The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to pay ₹2 lakh compensation to a man who was kept in judicial custody for eight days in violation of the provisions governing preventive detention proceedings under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
A Division Bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Mansoor Ahmad alias Lallu and another. The Court held that the petitioner’s detention was contrary to law and amounted to illegal custody.
Background of the Case
According to the petition, police officials from Khiri Police Station in Prayagraj allegedly took petitioner Mansoor Ahmad into custody during the early hours of March 19, 2026. His family claimed that they were not informed of the reasons for his detention and later found him in poor condition at the police station.
The petitioner remained in custody until March 27, 2026. During this period, complaints were made to several authorities, and a habeas corpus petition was eventually filed before the High Court seeking his release.
The State, however, argued that the petitioner had been detained under Sections 170, 126 and 135 of the BNSS due to an apprehension of breach of peace and that he was unable to furnish the required bond and surety immediately.
After examining the records, the Bench found that the Assistant Commissioner of Police had produced the petitioner before the competent authority on March 19, 2026 and then directly sent him to jail until March 27, 2026.
The Court noted that the order did not record any refusal by the petitioner to furnish a personal bond on the date of his production. It observed that if the petitioner had failed to furnish the bond on that day, an earlier date should have been fixed to give him another opportunity.
“The provisions of Sections 170, 126 and 135 of the BNSS were flagrantly violated,” the Bench observed while examining the detention order.
The judges further expressed concern over what they described as a pattern of prolonged detention in preventive proceedings within the Prayagraj Commissionerate. Referring to data placed before the Court, the Bench noted that hundreds of individuals had been kept in custody for periods extending beyond what the law permits.
Calling the situation “shocking,” the Court remarked that powers vested in police commissioners acting as magistrates were being misused.
Concluding that the petitioner had been kept in illegal judicial custody for eight days, the High Court directed the State Government to pay compensation of ₹25,000 per day, amounting to ₹2 lakh, within six weeks.
The Bench further ordered that, after conducting a disciplinary inquiry, the State Government may recover the amount from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bara, Prayagraj. The inquiry has been directed to be completed within three months.
The Court also instructed the Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj Commissionerate, to file a compliance report before the High Court on or before September 14, 2026.
Case Details:
Case Title: Mansoor Ahmad @ Lallu and Another v. State of U.P. and 4 Others
Case Number: Habeas Corpus Writ Petition No. 317 of 2026
Judge: Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi
Decision Date: June 8, 2026
