Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has held that police cannot unlawfully detain an innocent relative of an accused to pressure the accused into surrendering, observing that such action amounts to an illegal deprivation of personal liberty and entitles the victim to compensation.A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant made the observation while allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by Arvind Kumar Yadav regarding his alleged illegal detention at George Town police station in Prayagraj.The court awarded Rs 40,000 as compensation to the petitioner and directed that the amount be recovered from the salaries of the police personnel responsible for the illegal detention.According to the case record, an FIR was registered at George Town police station against the petitioner’s brother, Suresh Kumar, in an attempt-to-murder case. Yadav contended that although he had no connection with the case, he was picked up from his house in Jaunpur on June 23, 2026, and taken to George Town police station.He claimed that he was released only around 7pm on June 26.To support his claim, the petitioner relied on a ‘supurdginama’ issued at the time of his release, which recorded that he was handed over on June 26. During the proceedings, investigating officer Ashvani Savita appeared before the court and stated that, on the instructions of SHO Yogendra Kumar Singh, he and other police personnel had gone to the petitioner’s residence and brought him to the police station for questioning on June 23.The state also did not dispute that the petitioner remained at the police station until June 26. Earlier, the court had directed the investigating officer to produce call detail records to ascertain the petitioner’s whereabouts during the period.Taking note of the material on record, the bench observed that it was undisputed that the petitioner remained in unlawful police custody for at least four days.In its Sept 9 order, HC also directed that its displeasure be recorded in the service records of both the investigating officer and the SHO concerned.
