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Police Cannot Detain Innocent Kin to Force Accused Surrender: Awards Rs 40K
A Four-Day Ordeal: Man Detained to Pressure Brother
In a sharp rebuke of police overreach, the has held that law enforcement authorities cannot unlawfully detain an innocent family member to pressure an accused person to surrender. A Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant awarded ₹40,000 in to Arvind Kumar Yadav, who was illegally held at in Prayagraj for four days while police sought to compel his brother, a suspect in a criminal case, to give himself up.
The case arose from FIR Crime No. 104/2026 registered against the petitioner’s brother, Suresh Kumar, under various provisions of the , including . Although Arvind Kumar had no connection to the alleged offences, police personnel from picked him up from his home in Jaunpur on , and detained him at the station.
The petitioner was released only at around 7:00 PM on , as evidenced by a produced in court. The document recorded that he was handed over to one Vaibhav Singh.
Court Relies on Call Records, CCTV Footage
During the hearing, Investigating Officer Ashvani Savita admitted that, on the instructions of SHO Yogendra Kumar Singh, he and other officers had brought the petitioner to the police station for interrogation. The State did not dispute that Arvind Kumar remained at the station from June 23 to June 26.
The court examined the petitioner’s , which showed his mobile phone location shifting from Badlapur, Jaunpur, to Phoolpur, Prayagraj, and finally to George Town by 7:56 AM on June 23. The phone was switched off at 12:11 PM that day and remained off until June 27, when it was switched on in Jaunpur. CCTV footage further confirmed the petitioner’s presence at the police station from June 23 to June 25; no footage for June 26 was produced.
The Bench concluded that the petitioner was in unlawful custody for at least four days, making him entitled to .
‘Police Cannot Resort to Pressure Tactics’
The court strongly condemned the police’s actions, observing that the petitioner was apparently detained to pressure his brother, who was a fugitive at the time, to surrender. The accused brother later secured in .
“The police cannot resort to pressure tactics to compel the actual offender to surrender before it by unlawfully detaining an innocent member of his family who has no connection with the alleged offence,” the Bench stated. It added that such conduct constitutes and that the affected person is entitled to for the unjust , “however, temporary it may be.”
and Consequences
The High Court directed the State to pay ₹40,000 to Arvind Kumar Yadav. The amount is to be recovered from the salaries of the police personnel responsible for the illegal detention, in proportions determined by the State.
The court also recorded its displeasure with the conduct of SHO Yogendra Kumar Singh and Investigating Officer Ashvani Savita, directing that this be noted in their respective service records.
With these directions, the was disposed of on .
