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Exhume body of man who died in police custody in Kasganj: HC
The direction to exhume his body and conduct a second post-mortem was passed by a two-judge bench comprising justices Anjani Kumar Mishra and Deepak Verma while hearing a petition filed by Altaf’s father, Chand Miyan.
The Allahabad high court on Friday ordered the exhumation of the body of a 22-year-old man who died in police custody in Kasganj district last year, and a second post-mortem at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
In November 2021, Altaf, a labourer, was called in for questioning at the Kotwali police station after he was accused of kidnapping a woman. Police later said Altaf hanged himself from a water pipe inside the toilet of the police station on November 9.
The direction to exhume his body and conduct a second post-mortem was passed by a two-judge bench comprising justices Anjani Kumar Mishra and Deepak Verma while hearing a petition filed by Altaf’s father, Chand Miyan.
Hearing Chand Miyan’s petition, the court observed: “This order has been passed because it is the case of the petitioner based upon photographs brought on record, wherein the deceased, Altaf is shown to have hung himself from a water pipe, which was installed only three feet above the ground of the toilet.”
The court also directed that the autopsy must be conducted on camera and that the whole exercise should be conducted in the presence of a team of doctors to be constituted by AIIMS Delhi’s director.
The court further directed that the post-mortem report, video footage and photographs shall be prepared in three copies. One copy shall be submitted to the high court and one copy each shall be placed on record of the judicial and ministerial inquiries, which are pending. This entire exercise should be completed in 10 days, the court said.
Chand Miyan, through the petition, had sought a CBI probe into his son’s alleged custodial death.
The court observed: “At this stage, what requires consideration is the prayer made by the petitioner that he is not satisfied with the earlier post-mortem. He has prayed for the body of the deceased to be exhumed and a fresh post-mortem conducted, preferably at AIIMS, Delhi. He has insisted on the post-mortem being conducted outside UP because of the alleged involvement of state police.”
The additional advocate general, representing the UP government, said he had no objection to the plea.
The court then directed the listing of the matter after four weeks.
