The Allahabad High Court has come down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for persisting with an investigation in a kidnapping case even after the alleged victim stated before a magistrate that she had left home voluntarily. The court imposed a cost of ₹75,000 on the state government for what it termed as an unjustified continuation of the probe.
A division bench of Justice Abdul Moin and Justice Babita Rani passed the order on October 30 while hearing a petition filed by Umed alias Ubaid Khan and others, seeking to quash an FIR registered against them in Bahraich district under Section 140 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to kidnapping for murder.
According to the order, the woman was traced and produced before a Judicial Magistrate on September 19, where she stated that she had travelled to Delhi on her own to meet her daughter, adding that her husband used to beat her and that she had not been kidnapped or coerced in any way. She also made no mention of religious conversion.
Despite this categorical statement, the police continued their investigation and kept the petitioner, Umed, in jail since his arrest on September 18, the bench observed.
Holding that there was “no justification for continuing the probe when the woman herself had not supported the prosecution’s case,” the court quashed the FIR registered on September 13 and ordered Umed’s immediate release, provided he was not required in any other case.
The bench also remarked that the petitioner had been kept in custody on the basis of a false FIR.
The High Court directed the state government to pay ₹50,000 from the imposed cost to petitioner Umed and deposit the remaining ₹25,000 with the High Court Legal Services Committee.
The order, made available on Tuesday, underscores the court’s disapproval of arbitrary investigations continued despite clear evidence contradicting the prosecution’s case.
