Bombay High Court orders Maharashtra to pay Rs 2 lakh for illegal detention of Akola man
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a 26-year-old Akola man after finding that police illegally detained him and violated his fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The judgment was delivered by a division bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Raj Wakode on August 31.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Vaibhav Raghuwanshi, who alleged that two Akola police officers picked him up from his family-run hotel on March 4, 2024, and detained him overnight. According to his plea, the officers had initially asked about his uncle and allegedly demanded a monthly payment. After he refused, they allegedly abused him and took him into custody.
Police subsequently claimed that a case had been registered against him under the Essential Commodities Act. He was released the following day.
The High Court, however, found that the police had failed to follow mandatory procedures. The bench noted that neither a notice under the applicable provisions nor an arrest memo showing that the grounds of arrest had been communicated to Raghuwanshi was produced. The court also noted discrepancies concerning his mobile phone, with a departmental inquiry subsequently finding that the officers had retained it without preparing a seizure memo.
The court said police officers entrusted with enforcing criminal law have a responsibility not only towards an accused person but also towards the state and society. Referring to the Maharashtra State Police motto, “Sadrakshnaya Khalanighrahanaya” — meaning to protect the good and punish the evil — the bench said the principle must be respected by those responsible for upholding the law.
“When the police is violator of the law,” the court observed, the response to such violations must be sufficiently stringent to have a deterrent effect and restore public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The bench relied on Supreme Court precedents, including Rudul Sah v. State of Bihar and Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa, recognising the power of constitutional courts to award monetary compensation where state action violates fundamental rights.
The court directed the Maharashtra government to pay the Rs 2 lakh compensation to Raghuwanshi within eight weeks.
