Lucknow, Aug 24 The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of a man in the custody of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Pratapgarh district.
In an order dated August 14, the court observed that the post-mortem report mentioned ante-mortem (pre-death) injuries on the deceased body, and noted that his family members had specifically alleged that he died due to torture by STF personnel.
In these circumstances, a judicial inquiry under Section 176(1-A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is required, the court held.
It directed the district and sessions judge, Pratapgarh, to issue necessary directions to the chief judicial magistrate to conduct the judicial inquiry.
It said the inquiry should, preferably, be completed within six weeks from the production of a certified copy of the order, and its report should be submitted before the court in a sealed cover on October 27, 2026.
The case pertains to the death of a man in STF custody in March 2024. An FIR was registered in this connection under Section 302 (murder) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, at Sangipur police station in Pratapgarh.
A bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra was hearing a criminal writ petition seeking transfer of the investigation into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any other independent agency.
Earlier, since the death allegedly occurred in police custody, the court had directed the Pratapgarh superintendent of police to file a personal affidavit regarding compliance with Section 176(1-A) CrPC.
Subsequently, the state informed the court that the matter had been sent to the superintendent of police for a judicial inquiry.
However, subsequent reports made it clear that no judicial inquiry under Section 176(1-A) had actually been conducted.
The court also noted that the sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar), Pratapgarh, had conducted an inquiry on August 16, 2024.
Referring to the medical report, the inquiry had concluded that the death appeared to be natural as the deceased had pre-existing heart conditions and died of a cardiac attack. However, the post-mortem report recorded ante-mortem injuries on the deceased's body.
Referring to Section 176(1-A) CrPC, the bench noted that where a person dies or disappears while in police custody or in any other custody authorised by a magistrate or court, an inquiry is required to be conducted by the concerned judicial magistrate.
