The Allahabad high court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to recover missing videographic evidence related to the alleged 2009 custodial death of a differently-abled man in Mainpuri, describing the case as a reflection of “institutional failure”.
“This case discloses institutional failures. This is a PIL filed in the year 2010 and is still pending. Sixteen years down the line, the videography and photographs of the scene of occurrence and the postmortem are still not being made available to this Court to enable it to proceed further,” the court observed.
A bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Siddharth Nandan passed the order on May 18 while hearing a PIL filed in connection with the death of Nahar Singh, who allegedly died inside the lockup of Dannahar police station in Mainpuri district in 2009.
The body of Nahar Singh, who had a 40% physical disability, was found hanging in the urinal section of the police lockup on May 9, 2009. Police claimed he had died by suicide using his belt.
However, the court questioned the plausibility of the official version, observing that a police lockup remains under constant surveillance and cannot be treated as an isolated space.
{{/usCountry}}However, the court questioned the plausibility of the official version, observing that a police lockup remains under constant surveillance and cannot be treated as an isolated space.
{{/usCountry}}The bench noted that despite the matter remaining pending since 2010, crucial evidence had still not been produced before the court.
The PIL was filed by the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI), an organisation working for the rights of women and marginalised communities.
Advocate Ankur Sharma, appearing for the petitioner, highlighted the issue of rising custodial death cases in the state.
The court directed the CBI to secure the missing recordings within 60 days and produce them before the court on the next date of hearing, scheduled for August 10.