Chhattisgarh HC orders Rs 5 lakh compensation for family of custodial death victim

Bilaspur, Oct 9 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of a man who died in police custody in Dhamtari district, stating that such incidents shake the people's faith in "constitutional governance." "Custodial deaths and police atrocities erode the very foundation of public trust in the criminal justice system. Every such incident diminishes the credibility of the law-enforcement machinery," said the court in the order passed on October 6.

When a person dies in police custody, the state must explain the cause, and the failure to do so, especially where there are injuries on the person's body or the death occurs shortly after custody, "constitutes a violation of the right to life and dignity under Article 21," said a bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru.

The state is liable to pay compensation which serves the dual purpose of relief to the family and deterrence against future violations, it said.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by the family members of Durgendra Katholiya (41), a resident of Rajnandgaon district.

Katholiya was arrested by police in Dhamtari district on March 29 for alleged forgery. On March 31, he was produced in a Dhamtari court which sent him in police remand, and he died on the same evening, the petition claimed.

His wife Durga Devi Katholiya and parents lodged complaints seeking registration of an FIR against the police officials, but no action was taken, claimed the petitioners' lawyer.

When Katholiya was produced before the magistrate, he was in sound health, but was found dead only three hours after he was taken back to the police station, the lawyer stated.

The autopsy report recorded 25 to 30 injuries on different parts of his body, indicating that Kothaliya was subjected to "third-degree torture", he alleged, seeking a CBI probe and compensation for the family.

Deputy Advocate General Shashank Thakur, appearing for the respondent policemen and state, said that Katholiya had (allegedly) cheated a 47 farmers in Dhamtari district, causing them a collective loss of about Rs 7.73 crore.

Though the postmortem report recorded several injuries on his body, a medical board opined that these injuries were simple and 3 to 6 days old, not sufficient to cause death, the deputy advocate general said.

The cause of death was stated to be asphyxia leading to cardiorespiratory arrest, Thakur pointed out.

The high court, however, noted in the order that the government did not produce any material to prove that the death was entirely natural, or unrelated to custodial conditions.

The injuries and absence of any plausible explanation point towards the commission of custodial torture and brutality, it said.

These circumstances leave no manner of doubt that the death was not natural but the result of custodial violence and police atrocities, in complete breach of the guarantee under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the division bench held.

The HC directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the deceased's wife, for herself and her two minor children, and Rs 1 lakh each to the parents, within eight weeks. PTI COR TKP KRK