Commission orders relief against atrocities committed by Haryana Police

The Commission has asked the Government of Haryana to pay compensation of Rs. 20,000/- each to seven boys who were victims of atrocities committed by the Gurgaon Police.

The Commission had received a complaint, which had included media reports, that seven boys had been picked up by officials of Haryana Police who had then stripped and paraded the boys in the streets of Omnagar and Shanti Nagar near Gurgaon, Haryana. The police had also forced the boys to humiliate themselves.

In response to the Commission’s directions, a report was received from the Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon which indicted some members of the police force. However, a subsequent report was received which indicted some other persons while those named in the first instance did not figure in the later report. In view of this inconsistency, the Commission directed its Investigation Division to inquire into the entire matter. According to the findings of the Investigation team, a group of children of the Balmiki community had been playing cricket in a park when their ball fell in the compound of the house of one of the police personnel. The official rounded up these boys, got them stripped and then paraded them on the streets. They were taken back to the park, made to kneel down and were then physically assaulted and beaten by the police.

Accepting the report of the Investigation team, the Commission directed the Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon to file a charge-sheet against the three policemen guilty of the crime, under appropriate provisions of the IPC and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Commission also directed the State Government to pay compensation to each of the children. The amount so paid could be recovered from the guilty police personnel in proportions that were determined to be appropriate by the competent authority.





Karnataka Government directed to pay Rs. 1.5 lakh to victims of illegal detention



The Commission has directed the Government of Karnataka to pay compensation totaling Rs. 1.5 lakhs to two persons who were illegally arrested, detained and tortured by the Karnataka Police.

The Commission had received a complaint from one Kum. Lalitha of Mysore alleging that her father Shri Muniswamy had been forcibly taken away by the police in the early hours of 14 August 1999 and that, the next day, her brother Shri Subramani had also been picked up. According to the complainant, her efforts to know of their whereabouts not only failed, but she was also rebuked and abused by the police whom she had approached for help. After she finally managed to trace them and found them illegally detained at Jayapura Police Station in Mysore District, she sent a telegram to the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on 4 September 1999 praying for intervention and the release of her father and brother. She also requested the police officials to release them, but they not only turned a deaf ear to her entreaties but threatened her with dire consequences. She finally moved a petition in the District Court, which issued a search warrant through an Advocate Commissioner. But by the time the Commissioner reached the police lock up, her father and brother had been shifted.

Taking cognizance of the complaint, the Commission issued notice and received a report from the Commissioner of Police, Karnataka, which denied the allegations. Subsequently, the Commission also received a petition from the brother of the complainant alleging that he had been illegally detained and tortured by the police. On consideration of the matter and in view of the complete denial by the Superintendent of Police, Mysore, regarding the detention of the father and brother of the complainant, the Commission directed its Investigation Wing to hold an inquiry into the allegations. The Investigation team, after visiting the spot, concluded that the allegations made by Kum. Lalitha were true and that there was medical evidence, which proved that Shri Subramani had been tortured while under illegal detention.

The Commission also observed that while, according to the police reports, the father and brother of the complainant had been arrested by the Jayapura Police Station only on 29 October 1999, the Commission had received the complaint over a month earlier, on 24 September 1999. The Commission expressed doubts that the complainant would have made a complaint so much in advance, in anticipation of the illegal detention of her father and brother. Had her father and brother not been in illegal police custody, she also would not have made such frantic efforts in the different Courts to have them released.

The Commission consequently made the following recommendations to the State Government of Karnataka through its Chief Secretary: -



§ To register a case of illegal arrest and wrongful detention/ confinement of Shri Muniswamy and Shri Subramani from 14 August 1999 to 28 October 1999 and for the torture and physical violence perpetrated on Shri Subramani during the period of illegal detention. Case was also to be registered for their false implication as well as the false implication of Shri Subramani while he was actually in Central Jail, Mysore as an undertrial prisoner. The investigation of the case should be done by the CBCID and follow up action taken and report sent to the Commission.

To show cause as to why departmental action should not be recommended to be initiated against the Superintendent of Police, Mysore district and the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mysore Rural Sub-Division for not making a thorough and proper inquiry into the complaint, for sending misleading and incorrect reports to the National Human Rights Commission and for their lack of sensitivity to the human rights of the citizenry.
To pay a sum of Rs.50,000/- each to Shri Muniswamy and Shri Subramani as compensation for their illegal arrest and wrongful detention during the period 14 August 1999 to 28 October 1999.
To pay an additional sum of Rs.50,000/- to Shri Subramani for the physical torture/violence perpetrated on him during his illegal confinement.
The State would however, be at liberty to recover either the whole or part of the said amount from the delinquent officials or any one or more of them.