High Court orders Rs 15 lakh relief for ‘death sentence without due process

Nearly 12 years after a 22-year-old man was shot by a Punjab Police official, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has awarded Rs 15 lakh compensation to his mother after holding that “allowing the act of the erring cop to go unchecked would amount to validating a death sentence, passed not in line with the due process of law, but by the law enforcement agency donning the role of the judge, jury and executioner”.

The direction came as Justice Harpreet Singh Brar admonished the conduct of the police for not just resorting to excessive force, but also attempting to shield the erring officials. The Bench noted that Arvinder Pal Singh alias Lovely, a proclaimed offender in two of the nine criminal cases registered against him, was shot from a “very small, perhaps point-blank distance” by a police official. “That being the case, the narrative put forth by the respondents head constables seems rather untenable,” Justice Brar added.

The Bench further took note of the fact that the fatal bullet pierced through the deceased’s arm and entered his chest, rupturing the left lung. “It is rather curious as to why, if it was at all required, did respondent police official not aim for the legs of the deceased…. It seems to be a considerable exaggeration to argue that the bullet pierced through the arm and entered the chest of the deceased deep enough to rupture the left lung and cause his death,” Justice Brar observed.

The Bench was also critical of the changing versions of the police regarding the location of the incident. “The initial version pertaining to the incident was that it occurred outside the barber shop. However, a perusal of the record indicates that during investigation, the owner of the shop categorically stated that the deceased had a mobile phone charging inside and that the entire incident also occurred inside the shop,” Justice Brar noted.

Asserting that the presence of multiple criminal cases against the deceased did not authorise police officials to indulge in such excesses, Justice Brar asserted: “The police officials form a part of a professional and trained force. As such, it can be reasonably assumed that they possess the ability to arrest a man, armed merely with a knife, without killing him, especially when they are armed with their service pistol.”

Justice Brar also expressed serious reservations about the police conduct following the incident. The court observed that there was no indication that the so-called secret information regarding the deceased’s whereabouts was reduced to writing. “Further, an FIR was only registered against the erring police officials due to the intervention of this Court after a petition was filed by the petitioner-mother of the deceased. However, the intention of the police authorities to shield their colleagues is rather conspicuous.”

Justice Brar also observed that the FIR was registered for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the IPC, “while it clearly should have been done under Section 302 of the IPC (murder)”.

Referring to the petitioner’s long and painful quest for justice, Justice Brar recorded in the order: “The petitioner is mother who has lost her 22-year-old son in an incident that occurred in the year 2013, but her quest for justice still remains unfinished. It was only due to her efforts that an FIR was registered against the erring officials and the matter was ordered to be investigated by the Crime Branch. Not only has she lost her young son, for the last 12 years, she has had to run from pillar to post to get the incident fairly investigated.”

Granting relief, the High Court held: “This court finds it to be a fit case for grant of compensation, as the death of the son of the petitioner was caused due to excesses on part of the State law enforcement agency.”

Before parting, Justice Brar directed the State of Punjab to pay compensation of Rs 15 lakh within eight weeks. The petitioner was also given liberty to pursue alternate remedies regarding dissatisfaction with the investigation.