The Calcutta High Court recently ordered the West Bengal government to pay ₹5.36 lakh as compensation to a tea garden worker who continued to be detained in police custody for 60 additional days after he was supposed to be released on bail.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Aryak Dutt passed the ruling on a habeas corpus petition seeking the accused worker’s release.
“We hold the period of detention of the writ petitioner between August 6, 2018 and October 5, 2018 was not sanctioned by law. The writ petitioner, therefore, is entitled to compensation for such period,” the October 5 ruling said.
The worker (petitioner) had been booked in three criminal cases, but had secured bail in all of them and was supposed to be released from jail on August 6, 2018. However, he was not immediately released, prompting him to file a petition before the High Court for release. He was later released on October 5, 2018, around 2 months after he was supposed to be released on bail.
His counsel told the High Court that he was entitled to compensation of ₹20 lakhs for the 60-day period that he was illegally detained for. To support this claim, the counsel cited the petitioner’s loss of employment during the illegal detention period and the mental harassment and agony faced by him owing to his extended and unlawful detention in police custody.
The Court noted that there was hardly any explanation from the State on why the petitioner continued to be detained in jail after he was granted bail.
It observed that there was an allegation that a bond executed to ensure peace was violated by the petitioner, leading to the registration of a Miscellaneous Record case (MR case). The State claimed that the petitioner remained in custody in connection with this MR case till October 5, 2018.
The Court, however, was not satisfied with this explanation.
“The plea of the State that, the custody of the writ petitioner was required for the purpose of producing the writ petitioner in respect of MR Case No.780 of 2018 is not found satisfactory,” it held.
Therefore, it ruled that the petitioner was entitled to be compensated for his 60-day illegal detention. However, the Court opined that ₹5.36 lakhs was sufficient to compensate the petitioner, as opposed to the ₹20 lakh sum claimed.
“We venture to fix a compensation of Rs.5 lakhs in addition to the (sum of ₹36,000 granted for loss of employment). In aggregate, therefore, we award a sum of Rs.5,36,000/- as compensation to be paid by the State to the writ petitioner for the period of illegal detention that the writ petitioner suffered,” the Court held.
The Court further directed the compensation to be paid within four weeks of the date of the order.
Advocates Abhimanyu Banerjee, Arnab Saha, and Abdul Nooman represented the petitioner.
Additional Government Pleader Dibashis Basu, and advocates Sneha Dutta, and Purnendu Das represented the State.
[Read Order]