Bombay High Court orders Rs 4.2 lakh compensation for wrongly imprisoned man

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has fined a businessman whose false complaint led to the unjust imprisonment of a laborer for almost six months.

The court noted that the fundamental right to liberty of the worker was violated due to misidentification of the complainant and ordered the complainant to pay Rs 4,20,000 to it for restriction of his liberty and loss of income.

In its observation, the bench, headed by Justice SG Mehare, highlighted the overcrowded and miserable conditions of prisons in India, saying, “It is very painful in our country to stay in overcrowded prisons. The condition of the prison and inmates is miserable. Due to overpopulation, those tried or accused often have no place to sleep and suffer from many contagious diseases.”

The worker had been arrested in connection with a case registered in 2023, according to which he and nine others allegedly formed an unlawful assembly and attacked the complainant with various weapons, including swords, axes and firearms.

The complainant further alleged that the worker had shot him with a country-made pistol near a playground. However, the worker always maintained his innocence, claiming that he was in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra at the time of the incident and that his call recordings would prove it.

He also pointed out discrepancies in the complainant’s statement, noting that the person identified in the CCTV footage was holding an ax and not a firearm, as claimed in the FIR.

Although the worker was involved in a separate case in which a firearm was recovered from him, no such evidence was found in the present case.

The Newasa Sessions Judge initially refused bail, based on identification from CCTV footage. When the worker approached the High Court in April, his bail application was also at risk of being rejected, prompting him to withdraw his application.

Later, the worker approached the High Court again and this time, the complainant submitted an affidavit in which he retracted his allegations, admitting that the person seen in the CCTV footage was not the worker . Accordingly, the complainant withdrew his objections to bail.

“It appears that the complainant wanted to blame the police, the court and many others, as per his desire and will. Due to his allegations in the FIR, the entire government machinery has been called upon and the worker was arrested It is obvious that, without any substance, he was sent to jail only because of the worker’s complaint and identification,” the bench observed.

The court questioned who would compensate the worker for the six months he unjustly spent in prison, highlighting the need for accountability.

“No citizen has the right to activate the mechanism following such an irresponsible statement and restrict the fundamental rights of a single person. The worker lost six precious months of his life without any reason,” the judge stressed .

The court further said that freedom cannot be measured in monetary terms. However, financial compensation is the general practice, he adds. The court ordered businessman Ramnath Dhanwate to pay Rs 1,20,000 for the worker’s loss of income, along with another Rs 3,00,000 for the violation of his right to liberty, making a total of Rs 4,20,000.

The amount must be deposited with the trial court within two months, failing which, the court may initiate recovery action.