Allahabad High Court has issued important guidelines to curb the misuse of the provisions of preventive detention in the state. The court gave a clear order that under BNSS (Indian Civil Security Code), if a person is kept in illegal custody for more than 24 hours on suspicion of breach of peace, the state government will have to pay a compensation of ₹ 25,000 per day to the victim. This amount will be recovered directly from the salary of the guilty magistrate or police officers.
The Division Bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinay Kumar Dwivedi passed this decision while hearing the Habeas Corpus petition of disabled lawyer Chandra Pal Singh. The bench expressed deep displeasure over the “worrying trend of acting in a highly irresponsible manner” by the police and magistrates in the state.
what is the matter
On 22 February 2026, Ghaziabad Police forcibly picked up lawyer Chandra Pal Singh on a minor complaint from a neighbor. The allegation was that they had blocked the road by installing a gate. According to the law, he should have been produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, but he was produced only before the Assistant Commissioner of Police.
After this, he was sent to jail under section 151 of CrPC (section 170 of BNSS). The next day, Singh and his nephew filled a bond of ₹50,000 for maintaining peace under sections 170, 126 and 135 of the BNSS, yet they were not released. After filing a Habeas Corpus petition in the High Court and the court’s intervention, Singh was released on 25 February, while his nephew was released on 26 February.
Irresponsible attitude of police and magistrate
The bench observed that despite the clear policy of the state government dated March 23, 2021, in which directions were given to the District Magistrate, Executive and Special Magistrate, the police officers and magistrates were adopting an irresponsible attitude. The court observed that people were being kept in jail for many days on the mere suspicion of disturbing the peace. Despite there being no provision for bond or surety in Section 170 of BNSS, the magistrate demands a bond of ₹50,000 and surety of like amount.
The Ghaziabad Police Commissioner’s compliance affidavit said that no one is in custody at present, but the court, citing reports, said that they are first arrested and kept in jail for several days and are released only after showing good work on the orders of the court.
Court issued clear guidelines
- The person taken into preventive detention will have to fill a personal bond (without deposit of money) promising to maintain peace and behave well.
- The amount of the bond shall not exceed ₹20,000 and no surety shall be required. If the amount is increased, the magistrate will have to record written reasons.
- If the person pays the bond on the day of detention, he should be released immediately.
- If the accused refuses to pay the bond, the refusal should be recorded in writing and audio-visually.
- On the date of refusal he should be produced before the Magistrate so that he can present the bond on the chosen date.
- The state government will give compensation of ₹25,000 per day to the victim for illegal detention beyond 24 hours.
- This amount will be recovered from the salary of the guilty magistrate/police officer (or both).
- Prima facie, disciplinary action will be taken against the officers responsible under service rules.
Reference to Supreme Court decisions
The bench referred to the Supreme Court’s decisions in Daudyal vs. State of Rajasthan (2026 (SC) 567) and Nilabati Behera vs. State of Odisha (1993), in which it has been said that exemplary damages should be given for violation of fundamental rights. Also mentioned his previous comments in the case of Amit Jani vs. State of UP (2020) and Shiv Kumar Verma.
Compensation to Chandra Pal Singh
The court found that the petitioner was kept in illegal detention from 22 to 25 February (3 days), hence directed him to pay compensation of ₹ 75,000. The state government will have to pay the amount within 6 weeks, which will later be recovered from the concerned ACP and SHO. The Registrar (Compliance) was ordered to send a copy of this decision to the DGP of UP within a week, so that compliance can be ensured by issuing a circular to the Police Commissionerate and all district police chiefs.
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