The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to a man who was arrested and kept in illegal detention by the Uttar Pradesh Police, despite an interim order from the court staying his arrest. The order was passed by a bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi, who expressed concern over the growing trend of non-compliance with court orders.
Court's Observations
The bench remarked, “This unfortunate trend is becoming a norm,” and ordered disciplinary proceedings against the concerned Station House Officer (SHO) for “dereliction in the due discharge of official duty, violation of the order passed by this court and commission of an act of indiscipline.” The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the accused, Anil Soni.
Details of the Case
According to Soni's plea, a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), related to sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means, along with other sections of the BNS and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was lodged against him in Siddharth Nagar district. The complainant was a woman with whom Soni had an affair for the past two years.
Earlier, Soni had approached the High Court challenging the FIR. On April 1, another bench of the High Court passed an interim order specifically staying his arrest. The order was uploaded on the High Court's website, but the concerned SHO still arrested Soni.
Allegations of Non-Compliance
Soni stated that his brother had prepared a notarized affidavit on the day of the arrest to inform the SHO about the interim order. Even his counsel contacted the SHO via his CUG mobile numbers, but the petitioner was arrested anyway. The court rejected the state's justification, noting that the interim order was passed in the presence of the government counsel and the counsel for the informant. Hence, all respondents were fully aware of the order.
The bench also noted that the petitioner was not released from jail even after filing the present habeas corpus petition, on which replies were sought from the respondents. The court observed, “The counsel for the state either does not intimate the orders passed by this court to the police authorities, as a result of which the authorities do not comply with the order passed by this court or the police authorities are disrespectful towards the court orders and they act in a mala fide manner.”
Directions and Next Hearing
The court, while fixing July 13 for the next hearing, directed the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Siddharth Nagar to file a compliance affidavit regarding payment of compensation to the petitioner, as well as an intimation of the disciplinary proceedings initiated against the SHO. In its order dated May 29, the court warned that in case of failure, the SP of Siddharth Nagar will remain present before the High Court.
