TARULATA DEVI Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioner, who is the mother of an alleged victim of custodial death, had filed the instant petition placing before this court her version of the case and praying for various reliefs specifically enumerated in the body of the writ petition. This court while entertaining the writ application by order dated 31.3.95 directed that an inquiry to be made by the District Judge, Darrang, Mangaldoi with regard to the manner and cause of death of Pankaj Sarma, the deceased, and requested the learned District Judge to submit a report to this court within a period of 4 (four) months. Notwithstanding the desire and anxiety of this court to have a report as regards the manner and cause of death of the son of the writ petitioner as expedi-tiously as possible, the same could be furnished by the learned District Judge only on 14.3.2000 and taken on record by order dated 3.4.2000 of this court.

(2.) The writ petitioner has pleaded that her son Pankaj Sarma, who was a graduate, went to a nearby village called Khairabari on 3.12.1994 to meet some of his friends and spent the night in the said village. In the early hours of 4.12.1994 at about 12.30 a.m. a police party headed by the Officer-in-charge of Khairabari Police Station raided the said village and arrested the writ petitioner's son along with others. The writ petitioner's son and his friends were shown arrested in connection with Khairabari Police Station Case No. 48 of 1994 under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code read with sections 3/4/5 of the TADA (P) Act (G.R. Case No. 829 of 1994). The writ petitioner has further stated that on 4.12.1994, in the course of the day, her son along with others was transferred to Mangaldoi Police Station and at about 10 p.m. in the evening of the same day, namely, 4.12.1994 Pankaj Sarma was shifted to Mangaldoi Civil Hospital and soon thereafter her son was declared dead by the doctors at the hospital. The post-mortem examination was carried out and the report which has been annexed to the writ petition shows that the following injuries were found on the body of the deceased:

(3.) The writ petitioner has categorically averred that her son was otherwise a healthy boy and that there were no injuries on him at the time of his arrest. Therefore, the injuries found on his body which in the opinion of the doctor, have caused death must have been the result of police torture while he was in police custody.