UTTAR PRADESH: The Allahabad High Court has criticised the Uttar Pradesh State Police over an unlawful detention case. The court described it as a routine violation of people’s fundamental rights. It also ordered the police to release the petitioner from custody.
A division of Justices Atul Sreeedharan and Anchal Sachdev took the habeas corpus case involving Ahmad, a resident of Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh who was unlawfully taken into custody on September 05. According to his daughter, the police and SOG officials in plain clothes took her father into custody, but the former arrest was only shown on September 07 2026.
“The situation that exists in the State of Uttar Pradesh relating to civil liberty is shameful, to say the least. The police appear to have a little regard for the fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens, and the infringement of these rights seems to have become a matter of routine for the U.P. Police,” the court order said.
The victim, Ahmad was forcefully detained from Nangal police station from Bijnor district. In the petition his daughter claimed that they were called to the police station in connection with a case lodged against Ahmad alleging a honey trap. A few men allegedly the police and SOG officials in plain clothes detained him from outside of the police station.
The police informed the court that CCTV footage was unavailable as the LAN cable was destroyed due to heavy rains and thunderstorms. The court rejected this reason stating when it is unlawful detention, CCTV footage is not required. Only the claim of the person is enough for the court to presume that the person had been unlawfully detained. They also said that, in cases like this, footage is usually withheld to obscure the truth.
Along with the release of the petitioner, if there is no other legal case against him, the state was also directed to pay 20,000 RS within seven days as litigation costs.
(With inputs from media reports)