Over 4,800 preventive detentions in Prayagraj, Ghaziabad since 2024: Court says powers ‘misused to hilt’

Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi made the observation on June 8.

Plea against detention

• The plea alleged that the Station House Officer (SHO) and sub-inspector of Khiri Police Station in Prayagraj forcibly entered the petitioner’s house in March 2026 and detained him without informing the family of the grounds of arrest.
• It was alleged that when the petitioner’s family members went to the police station, they found that he was beaten by the police and was in a bad condition.
• Following this, a habeas corpus plea was moved before the high court.
• According to the state, the petitioner was detained under sections 170 (arrest to prevent commission of cognizable offences), 126 (security for keeping peace in other cases) and 135 (inquiry as to truth of information) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) after he allegedly abused villagers and created an apprehension of breach of peace.
• The authorities claimed he could not furnish surety on the day he was produced before the assistant commissioner of police and was therefore sent to judicial custody until March 27, when he furnished a personal bond and was released.

‘Illegal detention’

However, the high court found that the order passed by the assistant commissioner of police on March 19 was a printed proforma that directly sent the petitioner to jail and fixed March 27 as the next date.

The bench noted that there was no recital in the order showing that the petitioner had refused to execute a personal bond on the date of production.

“If petitioner no. 1 did not furnish the personal bond on 19.03.2026, the next date, i.e., 20.03.2026, should have been fixed to provide him an opportunity to furnish personal bond for keeping the peace and maintaining good behaviour. The Assistant Commissioner of Police fixed the next date after eight days; therefore, petitioner no. 1 was kept in illegal detention for eight days, dehors the provisions of law,” the court noted.

Many in custody for up to 20 days

While hearing the matter, the court had also sought data from police commissionerates and judicial authorities regarding detentions under the preventive provisions.

The material placed before it revealed that in the Ghaziabad Commissionerate alone, 2,522 persons were detained under BNSS sections 170, 126 and 135 between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026, with periods of custody ranging from one to 17 days. The bench observed that such detentions were not in accordance with the law.

The court further examined records submitted by the chief judicial magistrate, Prayagraj, which showed that 283 people were detained under similar preventive provisions in 2024, 1,321 people in 2025, and 721 people in 2026 till date, adding up to a total of 2,325 people.

According to the bench, many of them remained in custody for periods ranging from a week to as much as 20 days.

‘Shocking state’

Terming the situation in Prayagraj commissionerate a “shocking state of affairs”, the court observed that powers vested in commissioners of police acting as magistrates were being “misused to the hilt”.

It referred to an earlier judgment concerning the Ghaziabad commissionerate, where similar misuse of preventive detention provisions had been noticed.

The court held that the petitioner had been illegally detained for eight days and was therefore entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs 25,000 per day, totalling Rs 2 lakh.

It directed the state government to pay the amount within six weeks and thereafter recover it from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bara, Prayagraj, after conducting a disciplinary inquiry within three months.