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Delhi HC orders ₹50,000 compensation to man illegally detained for 30 minutes
The bench said that the facts of the case reveal that, even though it was for a short period of time, the petitioner was deprived of his personal liberty, a right protected under Constitution of India
The Delhi high court on Thursday awarded ₹50,000 compensation to a man who was illegally detained by two police officers for half an hour.
The compensation amount will be recovered from the salaries of the two police officers.
Holding the two police officials collectively responsible for the act, a bench of justice Subramonium Prasad directed to recover the compensation from their salaries saying that a meaningful message must be sent to the authorities that police officers cannot be law unto themselves.
“This Court is deeply troubled by the fact that the petitioner (Pankaj Kumar Sharma) was not even arrested. He was simply picked up from the spot, brought to the police station and placed inside the lock-up for no rhyme or reason. The high-handed way in which the police authorities have acted, throwing to winds the constitutional and fundamental rights of a citizen, is appalling. The time spent in the lock-up by the petitioner, even for a short while, cannot absolve the police officers who have deprived the petitioners of his liberty without following the due procedure established by law,” the court said.
Also Read: Ludhiana: HC issues contempt notice to DGP, CP over Illegal detention and thrashing of man
The bench also said a punishment of censure which is not likely to have any effect on the career of the police officers will not be a sufficient deterrent to the officer.
Sharma had approached the high court seeking compensation for his detention in lockup in September 2022 at the Badarpur police station.
According to investigations, Sharma had called the police after an injured lady had come to his shop, but the police officers picked him up from the spot and put him inside a lockup without an FIR (first information report) against him.
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