Allahabad High Court slaps ₹1 lakh fine on UP Police for taking pregnant woman to police station

The Allahabad High Court recently censured the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police for keeping a pregnant woman and her minor child at a police station for over six hours just to register her statement in a 2021 case concerning her alleged kidnapping [Chandini Singh and anr v State of Uttar Pradesh and ors]..A Bench of Justices Attau Rahman Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi expressed shock at the conduct of the Investigating Officer (IO) and asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to look into the matter.The Court also ordered the State to pay a compensation of ₹1 lakh to the woman, while observing that the torture and agony caused to her cannot be left unnoticed."The victim who is carrying pregnancy of about eight months has ... been subjected to torture by making her sit in the police station from 12.15 Hrs. until a mention was made before this court ... The victim in this manner remained in the police custody from 12.15 hrs. at least upto the time she has stepped into this court room at 6.30 p.m," the Court said in the order passed on November 29. The Court then ordered immediate release of the woman. .The intervention was made by the Court in a Habeas Corpus petition moved by the woman's husband who sought release of his eight-month pregnant wife.As per the information submitted before the Court, the Police last month detained the woman in connection with a First Information Report (FIR) registered by her brother in 2021 in Agra.On August 14 in 2021, the woman was stated to have not returned home after going to appear for an exam at Agra College in Agra. She was 21 years old then and an undergrad student.A kidnapping case was then registered against the woman's husband. Pertinently, the couple had married a day after the woman's family reported her to be missing..The Bench found it surprising that for three years, no progress was made in the kidnapping case except for recording the informant's statement. It also noted that the present IO, Sub Inspector Anurag Kumar, was posted at the police station only two months back and then took over the investigation.Kumar said he had recently recorded the informant's statement and then come to Lucknow to record the statement of victim alleged to have been kidnapped by the man, who is now her husband.Further, the IO said the action was taken after Commissioner, Agra on November 28 called for a report on investigation into all pending cases in the district..The Court questioned the IO's conduct, noting that no male member was present at the woman's house when the police reached there. The IO did not even have the case diary with him and chose to take the women to police station along with her minor child under the pretext of recording her statement, it found..The Bench termed it a sham investigation and also said that the IO at every step of explanation has distorted his version and does not instill confidence in the Court."To say the least, we have no hesitation to put on record that the manner in which police duties were carried out by the Investigating Officer were far far away from the process of law and is a clear case of abuse of the authority in the capacity of Investigating Officer," it added.The Court also suspected that the woman was taken into custody for taking her to Agra..The Court underscored that the police have to be vigilant in carrying out investigation, particularly in recording the statements.In the present case, the Court said IO failed to offer any plausible explanation on why he chose to take the victim into custody under such precarious condition and subject her to such a risk along with her minor son of two years. .The IO had not even apply his mind to the allegations, particularly the fact that the woman was 21 years old at the time of registration of kidnapping case, the Court further said.The Court said it was pained to note that the IO did not even ask the age of the married woman before needlessly detaining her. "A simple query regarding her age and her marital status would have brought whole process of investigation to an end. It is also to be noted that the F.I.R. which itself mentions the age of victim as 21 years was sufficient to restrict the Investigating Officer from proceeding with the investigation once the allegations levelled therein do not constitute any cognizable offence," it said..The Court added that the IO in the normal course would not take the victim into custody unless the protection of her person or property was imminently necessary.In view of the above, the Court directed that the woman's custody be handed over to her husband..The Court further said it expects the State to issue necessary guidelines for dealing with such cases relating to woman."The action directed to be taken by the Director General of Police shall be apprised to the court on the next date of listing so that for conclusion of any such proceeding, the court may pass further orders as are necessary in the case. The Director General of Police is expected to initiate appropriate proceedings immediately and in any view of the matter, conclude the same not later than a period of three months from today," the Court directed.The matter will next be taken up on December 11..Advocates Raghvendra P Singh and Mohd Sheraj appeared for the sister of the married woman..[Read order]