HC raps police over illegal arrest of juvenile, orders Rs5L compensation

Patna: Expressing displeasure over the illegal arrest of a 15-year-old boy on the direction of the deputy inspector general (DIG) of Kosi range, which resulted in his unlawful incarceration for over two-and-a-half months in prison and a juvenile care home, the Patna high court has directed the state govt to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim. The court also ordered payment of Rs 15,000 as litigation cost within a month.A division bench comprising justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Ritesh Kumar, while allowing a writ petition of habeas corpus filed by the victim, Md Jahid, also directed his immediate release from the concerned juvenile care or observation home.The case arose from an FIR lodged by Khusboo Praveen at Puraini police station in Madhepura district, alleging assault, attempt to murder, theft and other offences, in which Jahid was named among several accused. Following investigation, the police submitted a final report before the magistrate’s court in Madhepura on Sept 1 last year, exonerating Jahid and nine other accused after finding no evidence of their involvement in the alleged crime.Despite this, 25 days later, the DIG, Kosi range, issued a directive to the superintendent of police, Madhepura, for “ensuring further actions to arrest all remaining accused expeditiously”. Acting on this direction, police conducted a late-night raid and arrested Jahid at around 11.30pm on Oct 23 last year. He was produced before the concerned judicial magistrate after being shown as a 19-year-old and was remanded in judicial custody.It was only after Jahid filed a criminal writ petition challenging his illegal arrest and detention, asserting that he was a juvenile aged 15 years as per his Matriculation certificate issued by the Bihar School Examination Board, that he was shifted to a juvenile home following verification.The bench held that the DIG’s direction to arrest a person who had already been exonerated was based on assumption, amounting to a presumption of guilt by a superior police officer, which was in “utter violation of the cardinal principles of criminal law”.The court ruled that the arrest and detention amounted to a violation of Jahid’s fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, and held it to be a fit case for awarding compensation, relying on several Supreme Court judgments.