"Complete Police Raj In Bihar, Loss Of Liberty Of Person Of Humble Means At Par With That Of Affluent Person": Supreme Court

It thus held that the authorities had acted in direct violation of detenue's fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution and ordered, "The State of Bihar shall pay compensation to the detenue, namely, Mr. Jitendra Kumar @ Sanjay Kumar, an amount of Rs.5,00,000/- for the violation of his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. "The vehicle and detenue were detained and kept in police custody for more than 35 days without either filing of FIR or following any other procedure of arrest prescribed in law, ensuring constitutional protections to all persons," the Court observed. Right to Compensation under Articles 32 & 226 of the Constitution of India for Violation of Fundamental Rights Since the Court concluded that the Police officials had violated the detenu's fundamental rights, it proceeded to observe that the instant case is fit for hefty compensation to be levied on the State. Therefore, when the Court moulds the relief by granting "compensation" in proceedings under Article 32 or 226 of the Constitution seeking enforcement or protection of fundamental rights, it does so under the public law by way of penalizing the wrongdoer and fixing the liability for the public wrong on the State which has failed in its public duty to protect the fundamental rights of the citizen."