Illegal detention: HC awards Ropar woman, daughter ₹1-lakh each

While awarding the compensation, bench ordered the amount may be recovered from the erring police officials

The Punjab and Haryana high court has awarded ₹1-lakh compensation each to a Rupnagar woman and her daughter, who in 2019 were illegally detained by the district police for two days without making any entry in official records.

The high court bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice HS Sidhu while awarding the compensation ordered that the amount may be recovered from the erring officials. “If such an action is condoned, it would be prone to grave misuse. The requirements of law and the procedures have to be strictly complied with,” the bench observed, terming the detention illegal.

The division bench was answering a criminal reference made by a single judge on the plea of Parneet Kaur, who on September 4, 2019, approached the HC with a plea, seeking release of her mother Harvinder Kaur and sister Rupinder Kaur from the detention of Rupnagar police.

The HC appointed a warrant officer, who visited the police station the same evening and found both the woman, but not in the lockup. The warrant officer did not find any entry in the police station’s records, and on enquiring from the two, he was told they were kept there for “protection”.

The single judge taking note of these facts had referred the matter to the division bench for appropriate orders, observing that even if it is accepted that some persons had tried to cause harm to them, the women could not be kept in the police station for two days without even making an entry and without informing the district/area magistrate.

Were kept there in good faith: Police

According to police, the women had complained of a theft at their house on September 2 and named some individuals of the village.

When police reached there, some villagers started abusing and beating them, and cops had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Some cops were also injured. The women were then taken to the police station, where they were permitted to stay back until the situation got normalised, police had argued.

However, there were allegations from the women’s family that police were also making enquires about Harvinder Kaur’s husband, Parvinder Singh, who is at large and wanted in a murder case.

The division bench did not accept the argument of police that it was not a case of illegal detention and both were rescued by police from their village and kept in “good faith to protect their lives” from an angry mob.