JUDGMENT :

This is a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution read with Article 21 seeking compensation for custodial death. One M.A. Rasheed, a lawyer by profession, had gone to Bangalore for professional work from Kerala when he was abducted and done to death by 222 the police officials of the State of Karnataka. The deceased had gone to Bangalore in connection with a civil case pending against respondent No.3 - Mr. R.L. Jalappa - the then Home Minister of the State of Karnataka. While he was there he was picked up by the police, whisked away and later his dead body was found near the railway track in Salem (Tamil Nadu). Respondents 4, 5 and 6 including Jalappa were prosecuted but the latter was acquitted while the three others were convicted and we are told that an appeal is pending against conviction. We, therefore, do not propose to say anything which would prejudice their case in appeal. But the fact remains that Rasheed was brutally done to death. Had it not been for the persistent efforts of the members of the Bar at Bangalore, the proposed investigation would not have commenced. Thanks to the cause espoused by the Bar, Jalappa, the then Home Minister, was forced to res