The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh state government to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a local resident who was held in illegal police custody for eight days.
A division bench comprising Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi directed that the compensation must be paid within six weeks. The court further ordered the state government to recover this amount from the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Bara, Prayagraj, following a formal disciplinary inquiry to be completed within three months.
Additionally, the court instructed the Prayagraj Commissioner of Police (CP) to submit a compliance report regarding the order on or before September 14. The bench warned that if the report is not filed by the deadline, the CP must appear in person before the court during the next hearing.
In its observations, the bench criticized the Prayagraj Police Commissionerate, describing the situation as deeply concerning. The court noted that the magisterial powers granted to the Police Commissioner were being heavily abused, drawing a comparison to a similar case of power misuse previously identified within the Ghaziabad Commissionerate.
Allegations of Police Assault and Bureaucratic Inaction
The court’s directives came during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed on March 23 on behalf of the resident, Mansoor Ahmad. According to the petition, Station House Officer Krishan Mohan Singh, Sub-Inspector Umesh Singh, and constables Ankit Singh and Tribhuwan Pandey entered Ahmad’s home by force and took him to the police station. Ahmad’s wife was allegedly pushed aside by the officers when she questioned the reasons for his arrest.
On the day of the arrest, Ahmad’s son, Shahrukh Khan, submitted a formal complaint against the police officers via his legal counsel through the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Portal. When family members later visited the police station, they found Ahmad severely beaten and in poor physical condition. Although the family escalated the matter to both the local ACP and the Prayagraj CP, no administrative action was taken at the time.
Court Dismisses Peace Proceeding Defense
In their legal response, police authorities contended that Ahmad was detained under breach of peace proceedings. They argued that under these proceedings, individuals are placed in judicial custody if they fail to execute personal bonds to guarantee they will maintain peace.
Upon reviewing the case records, however, the High Court found no evidence to support this claim. The bench noted that there was no record of Ahmad ever refusing to sign a personal bond to keep the peace, thereby rendering his eight-day detention entirely unlawful.
