The Supreme Court recently stayed a Meghalaya High Court ruling on custodial deaths compensation. The High Court had ordered for compensation of up to Rs 10-15 lakhs to be paid by the State government in cases of custodial deaths
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued notice on an appeal by the Meghalaya government, adding that a response should be filed in four weeks.
The bench directed that until further orders, the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court shall remain stayed, subject to condition that the compensation as determined by the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) shall be paid by the State government.
Last year in August, the Meghalaya High Court had remarked that custodial deaths of prisoners would stop only when the compensation amount for such violence is pegged at a level where the State would bleed to make the payment. The judgment was pronounced in a suo motu case.
The High Court expressed its distress over the number of deaths of under-trial prisoners at the hands of investigating authorities who used third-degree methods to get information. The court observed that such excesses by the State through its police personnel may result in admissions that are inaccurate and only made to avoid or delay further torture.
Denying the Haryana Model of compensation that has been endorsed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the High Court said that compensation paid to victims has to be both adequate for the families of the victims and such as to act as a deterrent so that the State and its officials remain in check.
The court explained that the amount should be one that the State is not happy to pay off, with the bench led by then Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee stressing that incidents of custodial death are a slur on civilised society. Subsequently, it proceeded to fix the compensation amounts ranging between Rs 10-15 lakhs as compensation to be paid by the State to victims of custodial violence.
Following the order, instant appeals were filed by the Meghalaya government before the Supreme Court. Advocate General Amit Kumar of Meghalaya with advocates Avijit Mani Tripathi, Rekha Bakshi, Aditya Shankar Pandey, Shaurya Sahay, Himanshu Sehrawat, Upendra Mishra, and PS Negi appeared for the State of Meghalaya in the Supreme Court.