Now let us return to the story of Shanti and answer the following questions:
(a) When Shanti was arrested for theft, S.I. Rao also kept her brother Sushil in the police lock up for two days. Was it legal for the police to detain him? Does it violate the D.K. Basu guidelines?
(b) Did S.I. Rao do enough to question witnesses and compile evidence before arresting Shanti and filing a case against her? In keeping with the duties of the police as stated above, what else do you think S.I. Rao could have done as part of his investigation?
(a) No, it was not legal to detain him as he didn’t commit any crime and police cannot punish someone who is innocent.
(b) No, Inspector S.I. Rao did not questioned the witness much and neither he collected enough evidences before arresting Shanti and filing case against her.
He could have questioned the owner of the chain regarding its absence like where was the chain last seen, who has seen that chain etc. which would help him not only getting the chain back but also right culprit.