Telangana HC junks woman's custodial torture plea, cites contradictions in remand proceedings

HYDERABAD: Telangana high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a 45-year-old woman alleging illegal detention and custodial torture by Hyderabad police, holding that her claims were contradicted by statements she made before a judicial magistrate during remand proceedings.

The woman, a resident of KPHB and belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, had sought a court-monitored probe by a SIT, CBI or CID into the alleged actions of police officials. She sought ₹50 lakh compensation and directions for preservation of CCTV footage and phone call records of the officers.

The case stems from a criminal case filed at Jubilee Hills police station on May 5. According to police, the woman, her son and their associates were allegedly invol-ved in an extortion racket in which kids from affluent families were targeted through stalking and sexual harassment before money was allegedly extorted from them.
‘Petition lacked merits’
Delivering the verdict recently, Justice GM Mohiuddin observed that the reliefs sought by the petitioner could not be granted in view of the contemporaneous judicial record, which showed that she had stated before the magistrate that she had not been ill-treated by the police.

“Since the petitioner herself has made this admission before the magistrate in the presence of her own counsel, the new allegations raised in the writ petition were untenable,” noted the judge. Finding no material basis to order preservation of CCTV footage or award compensation, the court held that the petition lacked merit and dismissed it without costs.

In her petition, the woman claimed she was subjected to unlawful custody, illegal detention and severe custodial torture by police in connection with the case. Her counsel argued that the alleged treatment violated her fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution as well as provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The petitioner further contended that preservation of CCTV footage from the police station between April 18 and May 5 would conclusively establish the abuse she allegedly suffered.

Opposing the plea, govt pleader for home Mahesh Raje relied on the contemporaneous judicial record of the remand proceedings. “The petitioner’s claims were falsified by the remand order dated May 5, which recorded that she had been examined by the additional chief judicial magistrate and had explicitly reported no ill-treatment at the hands of the police,” Raje submitted.

He contended that the petitioner was accompanied by her own legal counsel while being produced before the judicial magistrate and argued that the writ petition was not maintainable, suggesting that a private complaint would be the appropriate legal remedy if she felt aggrieved.