DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

Supreme Court steps in as Allahabad HC faults judiciary, NHRC in UP custodial death case

From Hindustan Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The Supreme Court has stayed proceedings before the Allahabad High Court in a custodial death case from 2009.
  • The High Court had made critical observations against multiple institutions, including itself and the NHRC, while ordering a CBI probe.
  • The Supreme Court will examine the High Court's order and the factual matrix of the case, including the alleged disappearance of evidence.

The Supreme Court has halted further proceedings at the Allahabad High Court concerning a public interest litigation about an alleged custodial death in Mainpuri in 2009. The High Court had previously issued a directive for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to recover missing video evidence, accompanying this with strong observations against various institutions, including the High Court itself and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

further proceedings in the related public interest litigation shall remain stayed

— Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court's order to halt proceedings before the Allahabad High Court.

A bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices on appeals filed by the Uttar Pradesh government and Ajay Kumar Mishra, the former senior superintendent of police in Mainpuri. The court ordered a stay on all related proceedings before the Allahabad High Court pending its own review of the matter. Senior advocate Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, representing the state, argued that the High Court's severe remarks against the state police, the Allahabad High Court, and the NHRC warranted scrutiny by the apex court.

The litigation originated from a PIL filed in 2010 by the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI). The organization sought an independent investigation into the death of a man with a 40% physical disability inside the Dannahar police station lock-up in Mainpuri on May 9, 2009. The official account stated the man died by suicide, but the High Court bench expressed significant doubt over this version.

almost an impossibility

— Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth NandanThe Allahabad High Court's observation regarding the physical possibility of the victim's suicide.

The High Court bench noted that it was "almost an impossibility" for a person with a 40% physical disability to hang himself unnoticed within a police lock-up that was supposedly under constant surveillance. Describing the case as a "reflection of institutional failures," the court criticized the prolonged delay in producing crucial evidence, such as videography and photographs of the scene and the post-mortem, suggesting that vital evidence might have disappeared.

a reflection of institutional failures

— Allahabad High CourtDescribing the case due to prolonged delays and potential evidence loss.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog