A Delhi court has directed the station house officer of the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station to file a first information report against Inspector Sumit Kumar for alleged custodial torture of a person accused in a passport forgery case, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

Nishit Kumar Rajendrabhai Patel, the person accused in the forgery case, was produced before the court on Saturday after he was arrested. Patel alleged that he had been physically tortured while in police custody.

Patel has been accused of forging the identity of several passport holders to travel illegally to countries such as the United Kingdom and Nepal.

In a private examination, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pranav Joshi of the Patiala House Court observed bruises on Patel’s arms and feet. In an order dated Tuesday, the judge noted that the “prima facie allegations of the physical torture were substantiated”.

The Delhi Police had sought a 10-day remand, which the court rejected.

Joshi stated in his order: “The injuries found on the body of the accused directly hint at custodial violence being committed upon the accused.”

The court directed the station house officer to register an FIR against Kumar under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to voluntarily causing grievous hurt, wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort property.

Joshi also noted that Dr Aman Gahlot of Indira Gandhi Hospital, who prepared Patel’s medico-legal report, appeared to “have conspired with the police officials” by “deliberately ignoring the injuries of the accused” and submitting a false report showing no injuries.

The judge directed the police to register an FIR against Gahlot under a section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment. The doctor has also been booked under a section pertaining to public servants framing incorrect record to save a person from punishment.

The deputy commissioner of police, Indira Gandhi International Airport, submitted a report seeking more time to conduct a detailed inquiry.

Joshi concluded his order by quoting former United States President Abraham Lincoln: “If you once forfeit the confidence of our fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”