Cuttack: Orissa high court has rejected bail pleas of three policemen accused of assaulting Akash Mahuria inside Jeypore Town police station, leading to his death in 2017. It observed, “Society governed by the rule of law expects discipline, not death, in custody; for custody is not a licence to keep Constitutional Rights at bay.”Justice V Narasingh, in a judgment on Wednesday, said the nature of allegations, medical evidence indicating 24 injuries on the deceased’s body, witness statements and apprehensions expressed by witnesses who had sought protection weighed against granting bail at this stage.“Their release at this stage would undermine the sanctity of the trial,” Justice Narasingh held, declining to release constable Debendra Kumar Paik, additional sub-inspector Krushna Chandra Behera and sub-inspector Siba Prasad Sahu, who have been in custody since Aug 29, 2025.Justice Narasingh rejected prolonged incarceration as sufficient ground for bail in the circumstances of the case. He also made it clear that the deceased’s alleged criminal antecedents could not be used to dilute his fundamental rights. “The right to life under Article 21 is not contingent upon the antecedents or social standing of an individual,” he observed.Referring to Mahuria as a history-sheeter allegedly involved in 14 cases, the judge invoked former British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel’s words: “We are not to forget that the policeman is the public and the public is the policeman.”According to the prosecution, the policemen were part of a team that went to arrest Mahuria on Jan 30, 2017. The defence maintained that he sustained injuries after falling from his motorcycle while attempting to escape arrest on Canal Road. He was taken to SD Hospital in Jeypore and later referred to the district headquarters hospital in Koraput, where he died during treatment.The state disputed the accident theory, alleging that the injuries resulted from assault. The HC also took note of allegations that multiple medical opinions had been obtained to portray the injuries as accidental.The case was initially registered by Jeypore Town police station on Jan 30, 2017, and later taken over by the CID-crime branch which registered a fresh case on Nov 12, 2021.
