Allahabad High Court has given a big blow to the misuse of sections of breach of peace in the Police Commissionerate system. The court clearly said that personal freedom of citizens is paramount and no innocent person can be sent to jail without legal process. The division bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinay Kumar Dwivedi made this important comment while hearing the petition of Mansoor Ahmed alias Lallu.
The court has ordered a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to Mansoor Ahmed for illegal detention for 8 days. This amount will be recovered from the salary of the then convicted ACP.
What was the incident?
Mansoor Ahmed, a resident of Kheri area of Prayagraj, was picked up without any proper legal process. On just a proforma order, he was sent directly to jail. The High Court declared this entire action completely illegal. The court said that this eight-day detention was not in accordance with the law in any sense.
Illegal detention of thousands of innocents exposed
Making a serious comment in this matter, the division bench said that in many districts including Ghaziabad and Prayagraj, thousands of citizens were kept in jail by misuse of powers by police commissioners and magistrates. Shocking figures emerged from the records provided by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Prayagraj.
- 283 people in 2024
- 1,321 people in 2025
- 2026 till now 721 people
A total of 2,325 people were detained in such precautionary action. Many people were kept in jail for a week to 20 days.
- The High Court has issued strict guidelines to curb the misuse.
- Now there will be no need for external surety in case of breach of peace.
- You can get immediate release by giving a personal bond of only Rs 20 thousand.
- If a person is kept in illegal custody for more than 24 hours, the state government will give him compensation of Rs 25,000 per day.
- This amount will be recovered from the salary of the guilty officer and departmental action will also be taken against him.
The court has directed the Police Commissioner Prayagraj to submit the report of compliance with this order by 14 September 2026. The division bench stressed that the responsibility of the police and administration is to enforce the law, and not to snatch people’s freedom as per their wish. This decision will set an example in all those cases where innocent people were being harassed by misusing the provisions of breach of peace.
Leave a Reply