Varanasi: Varanasi’s Special Court under the SC/ST Act on Monday ordered the arrest of circle officer (CO) Sirathu Satyendra Prasad Tiwari and directed that he be produced before the court after repeated non-appearance as a prosecution witness in a 2018 criminal case. The court also ordered that his salary be withheld until further directions.
Special public prosecutor (SC/ST) Satyendra Sinha told the court that Tiwari was asked to join proceedings through video conferencing on Aug 13, but cited participation in a Tiranga Yatra and did not testify. He was again scheduled to appear via video link on Aug 24 but remained absent. After a final opportunity to appear on Sept 1 was also missed, defence counsel Abhishek Kumar Dubey objected to the repeated absence. The court observed that the witness appeared to be deliberately avoiding proceedings and ordered his arrest and production by Sept 10.
The order was passed in the sessions trial, State vs Taufiq Alam Ansari, in which Tiwari served as the investigating officer. His testimony, along with that of a doctor, was required to be recorded as part of the evidence. Special judge Sudhakar Rai noted that multiple summons had been issued to secure Tiwari’s presence, but he failed to appear each time.