RAM SAKHI DEVI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition, the petitioner, who is the mother of Rajesh Umar alias Raju Yadav, has sought for a direction to the respondents to pay compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for custodial death of his said son.

(2.) In short, the case of the petitioner is that her said son died on brutal assault by the Excise officials at the place from where he was arrested and also while he was in Excise Hazat till produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna on 19th February, 2000. In support of this, petitioner has relied upon photograph of the deceased taken by a Photographer (Annexure 1)(as. claimed) and the news items published in the newspaper on 22.2.2000 (Annexure 2 series). It is alleged that the petitioner gave written report to the Officer -in -Charge, Kadamkuan Police Station for registering a case under Section 302, IPC but the police gave undue pressure and by threatening her obtained her signature and also the signatures of her family members on a blank paper. According to the petitioner, the entire version has been changed by helping the accused Excise officials and Kadamkuan P.S. Case No. 188/2000 was registered by the police only under Sections 304/ 34, IPC on 4.4.2000, vide Annexure 4. According to her case, her deceased son was a young man and the only source of livelihood of her and her family members and his death occurred in custody because of assault, torture and cruel and inhuman action of the Excise officials as is apparent from the postmortem report and also because there are so many ante -mortem injuries on the dead body. Accordingly, she has claimed for compensation of Rs. 5 lakh.

(3.) Separate counter -affidavits have been filed on behalf of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna, the District Magistrate, Patna (respondent No. 5), the Inspector -General of Prisons, Government of Bihar and the Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Beur, Patna (respondents No. 3 and 4 respectively) and also on behalf of Shri A.K. Verma, Assistant Commissioner of Excise, Patna (respondent No. 6).