LI Network
Published on: 29 July 2023 at 18:55 IST
The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ruled in favour of a man who was falsely accused in a drug case, directing the Punjab State police to pay him a compensation of ₹10,000.
The case of Pushpinder Kumar v State of Punjab involved the filing of a baseless First Information Report (FIR) against the petitioner under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act).
Justice Rajbir Sehrawat, while granting anticipatory bail to the petitioner, took note of the fact that the FIR had been registered without any valid basis.
The arrested individual had suffered harassment and incurred expenses due to the unfounded complaint filed against him.
The Court’s order stated, “Since the FIR has been got registered even before creating a basis for that, and due to the FIR, the petitioner has been put to the harassment and expenses, therefore, the person, who got the said FIR registered against the petitioner without any basis is directed to pay a compensation of ₹10,000 to the petitioner within a period of four weeks from today.”
Pushpinder Kumar, represented by Advocate Ajay Pal Singh Rehan, had sought anticipatory bail, vehemently denying the charges leveled against him and arguing that they were entirely without merit. The petitioner contended that the accusations were made maliciously under the influence of Sub Inspector (SI) Surinder Kumar.
On the other hand, the counsel for the State asserted that the police had acted upon confidential information about the petitioner’s alleged involvement in the drug trade.
However, upon visiting the petitioner’s residence, the police found the house locked and recovered nothing from the petitioner or the premises in question.
Considering the circumstances, the Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution’s case, even based on the police’s own assertions. Therefore, the Court granted anticipatory bail to the petitioner, providing him protection against arrest.
While the Court did not quash the case entirely, it acknowledged the lack of substantiated evidence and ordered the compensation to be paid to the petitioner by the individual responsible for the baseless FIR. Advocate Sandeep Singh represented the State during the proceedings.