Hansura Bai v. The State of Madhya Pradesh
Background
During a wedding ritual, around 30-40 police personnel raided the venue and forcibly took away the groom, Deva Pardhi, and his uncle Gangaram Pardhi over a theft investigation. Deva Pardhi was allegedly tortured for hours in custody (beaten, hung upside down, doused with water and burned with chilli powder) and later died; Gangaram Pardhi, the sole eyewitness, was kept in custody and implicated in further criminal cases. The appellants (relatives of the deceased and detained men) approached the High Court seeking transfer of the murder investigation to an independent agency and bail for Gangaram Pardhi, but the High Court denied bail while only ordering Gangaram Pardhi's transfer to a different jail for safety.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court found that despite eight months passing since the FIR for Deva Pardhi's custodial death, not a single police official had been arrested, and that even the post-mortem doctors appeared to have avoided stating a cause of death, suggesting police influence over the investigation. Applying the principle that "no one should be a judge in his own cause," the Court held that a fair investigation was impossible while local police investigated their own colleagues, and directed that the investigation into Deva Pardhi's custodial death be transferred to the CBI, with responsible officers to be arrested within one month. It also gave Gangaram Pardhi liberty to seek bail directly from the High Court in the other cases filed against him, and directed the State to ensure his protection as a key witness.
Lesson Learnt
When police are themselves implicated in a custodial death, courts will readily transfer the investigation to an independent agency like the CBI rather than let local police investigate their own colleagues, and will also take steps to protect a key witness who is being repeatedly implicated in fresh cases to silence him.