OM NARAIN PANDEY Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners Om Narain Pandey and Atul Pandey are father and son. The petition has been filed by them for a direction commanding the respondents to produce them before the Court and to set them free.

(2.) The brief facts, shorn of superficialities, are that in between the night of 9/10.2.2004 at about 3 a.m., respondent Pankaj Mishra, Station Officer of Police Station Bara, district Allahabad along with five police constables forcibly entered their house, breaking open the door and took them away, giving a thrashing to them as also to the deponent Indrakali Devi (wife of petitioner No. 1 Om Narain Pandey) and her two daughters-in-law. Since then the petitioners are allegedly in illegal detention of Pankaj Mishra, Station Officer and five other constables at Police Station Bara, district Allahabad. They were neither provided food nor medically examined by any doctor till the filing of the writ petition on 17.2.2004. They were also not produced before any Magistrate for taking remand. According to them, neither any criminal case had been registered against them nor they were involved in any criminal case.

(3.) By means of supplementary-affidavit filed by petitioner No. 1 Om Narain Pandey on 21.3.2004, it has been averred that consequent upon the knowledge of order dated 19.2.2004, passed by this Court on the writ petition, asking the A.G.A. to seek instructions within three days and for listing the matter on 23.2.2004, respondent Station Officer, Pankaj Mishra of Police Station Bara immediately released the deponent Om Narain Pandey (petitioner No. 1) on 20.2.2004 from the police station after forcibly obtaining his signatures on plain papers. His son Atul Pandey (petitioner No. 2) still allegedly continued to be in illegal custody of the said Station Officer and five other constables, having been forcibly taken away in between the night of 9/10.2.2004, as stated earlier. It has also been averred in the supplementary affidavit that either the said Station Officer has killed the petitioner No. 2 in some fake encounter or he had been shifted to any other police station.