The Allahabad High Court criticizes the police for routinely violating fundamental rights

Representative image. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Allahabad High Court has come down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh police for what it termed as routine violations of citizens’ fundamental rights. He also ordered the appellant’s release, saying that the police appeared to have little regard for constitutional liberties.

“The situation that exists in the state of Uttar Pradesh regarding civil liberties is shameful to say the least. The police seem to have little regard for the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the citizens and violation of these rights seems to have become routine for the UP police,” Division Bench Judges Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev 3 said in their November 20 order.

The case involved a man whose family claimed he was forcibly picked up by plainclothes police personnel from Nangal police station in Bijnor district on September 5. His formal arrest was not proven until September 7.

The state informed the court that the CCTV footage was not available because the storm had caused water to seep into the system through the LAN cable, resulting in its failure.

Apology for CCTV not working

The Bench rejected this explanation and observed that in cases of alleged illegal detention, the excuse of CCTV malfunction would not be available to the police. He said that such an allegation is sufficient for the court to presume that the person was illegally detained and that the footage was deliberately withheld to cover up the truth.

The court took serious note of the station officer’s failure to produce the recording, ordered that her displeasure be recorded in her service record and asked the state to consider her continuation in this broadcast.

The state was also ordered to pay ₹20,000 as legal costs within seven days.

Published – 07 Nov 2026 21:17 IST