Delhi High Court orders ₹18 lakh compensation for death of 19-year-old in police custody

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to pay ₹18.44 lakh in compensation to the father of a 19-year-old who suffered an unnatural death while in the custody of the Karawal Nagar police [Shyam Sunder v. State NCT of Delhi].

Justice Sachin Datta held that an unnatural death in custody, even if by suicide, is not a private act divorced from State responsibility and observed that persons in custody continue to enjoy the protection of Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.

"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 State cannot escape responsibility by invoking statutory schemes or by contending absence of direct culpability. The very fact of custodial death, being unnatural, attracts liability and obliges the Court to mould relief in the form of compensation," the Court observed.

The Court added that a custodial death cannot be reduced to an individual tragedy, and that it demands scrutiny as it concerns the credibility of the legal system itself.

"Custodial death is not merely an individual tragedy but a matter of systemic concern, striking at the very foundation of the rule of law. When a person is deprived of liberty and placed in the custody of the State, the authorities assume a heightened duty of care. Any lapse resulting in death within custody, whether attributed to violence, negligence, unexplained circumstances or even suicide, demands judicial scrutiny, for it implicates both the dignity of the individual and the credibility of the justice system."

The Court was hearing a petition filed by Shyam Sunder seeking compensation for the death of his adopted son, Deepak, in police custody in January 2018.

According to the petition, Deepak was taken into custody on January 15, 2018, in connection with an FIR, and detained at the Karawal Nagar Station.

Shyam Sunder alleged that when he went to meet his son, he was also detained for some hours before being released the same day.

Both he and his son were assaulted at the police station, Sunder added. He also claimed that police personnel demanded money for Deepak's release.

Deepak was taken to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital the next day. He was declared dead on arrival. Sundar said that he received a phone call claiming that his son had died by suicide.

The post-mortem attributed the cause of death to asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging.

Before the High Court, Shyam Sunder argued that since his son met with an unnatural death while in custody, the State is liable to compensate him.

The Delhi government opposed the plea. It argued that compensation does not automatically follow every custodial death.

The Court rejected the contention. It held that the unnatural custodial death attracted public law liability and that the State, as the custodian of life and liberty, was bound to compensate the deceased's next of kin for the violation of his rights under Article 21.

While fixing the compensation, the Court adopted the multiplier method. It assessed Deepak's monthly income at ₹12,000, added 40 per cent towards future prospects and applied a multiplier of 18. Including conventional sums towards funeral expenses and loss of estate, it arrived at a compensation amount of ₹18.44 lakh.

The Court directed the Delhi government to pay the amount within eight weeks.

Senior Advocate Trideep Pais with advocates Sanya Kumar, Chiranjeev Singh Marwaha, Saloni Ambastha, Sakshi Jain and S Abinaya appeared for the petitioner.

CGSC Premtosh K Mishra with advocates Shrey Sharma, Anubhav Upadhyay and Arpit Bansal appeared for the respondents.

[Read Judgment]