Mumbai, Sep 7 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has ordered Maharashtra government to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to a 26-year-old man for illegal detention, reminding it of the state police’s motto to protect good and to punish evil.
The HC’s Nagpur bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Raj Wakode, in its August 31 judgment, said Akola police acted illegally by detaining petitioner Vaibhav Suryawanshi and has violated his fundamental rights.
In its order, the court said those who are called upon to administer the criminal law must bear in mind that they have a duty not merely to the individual accused before them but also to the State and to the community at large.
“It may not be out of context to remind that the motto of Maharashtra State Police is ‘Sadrakshnaya Khalanighrahanaya’ (to protect good and to punish evil), which needs to be respected,” HC said while ordering the state government to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the petitioner within eight weeks.
Such incidents involving police usually tend to deplete the confidence in the criminal justice system much more than those incidents involving private individuals, the HC said.
The petitioner had sought appropriate action against two Akola police officials for illegally detaining him and for violating his fundamental rights as well as compensation for his illegal detention.
As per the plea, Suryawanshi was detained by the police in March 2024 when he was at the hotel owned by his father and uncle.
The petition claimed that the two policemen first inquired about his uncle and demanded monthly payment. When Suryawanshi refused, he was verbally abused and taken into custody by the policemen.
The police claimed that a case under the Essential Commodities Act was lodged against him. Suryawanshi was allowed to go home the next day.
The HC, in its order, noted that the police failed to issue summons or a memo stating the grounds of arrest to Suryawanshi as mandated in law.
“When the police is violator of the law, whose primary responsibility is to protect the law, the punishment for such violation has to be proportionately stringent so as to have effective deterrent effect and instil confidence in the society,” the court said. PTI SP BNM
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