The facts of the case: at around 11.30 pm on September 18, Ramchandra Poojari, employed as a waiter at Hotel Sundar Vilas on Dharavi's 90 feet road, dropped into Hotel Sudarshan down the road with his colleagues for dinner. September 18 being a dry day, Hotel Sunder Vilas had shut shop. Poojari and his colleagues ordered Limca along with their food. At that point, an externment officer of the Dharavi police station entered the hotel along with his staff. Assuming that Poojari and the others were consuming liquor, they inspected the contents of their glasses. The policemen were satisfied with the contents, but took Poojari and his colleagues to the police station because they ``gave evasive answers'' to queries.

In the police station, the detenues were handed over to the detection staff forenquiry. The accused, head constable Raghunath Gyanu Sutar and constables Manohar Nivrutti Gaikwad and Krishna Shripat Uttekar, were present in the detention cell. After the externment officer left, Sutar allegedly started abusing and slapping Poojari and his colleague Damodar Shetty. Sutar then allegedly unzipped his trousers and asked Poojari to perform oral sex on him. The accused then forcibly inserted his penis into Poojari's mouth. Gaikwad caught hold of Poojari by his hair and forced him to perform oral sex on Sutar. Uttekar beat up Poojari with his belt.

Poojari and his colleagues were let off at 2 am after the externment officer returned. While none of them said anything to the officer, Poojari related his experience to his employer, Suresh Shetty, who took him to Sion Hospital for medical examination. Poojari was later hospitalised at the Mata Laxmi Hospital at Sion. Shetty later filed a police complaint.

The constables were charged under sections 324 (voluntarily harming someone with a sharpedged instrument), 377 (unnatural offence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. ``The accused persons have indulged in a heinous and unnatural act while on duty which has brought a bad name to the department ... (if the accused are granted anticipatory bail) it will create fear in the minds of the witnesses...'' said the police while opposing anticipatory bail for the accused. Public Prosecutor Vasanti Joshi appeared for the state.

Barely a month ago, Chief Justice of India, Dr A S Anand had cautioned the police force against the use of third degree methods, ``Increasing incidence of torture and death in custody have assumed such alarming proportions that it is affecting the credibility of the rule of Law and criminal justice system,'' the CJ had said at a seminar in New Delhi on Torture: A Challenge to the Health, Legal and Other Professions.