Allahabad HC raps UP Police over man’s unlawful detention

Allahabad High Court ordered a man's release after finding unlawful pre-arrest detention, rebuked UP police and urged better training on civil liberties.

The Allahabad high court has pulled up the Uttar Pradesh Police over the unlawful detention of a man before his formal arrest, observing that the police appeared to be acting as a “law unto themselves”.

The HC directed the man’s immediate release, if he was not required in any other case. (For Representation)

In its October 7 judgment, the court described Gautam Budh Nagar Noida ACP Kamlesh Kant and IO Anuj Kumar as highly ignorant of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, procedures and criticised their cavalier approach to the statutory requirements.

It requested the UP director general of police to prepare better police training modules to sensitise officers to civil liberties.

With these observations, a division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev allowed a habeas corpus petition filed by a man while holding his detention in police custody to be ‘unlawful’. The court directed his immediate release, if he was not required in any other case.

“This case reflects the sordid state of affairs prevailing in the Uttar Pradesh Police”, the court observed. “Repeatedly, cases have come before this Court in which the strict requirements of law, both procedural and substantive, have not been adhered to in letter and spirit... It appears that the police are a law unto themselves”, the court added.

In the present case, the court said the police failed to comply with the procedural requirements of preventive detention under the law. A violence occurred between two groups on August 23, 2026. Police records show that one Deepak of Noida (petitioner) and four others were taken into custody the same evening.

An FIR under relevant sections was registered based on a written report on that very day. The petitioner was formally arrested on August 24. However, the undisputed sequence was that the petitioner was already in police custody before the FIR was registered and was subsequently shown as formally arrested in that FIR while he remained in police custody.

The bench said there appeared to be a strong prima facie case that the relevant document was filled up at a later stage and that the signature of the petitioner was obtained on a blank paper and countersigned by the IO Anuj Kumar himself, leaving the portion above blank for the grounds of arrest to be filled in later.

“The situation on the ground does not absolve the police of errors committed by them in failing to proceed strictly in accordance with law. It is for the police to understand that all the provisions in the CrPC/BNSS providing protection to a person sought to be detained arise from the constitutional protection guaranteed under Article 22(1)”, the court said.

“The narrative of the facts herein reflects that the police are acting in a manner that demonstrates their lack of concern for the civil liberties of ordinary citizens and their propensity to make arrests without exploring the option of whether the case can proceed without such arrest or detention,” it observed.

The court further observed that the judicial magistrate had gravely erred by failing to scrutinise the police papers for compliance with the applicable legal requirements.

Referring to instances of suspects allegedly being kept in police stations for more than 24 hours and subsequently released, the court warned: “Henceforth, such action on the part of the police shall not be tolerated on the ground of lack of knowledge of procedure and shall be deemed to be malicious unless the police provide material enabling the Court to take a contrary view”.

The court also directed that its observations expressing displeasure against ACP Kamlesh Kant and IO Anuj Kumar be recorded in their respective service books.