Guwahati: A son’s 14-year legal battle for justice over his 60-year-old father’s death in police custody ended with the Gauhati High Court holding the arrest illegal and directing the Assam govt to pay ₹5 lakh in compensation to the family.The court said the amount would carry interest at 6% per annum if the govt failed to make the payment within three months.A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund passed the order recently in a writ petition filed by Sarifuddin, son of Azizur Rahman who died in police custody. The judgment was kept reserved since May.Sarifuddin had sought compensation for his father’s death in custody, a departmental inquiry against the police personnel allegedly involved in the incident and an investigation by a central agency.The court clarified that the compensation was palliative in nature and would not prevent the family from seeking higher compensation before a competent civil court.Rahman was picked up by a police team on the night of July 6, 2012, and taken to the Kalain Police Patrol Post in Cachar district. He was detained in connection with cases registered after a clash between two groups — one supporting a shutdown called by an organisation protesting the then MLA’s second marriage and the other opposing the shutdown.According to an affidavit filed by the then Cachar superintendent of police in November 2015, Rahman complained of uneasiness and collapsed while in custody at the Kalain Police Patrol Post. He was taken to the Kalain First Referral Unit (FRU) and later referred to Silchar Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.The high court held that Rahman’s arrest was illegal for “non-compliance” with the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), including sections 41B, 41C, 50 and 50A. The bench also observed that although Rahman’s house was around 500 metres from the patrol post, the police had made no recorded attempt to inform his family about his deteriorating condition or allow a family member to accompany him to hospital.The court further observed that Rahman was shifted from Kalain FRU to Silchar Medical College and Hospital, around 28-30 km away, in a police vehicle rather than an ambulance available at the FRU.Rahman’s wife, Saleha Khatun, lodged an FIR at Katigorah police station on July 8, 2012, alleging that her husband had been forcibly taken away and that he may have died due to custodial torture. The case was registered under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 302 (murder).The initial investigation was closed with a final report in Dec 2012. However, the chief judicial magistrate, Silchar, rejected it in July 2013 and ordered a reinvestigation. A subsequent final report submitted in April 2023 was also not accepted after the informant filed an objection. In April 2025, the chief judicial magistrate, Cachar, directed that a complaint case be registered.The high court noted that the complaint case was pending before the trial court and refrained from commenting on the allegations of custodial torture or criminal liability, observing that doing so could prejudice either side.The court also referred to the circumstances surrounding the medico-legal register at Kalain FRU. According to an affidavit filed by the hospital’s then deputy superintendent, an entry on the relevant page of the register had been erased or altered. The register was taken into custody by the deputy superintendent and later handed back to the attending doctor for production before the court, but it was not returned to the deputy superintendent before his retirement in May 2014.Holding that Rahman died in police custody on July 7, 2012, the court said, “The manner of arrest was without compliance with the provisions of Sections 41B, 41C, 50 and 50A of the CrPC. The court is inclined to hold the petitioner, as well as the other legal representatives or heirs to be entitled to compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which shall be paid by the govt of Assam.”
