The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to trace missing videography related to the death of a physically disabled man inside a police lockup in Mainpuri, observing that repeated delays and missing evidence had raised serious doubts about the official police version of suicide.
A Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Siddharth Nandan made the observations while hearing a public interest litigation concerning the 2009 death of Nahar Singh inside Dannahar police station in Uttar Pradesh.
Background of the Case
According to the petition, Nahar Singh, who had 40 percent physical disability, died inside police custody on May 9, 2009. Police claimed he died by suicide after hanging himself inside the lockup urinal area using a belt.
The Bench, however, questioned the plausibility of that version. The Court noted that lockups remain under constant police watch and remarked that it was difficult to accept how a physically disabled person could allegedly hang himself without anyone noticing.
The PIL was filed by the Lucknow-based Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI), which argued that the truth behind the custodial death had never been independently examined.
Court’s Observations
The Bench delivered strong remarks against multiple institutions, including the police, the State administration and even the Court system itself, for allowing the matter to remain unresolved for nearly sixteen years.
“The procedural delay of sixteen years in this case has given an opportunity to the police and the State to cover its tracks,” the Court observed while discussing the missing videography of the scene of occurrence and postmortem proceedings.
The judges also referred to inconsistencies in the postmortem findings. The order noted that the report mentioned a “knot mark” behind the ear and fractures in tracheal rings, which, the Bench observed that the injuries appeared more probable in cases of strangulation than hanging by a leather belt.
The Court observed,
“This raises a reasonable suspicion if the deceased Nahar Singh was first strangulated within the police station and then... his body was strung up in the urinal side inside the lockup.”
NHRC Also Questioned
The Bench also expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the National Human Rights Commission handled the complaint filed by the deceased’s father.
The Court said the NHRC appeared to have relied mainly on police and SDM reports without conducting any independent witness examination. It noted that statements of the family members, the girl allegedly connected to the incident, neighbours, or police personnel present at the station were never recorded.
Calling the approach “most disappointing,” the Bench remarked that closing a custodial death case solely on police reports “calls into question the very existence of the NHRC.”
Court’s Decision
Finding the State’s responses evasive and noting that repeated efforts to secure the original videography had failed, the High Court directed the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch at Ghaziabad to locate and secure the video recordings within sixty days.
The Court clarified that no FIR was required at this stage because the agency would act under judicial directions. The matter has now been listed for further hearing on August 10, 2026.
Case Details
Case Title: Association For Advocacy And Legal Initiatives, Lucknow vs State of U.P. & Others
Case Number: PIL No. 16563 of 2010
Judges: Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Siddharth Nandan
Decision Date: May 18, 2026
