Srinagar, Feb 9 The J&K and Ladakh High Court has taken a serious note of the Station House Officer of Sopore police station for not complying with the court order and directed the SHO to appear in person.
Terming the non-compliance by the police officer as ‘ridiculing the court direction’, the high court has directed his personal appearance before the court.
The matter pertained to the execution of bailable warrants in a bail cancellation matter. The direction came from Justice Rahul Bharti while hearing a bail application filed by the Union Territory through Police Station Sopore seeking cancellation of the same granted to one Isharat Ahmad Mir in an NDPS case.
The case pertains to FIR No. 30/2023 registered under Sections 8 and 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, at Police Station Sopore.
The accused, Isharat Ahmad Mir, was granted regular bail by the Additional Sessions Judge, Sopore, on August 8, 2024, after having remained in custody since February 23, 2023.
The bail was granted subject to several conditions, including that the accused shall not leave the UT of J&K without prior permission of the court, shall not repeat the offence, shall furnish his contact details and residence information, and shall not influence or intimidate prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution was also given liberty to seek cancellation of bail in case of violation of conditions. Subsequently, the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of UT of J&K, accorded sanction on November 25, 2024, for filing a petition under Section 439(2) read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking cancellation of bail.
The petition was filed before the High Court on December 31, 2024. When the respondent failed to appear despite issuance of notice, the High Court, by order dated October 29, 2025, issued bailable warrants of Rs 10,000 for securing his presence and directed the SHO concerned to execute the warrants.
However, a return report dated November 10, 2025, submitted by Police Station Sopore stated that the accused had been taken into preventive detention and lodged in District Jail Kathua.
The report further mentioned that he was detained on July 17, 2025, by order of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.
Expressing displeasure, the High Court observed that the SHO was mandated to execute the bailable warrants and serve them upon the respondent, even if he was in custody.
Instead of visiting District Jail Kathua for service of the warrants, the SHO returned the process to the Court without executing it.
The Court remarked that such conduct “renders him unamenable to suffer criminal contempt because of interference with the administration of justice”.
Accordingly, the Court directed the SHO Police Station Sopore to appear in person on the next date of hearing and ordered that a copy of the order be provided for compliance. The matter has been listed for February 20.
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