E-Paper
HC directs release of Bihar boy passed off as adult in land dispute case
The court directed the Bihar police chief to institute the inquiry and get the compensation from the erring officials within six months
The Patna high court has directed the release of a 15-year-old boy wrongfully held in a land dispute case as an adult in Bihar’s Madhepura, ₹5 lakh compensation for him, and a probe into the matter. The order was passed on Friday and uploaded on Sunday.
The court directed the Bihar police chief to institute the inquiry and get the compensation from the erring officials within six months.
The order came on a habeas corpus seeking the release of the boy from illegal detention. The plea alleged the investigating officer in the case arrested him in complete disregard of the powers of arrest and without following the established procedure.
The boy was arrested in November before he was found to be a 15-year-old. “For his unlawful arrest and detention, we direct the state to pay ₹5 lakh as compensation, keeping in view that a young boy who is a juvenile at this stage has undergone physical and mental agony for two and a half months,” said a bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad.
The court said the boy was compelled to approach the high court to contest the litigation imposed upon him because of the misuse of power by the investigating agency and failure to protect his right and liberty.
The boy was among 10 people accused of assault and the theft of ornaments related to the land dispute in Madhepura’s Sapardah. The investigating officer found no sufficient material to proceed against the accused. The 10 accused were later arrested on the directions of Saharsa deputy inspector general. The 15-year-old was described as a 19-year-old and sent to jail.
