Allahabad High Court Slams UP Police Over Scripted FIRs in Cow Slaughter Cases (Photo: The Quint)

By The Quint

The Allahabad High Court recently criticised the Uttar Pradesh Police for filing first information reports (FIRs) in cow slaughter cases that contained dramatic language and inconsistencies. The court examined an FIR registered at Tadiyawan Police Station in Hardoi district, which described events using phrases and dialogues more commonly found in movie scripts than in official police documents.

According to Bar and Bench, the Bench of Justice Abdul Moin and Justice Babita Rani noted that the FIR included statements such as “Police aa gayi hai, bhago” (the police has come, run), “Police wale bina mare peecha nahi chodege” (police won’t leave us without killing us), and “Kaan ke paas se sann se goli nikal kar gayi” (bullet whizzed past the ear). The court questioned whether the police were documenting actual events or simply reproducing lines from film scripts.

The court observed that the pattern of using such language in FIRs was disturbing as highlighted in the proceedings. The judges pointed out that similar dramatic descriptions had appeared in previous FIRs related to cow slaughter, raising concerns about the authenticity and reliability of these reports.

In its order, the court stated, “The police personnel are either having a script in front of them and they are adopting it with a few minor changes here and there or else something is seriously wrong with the police personnel wherein such FIRs are being lodged left and right which appear to be borrowing the words from movie scripts. We need not say anything more at this stage.”

“The police personnel are either having a script in front of them and they are adopting it with a few minor changes here and there or else something is seriously wrong with the police personnel wherein such FIRs are being lodged left and right which appear to be borrowing the words from movie scripts. We need not say anything more at this stage,” the court noted.

The court also referenced a previous case where an FIR recorded that accused persons were heard saying “Ujala hone wala hai” (it is about to dawn) at 10:45 am, despite the incident allegedly occurring in broad daylight. The judges described such allegations as “fanciful and highly exaggerated” in their analysis.

This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.