HC imposes ₹1 lakh cost on state for illegal arrest, orders probe against Bandra police officers

The court concluded that the compensation so paid shall be recovered from the salary of the persons found responsible for Nayak’s illegal arrest

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court recently imposed a ₹1 lakh fine on the state government as compensation to a businessman who was allegedly illegally arrested by the police last year. The court on September 29 ruled that the authorities invoked non-bailable offences against the man without the approval of their superior officers.

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Vasantha Perampally Nayak moved the High Court after his arrest on October 23, 2024, in connection with a financial dispute and was kept in custody for 20 days. He stated that his arrest was illegal and sought relief against the charges.

Nayak and the complainant in the case are maternal cousins who, since 1999, have been engaged in the perfume oils business. They established a partnership firm in 2000, named M/s. Shri Raksha Fragrances. While Vasantha formally retired from the company in August 2013, the first complainant, along with one Shyam Sundar Nayak, continued with the partnership business.

However, the complainant approached the Economic Offences Wing in 2024, alleging misappropriation and cheating by Vasantha. Later, the enquiry was transferred to the Bandra Police Station, after which a case was registered against him for offences punishable under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), and 477A (falsification of accounts) with section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which were punishable up to 7 years or less.

Nayak stated that the investigating officers, the Inspector and the PSI, later added Section 409 IPC (criminal breach of trust by public servant, banker, or agent) unilaterally, without permission from their superiors. “The entire exercise appears not to have been done in good faith and was done in a colourable exercise of power by the authorities,” Nayak said in his petition.

He clarified that invoking this section in the case was done by the authorities to avoid issuing a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC, which is mandatory for offences punishable up to seven years.

The division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh Patil observed that the authorities have deliberately invoked Section 409 in the case, which “smacks of police high-handedness” and arrested Nayak illegally, without lawful authority.

“We find that there has been gross abuse of law, resulting in the petitioner’s arrest and his custody for 20 days in jail. We, as Constitutional Courts, cannot be oblivious to the same. The arrest of an individual is a serious matter. Arrest brings humiliation, curtails freedom and casts scars forever. The Apex Court has time and again frowned on unnecessary arrests even in non-bailable offences,” the bench observed on September 29.

Accordingly, the court directed the State Government to pay a compensation of rupees one lakh to Nayak within six weeks and ordered a departmental enquiry with respect to his arrest within eight weeks. It concluded that the compensation so paid shall be recovered from the salary of the persons found responsible for Nayak’s illegal arrest.