Patna HC orders 1 lakh compensation for men wrongly branded by govt as 'anti-social'

The Patna High Court has quashed the Bihar government's branding of two persons as "anti-social elements" and restricting their movement, holding that the move had been taken without proper verification and directing the administration to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the men.

A division bench of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sunil Dutta Mishra, in an order dated September 11, also awarded Rs 10,000 each for litigation costs.

The petitioners -- Shasi Kumar alias Fukan and Ajay Singh -- had challenged proceedings initiated against them after the Nalanda superintendent of police recommended that they be noted as "anti-social elements" based on a report submitted by the Rajgir sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) during last year's assembly polls.

They contended that they had been falsely implicated in criminal cases and were already on bail.

Cases under the Bihar Crime Control Act (BCCA) were registered, following which the Nalanda district magistrate issued show-cause notices to the petitioners on September 10, 2025 for appearing before competent authorities.

"It was further stated that the petitioners failed to submit any cogent material in support of their defence before the DM, and accordingly, it was held that the free movement of the petitioners would cause problem to law and order in the locality," the court order said.

"We have noticed from the pattern of the order(s) passed by the DM, Nalanda that his orders are in the nature of cut-and-paste as similar kind of words and grounds have been mentioned in various orders which this court has/had occasion to go through. The DM passed similar kind of order in almost similar words which instantly gives us an impression that the orders have been passed with total non-application of judicious mind," the order added.

It is evident that while issuing the show-cause notices or at the time of passing of the final orders, the DM has not gone through the definitions of the word "anti-social element", the court observed.

The DM had proceeded on "surmises and conjectures" that the petitioners might disturb law and order during the assembly elections, without material showing that they had previously disturbed public order, it said.

The court also noted that the men had been ordered to mark their attendance at Silao police station, about 40 km away, thrice a week and had their movements restricted for three months.

It further observed that no verification report or other material had been produced to substantiate allegations recorded in the police diary.

The court said the SP, SDPO and SHO concerned had acted "in haste" without verifying the allegations and directed the state government to recover the compensation and litigation costs from the erring officials after giving them an opportunity of hearing.