Judicial inquiry in custodial death cases can't be dragged on for long: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently observed that judicial inquiry in custodial death cases cannot be dragged on for long [Suresh Devi and Another v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others]..A Division Bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Deepak Verma held,"In matters, where the allegation is with regard to custodial death, judicial enquiry under Section 176 (1)A cannot be allowed to drag for so long. These are instances which have to be viewed with greatest sensitivity and concern.".The Court was hearing a plea alleging that the petitioner's son was murdered in police custody in December 2020. It was claimed that the son was tortured and killed while in police custody after he had contracted inter-caste marriage out of his own free will. The petitioner had also prayed for a direction to protect the life and liberty of the parents of the deceased.It was the case of the petitioner that the concerned authorities have been most unfair in dealing with their grievances, as no post-mortem was carried out on the body of the deceased, which was cremated contrary to all settled norms.Moreover, the Court's attention was drawn to the judicial enquiry initiated by the District Judge, Bulandshahr, on January 6, 2021. A report on the same was still awaited..While noting that more than one year has expired since the judicial enquiry was ordered, the Bench directed the High Court Registry to enquire from the District Judge, Bulandshahr as to when the enquiry report was submitted. In the event such a report is not submitted, the explanation of the judicial officer was directed to be placed before the Court."We hasten to add that in the event, such enquiry has not been concluded so far, the same shall be concluded most expeditiously by following the procedure in law," the Court added..The matter was listed on January 27 for further hearing.Advocates Jamil Ahamad Azmi, Anand Swaroop Gautam, Ashutosh Kumar Tiwari and Dharmendra Singh appeared for the petitioners..[Read Order]