Hearing a habeas corpus petition, the Allahabad High Court has observed that the civil liberties situation in UP is "shameful" and police have "little regard" for citizens' fundamental rights.
Taking serious note of the "excuse" of malfunctioning CCTVs whenever a court demands it, the bench, hearing a habeas corpus plea, said it would be sufficient to accept the petitioner's contention that he had been unlawfully detained and that the CCTV footage was "deliberately withheld to obfuscate the truth maliciously".
Also Read: ‘Law unto themselves’: High court raps UP police over detention before arrest
A bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev allowed the habeas corpus writ petition and directed that the petitioner, Aausad Ahmad, be set at liberty forthwith, if he is not wanted in any other case. The court further directed the state to pay ₹20,000 as costs to him within seven days.
The court added that the police appear to have little regard for the fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens. It added that infringement of these rights seems to have become a matter of routine for the UP Police.
{{/usCountry}}The court added that the police appear to have little regard for the fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens. It added that infringement of these rights seems to have become a matter of routine for the UP Police.
{{/usCountry}}The court also held that the police cannot use the excuse of CCTV malfunctioning in a case of alleged unlawful detention.
Ausad Ahmad, a resident of Bijnor, claimed that he was taken into custody by Bijnor police on September 5, 2026, but his formal arrest was shown only on September 7, 2026.
Also Read: Allahabad HC raps UP Police, says civil liberties in state shameful
In his petition, Ausad's daughter, who was the first petitioner in the case, alleged that police personnel and SOG officials in civil dress forcibly took away her father from outside Nangal police station in Bijnor where both of them had gone after being called by the police in connection with a honeytrap case lodged against Ahmad.
According to the petition, they reached the police station around 2:30 pm on September 5, 2026. While they were in their vehicle and had contacted the SHO, a car entered the premises near the police station gate.
Four persons allegedly came out of the vehicle, surrounded their car and forcibly took Ahmad away.
To ascertain the veracity of the allegations, the high court had earlier directed the state to produce CCTV recordings of the police station from 1 pm on September 5 till 10 am on September 7.
However, when the matter was taken up, the state informed the court that the CCTV footage for the said period was not available. The state relied on a general diary entry dated September 5, which stated that a thunderstorm occurred and water trickled down the rain cable into the CCTV system, causing it to malfunction and fail.
Taking a serious note of it, the court observed, "In case after case, whenever CCTV footage is called for by this court, in a majority of cases, it is the same report which comes stating that CCTV footage is not available on account of one reason or the other."
Also Read: ‘Illegal’ detention: Allahabad HC seeks reply of ACS (home) over CCTV ‘glitch’ at police stn
The court further clarified that the excuse of a CCTV malfunctioning is not available to the police in a case of unlawful detention. The court added that any such explanation would be sufficient for it to accept the petitioner's contention that the corpus had been unlawfully detained and that the CCTV footage was deliberately withheld to obfuscate the truth maliciously.
In the judgment dated November 3, the court also took note of the role of Nangal's SHO Anoo Kumari, observing that she had deliberately not provided the CCTV footage relevant to deciding the case.
Recording its displeasure against the SHO, the court directed that the same be entered into her service records. It further said that the state should consider her further continuation on the present post.