Altaf Custodial Death: Allahabad High Court orders second post-mortem of body by AIIMS Delhi

The Allahabad High Court has directed that the body of 22-year-old Altaf who died inside police station, allegedly due to custodial torture, should be subject to a second post-mortem/ autopsy by a team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi [Chand Miyan v. State of Uttar Pradesh]..A division bench of Justices Anjani Kumar Mishra and Deepak Verma also directed that the entire process of unsealing the body, post-mortem and the subsequent sealing if any of the body, should be videographed."We direct that the body of the deceased, Altaf shall be exhumed forthwith in the presence of Senior Superintendent of Police / Superintendent of Police, Kasganj. The body after it has been exhumed shall be sealed and immediately transported to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, where a post-mortem examination of the exhumed body shall be conducted in presence of a team of Doctors to be constituted by the Director of All India Medical Sciences, Delhi," the order said.The court further directed that the entire exercise should be completed within a period of ten days."This entire exercise should be completed within period of 10 days from today. This order has been passed because it is the case of the petitioner based upon photographs brought on record, wherein the deceased, Altaf is shown to have hung himself from a water pipe, which was installed only three feet above the ground of the toilet," the Court held. .With regard to the ongoing inquiry by Magistrate, the Court said that the Magistrate concerned should proceed with it expeditiously and conclude the same preferably within a period of four weeks..The Court was hearing a plea moved by Chand Miyan, the father of Altaf, who contended that he has no faith in the State Police and its investigation into the matter. He thus prayed for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a Court-monitored investigation.In his plea, Altaf's father also sought compensation of ₹1 crore. An interim application was also filed before the Court seeking a second post-mortem of Altaf, along with CCTV footage of the police station where the incident took place.On November 10 last year, the district administration of Kasganj had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of Altaf. The police, however, had claimed that he had committed suicide in the toilet of the Kasganj station. Pursuant to the inquiry, five policemen were suspended.On December 23, 2021, the High Court had ordered the Superintendent of Police, Kasganj to file a counter affidavit in the matter. After finding that no affidavit was filed, on February 2, the Court had warned the Kasganj SP to file the affidavit by the next day, failing which it would impose heavy costs.On December 13 last year, the High Court had issued notice in a plea seeking the establishment of fast-track police courts in Uttar Pradesh in the wake of the custodial death of Altaf.The Court directed the petitioner, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), to delete from its petition all cited examples of custodial violence from other states. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal said that doing so would create confusion for the Court, and that the State would not be able to reply on such examples..[Read Order]