Mumbai, April 23: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Maharashtra government to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 each to a lawyer and an ex-serviceman who were handcuffed by police, holding that they were subjected to “humiliation”.
Court order and observations
In an order passed on Tuesday, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, the Nagpur bench said the Maharashtra Police must uphold its motto to protect good and punish evil. The court held that the duo was humiliated after being handcuffed and taken on a state transport bus from a police station in Amravati to the tehsildar’s office, where they were later granted bail.
Compensation directed
The court directed the state government to pay compensation to lawyer Yogeshwar Kawade and ex-serviceman Avinash Date within eight weeks. A bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nivedita Mehta observed that those administering the law must remember their duty extends not only to the accused and the victim, but also to the state and the community at large.
“Such incidents involving police tend to erode confidence in the criminal justice system more than those involving private individuals,” the court said.
Police action termed ‘unwarranted’
The bench held that the assistant police inspector and two constables who handcuffed the petitioners subjected them to “unwarranted humiliation and indignity which cannot be inflicted on any citizen of India”, making them entitled to compensation.
Details of the incident
According to the petition, Kawade and Date had gone to Talegaon police station in Amravati district in August 2010 to lodge a complaint against a man accused of damaging Date’s car. The man filed a cross-complaint alleging assault and threats.
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The petitioners alleged they were illegally detained after midnight, stripped and made to sit in undergarments, before being handcuffed and taken to the tehsildar, who ordered removal of the handcuffs and granted bail.
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