Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has ordered the Maharashtra government to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to a lawyer and an ex-serviceman who were handcuffed and paraded in public, ruling that the two were subjected to “unwarranted humiliation and indignity”.
In an order passed by the Nagpur bench of the high court on Tuesday, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, the court said that such actions by law enforcement deplete public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The bench of Justices Urmila Joshi Phalke and Nivedita Mehta found that the petitioners, lawyer Yogeshwar Kawade and ex-serviceman Avinash Date, were humiliated when they were handcuffed and transported on a state transport bus from a police station in Amravati to a tehsildar’s office for their bail hearing.
The court reminded the force of its core principles, saying, “The motto of Maharashtra State Police is ‘Sadrakshnaya Khalanighrahanaya’ (to protect good and to punish evil), which needs to be respected.” It ordered the government to pay the compensation within eight weeks.
The court said those persons who administer law must bear in mind that they have a duty not merely to the accused and victim but also to the state and community at large.
Such incidents involving police usually tend to deplete the confidence in our criminal justice system much more than those incidents involving private individuals, the court said.
In their petition, Kawade and Date said they had gone to the Talegaon police station in Amravati district in August 2010 to lodge a complaint against a man who had allegedly caused damage to Date’s car.
The man filed a cross-complaint alleging that the two manhandled him and threatened him.
The petitioners claimed that the police illegally detained them after midnight based on the man’s complaint and were stripped and made to sit in their undergarments. The next day, the police allegedly handcuffed the duo and took them to the tahsildar’s office on a state transport bus.
The tehsildar directed the police to remove the handcuffs and granted the duo bail.
The petition said the police action of handcuffing the petitioners had caused damage to their reputation, contending that it was also against the law as they were not habitual offenders or hardened criminals.
The Amaravati Superintendent of Police submitted to the court that an inquiry was conducted against the errant policemen and necessary action was taken.
The HC, however, held that in such offences the victim needs to be compensated monetarily as well.
Where there is infringement of the fundamental right, the court cannot be stopped by giving a mere declaration that action has been taken. The court must proceed further and give compensatory relief for the wrong done, said the judges.
To repair the wrong done and give judicial redress for legal injury is a compulsion of judicial conscience, said. PTI SP SKL NR NP
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