Back
Joy Krishna Nag Awarded ₹5.36 Lakh by for 60-Day
The has held that a man was illegally detained for 60 days despite securing in three criminal cases, directing the to pay him ₹5.36 lakh as . A of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Aryak Dutt found that the detention of Joy Krishna Nag (also known as Joy Kumar Nag and Rohit) from to was “not sanctioned by law.”
A Granted, A Freedom Denied
Nag had been implicated in three cases registered at —Case Nos. 101/18, 103/18, and 141/18. He secured in all three and furnished the required . He was supposed to be released on , but instead remained in until —a full 60 days later.
The State attempted to justify the continued detention by pointing to an (No. 780 of 2018) initiated after an allegation that Nag had violated a to maintain peace. The State argued that his was needed to produce him before the in that proceeding.
The State's Unsatisfactory Explanation
The Bench examined the orders passed in the and found them insufficient to justify keeping Nag in beyond the orders. “On perusal of those two orders in the , we are not in a position to return a finding that the was required to be kept in beyond the period of the furnishing his in the three police cases,” the Court observed.
The Court was blunt in rejecting the State's plea: “The plea of the State that, the of the was required for the purpose of producing the in respect of No.780 of 2018 is not found satisfactory. Orders passed therein did not require the to be kept in .”
Consequently, the Court held that Nag’s detention between August 6 and was unlawful.
Calculating the Cost of
Nag sought ₹20 lakh in , stating he was a tea garden worker earning about ₹600 per day. The Court noted that he could not provide adequate material to support such a high claim. Instead, the Bench calculated his loss of earnings for the 60-day period: ₹600 per day × 60 days = ₹36,000.
But the Court recognized that monetary loss was not the only injury. “The is entitled to be compensated for as also for his plight of ,” the judgment stated. It fixed an additional ₹5 lakh for mental suffering, bringing the total to ₹5,36,000.
The State has been ordered to pay the amount within four weeks.
A Reminder of
This ruling underscores that the under cannot be casually overridden by administrative convenience. Even when a person is involved in multiple proceedings, once is granted, the authorities must ensure prompt release—unless a specific directs otherwise. The orders did not provide such a direction, and the detention was therefore .
The decision serves as a warning to law enforcement agencies that unexplained or unjustified after may lead to significant claims. For ordinary workers like Nag, who lost two months of wages and endured mental anguish, the Court’s intervention reaffirms that the Constitution protects against such abuse of power.
