By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun 11 Dec: The State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) has held former IPS officer Lokeshwar Singh guilty in a case of illegal detention and custodial assault, including stripping of the victim, while he was SP in Pithoragarh. The Authority has recommended disciplinary action against him to the Uttarakhand Government’s Home Department and has also directed that he be given an adequate opportunity to present his defence. The case has once again brought into focus the general complacency of the government in taking strict action against police officers and bureaucrats, even when serious complaints are made against them.
It may be recalled that the complainant, Lakshmi Datt Joshi, a resident of Mangalam Garments, Purana Bazar, Pithoragarh, had lodged a complaint with the District Police Complaints Authority, Nainital, on 8 February 2023. Joshi alleged that on 6 February 2023, he was severely beaten inside the SP’s office by then SP Pithoragarh, Lokeshwar Singh, and six other police personnel, causing significant injuries that were documented in his medical and X-ray reports. Despite the gravity of the allegations, Joshi reportedly had to run from pillar to post for justice, as no senior police officer appeared willing to hear him. It was only after he approached the State Police Complaints Authority that the case gained institutional attention, eventually leading to this verdict.
It may also be reminded that while the accused IPS officer Lokeshwar did not personally appear before the Authority, he responded by submitting an affidavit in April, 2023 where he had claimed that Joshi was a person with a criminal history and cited cases registered under the Juvenile Justice Act in Kotwali Pithoragarh, a case of obstructing official work and assault in Champawat, the Goonda Act, and criminal intimidation in Kotwali Pithoragarh. Singh claimed that Joshi had been called only for questioning in connection with a vehicle arson case in the Kotwali area, and also claimed that no assault had taken place on 6 February 2023.
However, in his counter-affidavit filed on 26 May 2023, the complainant alleged that Singh had misused his position and conspired with local political leaders to register false cases against him. He maintained that all the cases against him were sub judice and that he had not been convicted in any. He further claimed that one of the victims in the matter was the son of a sanitation worker employed in the Police Department. Joshi reiterated that he had been assaulted in custody on 6 February in connection with a fabricated arson case, and that at the time, no case was registered against him. It may be shared here that over nearly three years of hearings before the SPCA, both parties were summoned several times to present their statements.
The bench comprising Justice NS Dhanik, Chairperson of the SPCA, and members Pushpak Jyoti, Ajay Joshi, Mohan Chandra, and Daya Shankar Pandey delivered its judgement. Based on the material presented, the bench concluded that then SP Lokeshwar Singh was indeed guilty of calling the victim to his office, stripping and assaulting him, and detaining him in the office for a considerable duration. The Authority ordered that its recommendation for disciplinary action be forwarded to the Home Department. It also instructed the State Government to initiate proceedings against Singh while allowing him a fair opportunity for a hearing.
However, the development has prompted fresh concerns about whether any serious action will actually be taken. Singh resigned from police service on 14 October 2025 and is currently serving in a national organisation affiliated with the United Nations. It has also come to light that he was cleared for a foreign posting with the UN by the Centre only last month. This sequence of events raises significant questions over the likelihood of prompt or effective action in the case, given the government’s perceived reluctance to act decisively against erring officers in the police and bureaucracy.
