Chandigarh, April 8 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has acquitted three Haryana cops booked for negligence after a prisoner escaped Ambala police custody in 2010, holding that the absence of necessary resources made it unreasonable to blame the officers. The HC bench of justice Sanjay Vashisth observed that providing facilities for safe custody is the responsibility of the administration, particularly as the accused are not ordinarily required to be handcuffed. In the case at hand, three cops Baljinder Singh, Darbara Singh and Daljit Singh were booked for negligence leading to a prisoner escaping from custody. The incident took place in February 2010, when an under-trial, Sandeep Kumar, along with another accused Satnam Singh was being taken to court. The incident had resulted in a criminal case being registered against the three cops under Section 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, where the punishment could be up to two years. The trial court acquitted them but the appellate court of additional sessions judge, Ambala, held them guilty. It was against this order that the trio were in HC. The court observed that it can't overlook the testimony of the investigating officer (IO) who had admitted that the cops had cited the absence of handcuffs as the main reason for the undertrial escaping custody. It also came to light that no government wireless sets or firearms were provided to the officers responsible for thecustody of the accused. ".in a situation where a prisoner pre-plans an escape-by, for instance, requesting to go for urination, it would beunreasonable to expect a police official to act effectively,especially in the absence of a vehicle, arms, or otherresources. In such circumstances, any fault must largely be attributed to the police administration, which failed to provide the necessary means for ensuring secure custody or for promptly regaining control over the accused," the court said while quashing Ambala court judgment....