanilkumar said the police officer’s actions were “excessive and questionable.” The judge also highlighted that the accused man comes from a socially and economically disadvantaged section of society. This made the court suspect the real motives of the investigating officer for trapping the man in such a serious case.
The judge even made a sarcastic suggestion, wondering if the 10ml of liquor found in the barbershop was perhaps being used by the barber as an aftershave to be applied to his customers.
In the final order, the judge stated that the investigating officer overstepped his limits and showed a zeal that was both excessive and questionable. The order famously said, “Such an incident has no place in the world’s greatest democracy, and can happen only in a banana republic.”
The court insisted that the officer must be sensitised in these matters, especially when dealing with disadvantaged people. The judge also urged senior police officials to look into the officer’s conduct.
The court granted bail to the petitioner, ordering him to execute a bond of ₹10,000 with two solvent sureties. He must also follow standard bail conditions, which include not interfering with any witnesses or evidence and not getting involved in any other offences while out on bail.
