Custodial Death Compensation: Kerala High Court Closes Suo Motu Case As State Finalises SOP For Collection Of Prisoners' Legal Heirs Data
Anamika MJ
4 Feb 2026 2:56 PM IST
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (04 February) disposed of the suo motu proceedings on custodial deaths and compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased inmates as the State informed that the Standard operating Procedure (SOP) for collection of data has been finalised.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M disposed of the petition.
The Court had previously directed the State government to develop a database on the legal heirs of prison inmates.
Following this, changes were brought in the e-Prisons software where fields for entering nominee/legal heir details and uploading supporting documents were brought in.
It was also informed that the SOP for collection of data could be finalised after receiving remarks from the State Police Chief, Social Justice Department, Land Revenue Commissioner and Director General of Prisons.
The Court had thus directed the State to finalise the SOP for collection of data after consultation with the stakeholder departments and functionaries.
Today, when the matter was taken up, the Court was informed that the SOP for collection, verification and updation of the details of legal heir has been finalised and the copy of the same has been filed as a memo on 21 January 2026.
The Counsel for KELSA (Kerala Legal Service Authority) submitted that the SOP should have considered the Supporting Potential and Resilience of the Unseen, Held Back and Affected (SPRUHA) scheme introduced by National Legal Service Authority (NALSA).
The Court recorded the submission and directed the KELSA and other stakeholders to follow the implementation of various schemes.
“KELSA and all other stakeholders are directed to follow the SOP, for the implementation of various schemes and for the purposes for which SOP has been finalized.” the Court said.
With these observations, the matter was disposed of.
Case Title: Suo Motu v State of Kerala and Ors.
Case No: WP(C) 36780/ 2017
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 68
Counsel for Respondent - E Narayanan, KK Preetha, P Narayanan, B Ashok Shenoy, P S Gireesh, Arjun R Naik, Umasanker U. U, Aditya A Shenoy, T Ramprasad Unni, S M Prasanth, Shehin S
Amicus Curiae - Santhosh Mathew