The Supreme Court today directed payment of Rs 2 lakh compensation to a coaching centre owner in Madhya Pradesh who was handcuffed by state police in a criminal case,an incident which shocked his sister to death. Allowing one of the two appeals filed by Hardeep Singh,the apex court enhanced the compensation amount to Rs 2 lakh as against the Rs 70,000 awarded by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case relating to 1992,in which Singh was subsequently acquitted. A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai,however,turned Singh's plea for prosecution of then Jabalpur collector Raghav Chandra and other officials for his prosecution and handcuffing. The apex court said that since Singh's plea for prosecuting the collector and others was already dismissed by it in 2003,it cannot entertain the fresh plea. In this case Singh,running a coaching centre named 'Deepika Classes",was arrested and handcuffed by police at for allegedly selling pre-medical tests in June 1992. However,after a protracted trial in 2004 he was acquitted of the charges. He was brought to the police station in handcuffs and these photographs appeared in local newspapers. On seeing his photographs with handcuffs,his elder sister,who loved him like a son,was so shocked that she expired on June 17,1992. Singh filed cases against the officials seeking compensation for damage to his reputation and also prosecution of the officials for the tragedy caused to him. But his plea for sanction was turned down by the high court as the required sanction under Section 197 was not obtained. However,a division bench of the high court awarded him Rs 70,000 compensation and not satisfied with it,he appealed in the apex court and argued the case personally. Singh contended that the incident caused serious harm to his dignity and reputation besides violating his fundamental right to speedy trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The apex court said the state government declined to grant sanction and the high court rightly found that the order of the state government does not suffer from any infirmity and does not warrant any interference by the court. "The prayer of the appellant,therefore,to send the accused behind bars cannot be entertained. "Coming,however,to the issue of compensation,we find that in light of the findings arrived at by the division bench,the compensation of Rs 70,000 was too small and did not do justice to the sufferings and humiliation undergone by the appellant. In the facts and circumstances of the case,we feel that a sum of Rs 2,00,000 (Rupees two lakhs) would be an adequate compensation for the appellant and would meet the ends of justice. "We,accordingly,direct the state of Madhya Pradesh to pay to the appellant the sum of Rs 2,00,000 (Rupees two lakhs) as compensation. In case the sum of Rs 70,000 as awarded by the high court,has already been paid to the appellant,the state would naturally pay only the balance amount of Rs 1,30,000," the apex court said.
