Today, the Kerala High Court found a police officer guilty under the Contempt of Courts Act for reportedly using offensive language and shouting expletives at an advocate.

The Court also imposed a two-month jail sentence on the officer. However, the execution of this sentence is suspended, provided he does not commit any similar offenses over the next year.

Justice Devan Ramachandran delivered the sentence to VR Rineesh, a sub-inspector at the Alathur police station. The Court underscored that this ruling should serve as a stern warning to all police personnel regarding the serious repercussions of showing disrespect towards legal professionals.

"Every officer should hear this and know that the Kerala High Court has punished a police for contempt. Let this be an example to all," the Court said

The order was issued by the Court while addressing multiple petitions related to police misconduct, including one from the Kerala High Court Advocate Association (KHCAA). This petition called for a fast-track mechanism to handle complaints against police misconduct, prompted by the incident in Alathur involving SI Rineesh, who allegedly used abusive language towards an advocate.

Despite the police officer's unconditional apology, the Court remained skeptical, questioning the sincerity of the apology and highlighting the police force's repeated disregard for previous court orders and directives aimed at curbing such misconduct.

The police officer subsequently submitted a second affidavit offering an unconditional apology. However, the Court noted today that this apology lacked the immediacy and impact of one that would have been offered right after the incident.

"At least the 2nd affidavit of the first respondent, offers an unconditional apology though it is unfortunate that he chose to make a reserved and conditional apology in his 1st affidavit. As rightly argued by Sri Yeshwant Shenoy, learned counsel for the petitioner, the true mark of a proper apology is whether it was offered at the first instance, and going by such yardstick, it perhaps can be construed that the 1st Respondent was rather ingenious through his approach," the Court said.

Consequently, the Court suspended the officer for one year and sentenced him to two months of simple imprisonment. This sentence is contingent upon the condition that he refrains from engaging in any further actions that would constitute an offense under the Contempt of Courts Act.