NEW DELHI: The Gauhati high court has ordered Assam government to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to the widow of a businessman allegedly abducted, tortured and killed in police custody.A Division Bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Shamima Jahan ordered the State to pay an additional Rs 20 lakh apart from the Rs 5 lakh already paid as interim relief to the victim’s family.The case arose from the alleged custodial death of businessman Santosh Hojai in Assam in 2020.According to the allegations before the court, police personnel abducted the businessman, illegally detained and brutally tortured him, leading to his death. The accused officials allegedly buried the body in an attempt to conceal the crime.The widow approached the high court seeking compensation for violation of her husband’s fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, as per a report by LiveLawThe court noted that although chargesheets had already been filed against the accused police personnel, the criminal trial was still pending.Rejecting the argument that compensation should wait until the completion of trial, the high court said that constitutional courts can award compensation in custodial death cases under public law jurisdiction independent of criminal proceedings.The bench further observed that nearly six years had passed since the death and the victim’s family had continued to suffer financial and emotional hardship.The court also made strong observations on the alleged conduct of the police officials, noting that the victim had allegedly been taken into custody without following due process of law. According to the high court, the allegations disclosed a serious violation of the victim’s constitutional rights.The bench further noted that the accused police personnel had allegedly not only abducted and tortured the businessman, but had also disposed of the body by burying it.The high court held that such allegations, if true, reflected a grave abuse of State power and warranted compensation under constitutional remedies meant to address violations of fundamental rights.At the same time, the court clarified that the compensation awarded was “palliative” in nature and would not affect the ongoing criminal prosecution against the accused officials.Importantly, the bench granted liberty to the State government to recover the compensation amount from the erring officials if they are ultimately found guilty during trial.
