Patna High Court Orders ₹2 Lakh Compensation For Six-Day Illegal Detention; Directs IG Prisons To Frame Guidelines

The Patna High Court recently awarded compensation of ₹2 lakh to an accused who was illegally detained for six days despite a court order granting him bail.A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Sourendra Pandey directed the State to compensate the petitioner, who had been in custody for an alleged violation of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.The petitioner was granted bail, and the Special Excise Judge issued a release warrant on September 29, 2025, which was sent to the Superintendent of the Central Jail, Gaya, where the petitioner was lodged. Despite this, he remained in custody until his virtual production before the Court on October 4, 2025, resulting in six days of illegal detention.The Court summoned the Inspector General of Prisons and Correctional Services, Bihar, to explain the lapse. The IG Prisons defended the delay, claiming that the petitioner's continued incarceration was “occasioned due to the intervening Durga Puja holidays.” However, the Court noted that the illegal detention for six days was an admitted fact and held as follows:“7. There being an admitted position that it is a case of unauthorized detention of the petitioner from 29.09.2025 until 04.10.2025 and this practice is going on without drawing much attention of the Department, this Court being a Constitutional Court cannot remain a silent spectator.The Court proceeded to grant compensation to the detenu, noting the admitted fact of his illegal detention. It first invited the Inspector General of Prisons to suggest a reasonable compensation amount, to which the officer proposed ₹10,000. However, the counsel for the petitioner strongly opposed this, contending that the case involved a clear violation of Article 21 of the Constitution and sought compensation of ₹1 lakh.After considering several precedents from other High Courts, the Patna High Court held that the petitioner's continued detention was a serious violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. It awarded ₹2 lakh in compensation to the petitioner for the unauthorized detention, which would eventually be recovered by the State from the officer responsible. The Court also directed the Inspector General of Prisons and Correctional Services to issue guidelines within two weeks to prevent such violations in the future. In finally allowing the writ petition, the Court concluded:“12. Since we have come to know that this practice is going on in other jurisdictions of the Jail Superintendents in the State, the I.G., Prisons and Correctional Services is directed to issue appropriate guidelines to all the Jail Superintendents in the State of Bihar requiring them to strictly abide by the Constitutional Mandate and order of the Court without any exception. Such guideline shall be issued within a period of two weeks from today. The Respondent State of Bihar shall pay the compensation amount of Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs) to the petitioner within one month from today. Following the settled principle as discussed in the case of K.K. Pathak (supra), we direct that the amount so paid to the petitioner shall be realized from the erring official in accordance with law.”Cause Title: Neeraj Kumar @ Neeraj Singh v. State of BiharCase Number: Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 2761 of 2025Appearance: Mr. Siddharth Harsh and Mr. Jitendra Kumar appeared for the petitioner. Mr. P.N. Sharma and Mr. Pranav Kumar appeared for the State.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Patna High Court Orders ₹2 Lakh Compensation For Six-Day Illegal Detention; Directs IG Prisons To Frame Guidelines

Rushil Batra

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