Allahabad HC Orders Two Lakh Compensation For Prayagraj Man Over Illegal Police Custody

The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a Prayagraj man after finding that he was kept in illegal police custody for eight days, while also directing that the amount be recovered from a senior police officer following disciplinary proceedings.

The ruling came on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Mansoor Ahmed and carries wider implications for police accountability in Uttar Pradesh. According to PTI, the court directed the state government to pay the compensation within six weeks and recover the amount from the assistant commissioner of police, Bara, Prayagraj, after conducting a disciplinary inquiry against him within three months.

A division bench of Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi also directed the commissioner of police (CP), Prayagraj Commissionerate, to file a compliance report on or before September 14. The court ordered the matter to be listed on the same date and warned that if its directions were not complied with, the CP would have to remain present before it on the next date of hearing, PTI reported.

The bench expressed concern over the functioning of the police commissionerate system in Prayagraj.

"This is a shocking state of affairs in the Commissionerate, Prayagraj. The Commissioner of Police has been given the powers of a magistrate, which are being misused to the hilt. This court has considered a similar situation in a case pertaining to the Commissionerate, Ghaziabad, (Chander Pal Singh and another Vs. State of UP) where the misuse of powers by the Commissioner of Police was also brought to the notice of the Court," the court said.

According to the petition, Krishan Mohan Singh, posted as station house officer (SHO), sub-inspector Umesh Singh and constables Ankit Singh and Tribhuwan Pandey allegedly forcibly entered Ahmed’s house and took him to the police station.

When Ahmed’s wife asked for the reason for his arrest, the policemen allegedly pushed her aside before taking him away. On the same day, Ahmed’s son, Shahrukh Khan, lodged a complaint against the policemen on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s Portal through his counsel, according to PTI.

The petition further alleged that when Ahmed’s wife and other family members reached the police station, they found that he had been badly beaten by policemen and was in a poor condition.

It said the family subsequently approached both the assistant commissioner of police and the commissioner of police, Prayagraj, seeking action, but no action was taken.

The habeas corpus petition was later filed on March 23.

In their reply, the police authorities said that under breach of peace proceedings, a detained person who does not execute personal bonds for maintaining peace is sent to judicial custody.

However, after examining the record, the court found there was no instance in which Ahmed had refused to execute a personal bond for not breaching peace, undermining the basis cited by the police for his detention.

(With inputs from PTI)