The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the State of Maharashtra to pay Rs 25,000 compensation to a 70-year-old businessman, holding that his arrest by police was illegal and violated his fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution. A Division Bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nivedita Mehta passed the order while partly allowing a criminal writ petition filed by Anil Awle (name changed), a resident of Nagpur. The case is based on an FIR registered at Ambazari Police Station on a complaint by Awle’s daughter-in-law, who accused him of offences under Sections 354(A), 294, 504, 506 and 427 of the IPC. Awle claimed the complaint was a result of family disputes and alleged that he was wrongfully arrested. According to the petition, Police Sub-Inspector S J Kendre from Ambazari Police Station had visited Awle’s office and asked him to appear at the police station.

 

When Awle complied and appeared before the police, he was allegedly arrested without being informed the grounds of arrest and detained, despite the offences being bailable in nature. The petitioner argued that the police action violated the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil vs CBI, which mandate that arrests in offences punishable up to seven years must be justified with recorded reasons. He further alleged that PSI Kendre failed to follow due procedure and curtailed his personal liberty.

 

During the hearing, the State submitted that a departmental inquiry had already been conducted against PSI Kendre, and he had been punished with “censure” for procedural lapses. The prosecution maintained that the act was not intentional but occurred under pressure following the complaint. The High Court, however, observed that the police officer failed to communicate valid grounds for arrest and did not comply with mandatory safeguards under the law. It noted that such conduct by police officials undermines public confidence in the justice system. Emphasising the duty of police to protect citizens’ rights, the court held the State accountable for the wrongful act of its officer. While declining further action against PSI Kendre in view of the completed inquiry, the bench ordered the State to pay compensation to Awle within eight weeks. The Court said, the compensation would provide some relief for the violation of the petitioner’s personal liberty.