The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to compensate four individuals who were illegally held at a Deoria district police station for nearly 10 days. The court ordered that the 65,000-rupee compensation total be recovered directly from the salary of the responsible station house officer.
Financial Penalty And Missing Evidence
Justices Atul Sreedharan and Divesh Chandra Samant issued the financial directive while hearing a habeas corpus petition concerning the illegal confinement of the four individuals at the Gauri Bazar police station between April 13 and April 23, 2026. Under the compensation order, three of the petitioners will receive 20,000 rupees each, while the first petitioner will receive 5,000 rupees.
The ruling followed judicial reprimands regarding the absence of security footage from the facility. The bench had previously requested the recordings to verify the detention claims, but state representatives reported on September 2 that the equipment had malfunctioned just before the period in question.
Court Rejects Police Explanations
The missing evidence prompted the court to summon both the station house officer and the Deoria superintendent of police. During Wednesday’s proceedings, the station officer stated that the camera system broke down on April 12, 2026. However, he conceded that police records contained no general diary entry documenting any repair requests for the equipment.
The district superintendent informed the bench that he had not been notified about the camera malfunction. When questioned about disciplinary measures taken against the station officer, the superintendent indicated the officer had been transferred to the crime branch. The two-judge bench stated that this administrative transfer was an unsatisfactory response to the officer’s conduct.
