HC grants Rs 18-lakh compensation for custodial death

New Delhi: Any unnatural death in police custody leaves the state liable, Delhi High Court has underscored, awarding more than Rs 18 lakh as compensation to the kin of a 19-year-old boy who died by suicide in police custody in 2018.In a recent order, Justice Sachin Datta noted that custodial death was not merely an individual tragedy, but a matter of systemic concern as any death in custody, be it due to violence, negligence, unexplained circumstances or even suicide, implicated individual dignity as well as the judicial system’s credibility.”When a person is in custody, he does not lose his fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and the state assumes an absolute and inalienable duty to protect his life and dignity.

An unnatural death in custody, even if by suicide, is not a private act divorced from state responsibility, but reflects an omission of duty on the part of those charged with safekeeping,” the court said as it emphasised that authorities assume a “heightened duty of care” for persons in the custody of the state and its stand that the grant of compensation is not an automatic consequence of custodial death cannot be accepted.

The deceased was arrested on Jan 15, 2018, from the Karkardooma Court premises and taken to Karawal Nagar police station, where he ended his life, as per police. He was arrested on allegations of stalking and sexually harassing a girl.The boy’s father, the petitioner, alleged that when he went to meet his son, he was also detained in the lock-up for a few hours and subjected to mistreatment, physical assault and threats by a sub-inspector and a constable, who also demanded Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 to get the deceased released.The next morning, the petitioner received a call from a "local politician", informing him that his son had committed suicide in custody, the court was told.A postmortem report said the cause of death was "asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging". Following a departmental inquiry against the cops involved in his arrest, the then DCP docked their pay and seniority of one year, after briefly suspending them.Holding that the petitioner is entitled to monetary compensation, the court ordered, “Accordingly, the respondents are directed to pay the petitioner a compensation of Rs 18,44,400 within eight weeks from today."The petitioner had contended that his son’s death was due to the negligence of the officers at Karawal Nagar police station.