The Patna High Court has quashed a 17-year-old assault case against Dilip Kumar, the former District Magistrate (DM) of Bettiah, declaring the charges "retaliatory, vexatious and an abuse of process". Justice Sourendra Pandey, on September 4, 2025, allowed Kumar's plea to set aside a Bettiah magistrate's order from August 13, 2024, which had recognized offenses including assault, wrongful confinement, defamation, and promoting enmity under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These sections included 295A, 298, 323, 342, 427, 500, and 504.
The case originated from a complaint filed by Brajraj Srivastava, a local advocate practicing at Bettiah Civil Court. Srivastava alleged that during a Peace Committee meeting convened by the state administration to defuse tensions between two communities, Dilip Kumar abused and manhandled him, tore his shirt collar, and had him wrongfully detained. He further claimed that he was assaulted at the police station and remanded to custody under the DM's instructions. Nearly a week after being released from jail, Srivastava filed a complaint, leading to the 2024 order summoning Kumar to face trial.
Kumar, represented by senior advocate Mriganka Datta, argued that the allegations were fabricated as a means of settling scores after Srivastava was arrested for disrupting communal harmony. He maintained that he acted solely in his official capacity as District Magistrate to maintain law and order. As such, Kumar argued that prosecution required sanction from the government under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which had not been obtained.
The High Court found merit in Kumar's arguments. The court observed that the former DM was carrying out preventive measures to defuse tension between two communities. It held that continuing criminal proceedings without the necessary sanction would amount to an abuse of the legal process. The court concluded that the complaint was not filed due to any genuine grievance but to personally harass the former District Magistrate. Consequently, the court quashed the Bettiah magistrate's order of August 13, 2024, effectively ending the criminal proceedings against Kumar, which had been pending since 2008. The High Court observed that the case was frivolous and an attempt to harass the ex-DM.
