The High Court of Karnataka has ordered the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to a Bengaluru man who was arrested only because his father’s name was identical to the name on the warrant.
Police arrested the man presuming him to be the former director of a company in a liquidation proceeding. But they later realised that they had got the wrong man.
Aggrieved by the reckless police action, he moved the high court to get the proceedings against him quashed.
The court expressed shock that the police arrested a man without ascertaining whether he was indeed the person they were looking for. It said the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution was of paramount importance.
“I am unable to comprehend as to how the name of the father being similar or even identical would have any role to play in the arrest, extrapolating the same logic if the arrest warrant has been issued for one brother, another brother or maybe even the sister could be arrested,
merely because the father’s name is identical,” Justice Suraj Govindaraj
said.
The court said whenever a bailable or non-bailable warrant is issued, the arresting officer must ascertain the identity of the person and be satisfied that the person proposed to be arrested is the same person named in the warrant.
While granting compensation to the applicant, the court said the state government is at liberty to recover the amount from police officers who had made the arrest.
The court also directed the Director General and Inspector of Police (DG&IGP) to issue suitable guidelines or a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the steps to be taken, including verifying the person’s identity, by the arresting officer before arresting a person.
In case the guidelines/SOP already exist, proper training needs to be given to police officers, the court added.
The matter has been re-listed on September 1, 2022, for checking compliance on the court’s directions.
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