New Delhi: ‘When it could happen to him–a man of the law–imagine what the common person must be subjected to’. This unsettling thought constantly ran through advocate Chander Pal Singh’s mind as he endured three days in illegal custody under preventive detention provisions in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. Earlier this year in February, Singh was forcibly taken away by police over a petty complaint lodged by his neighbour that he had obstructed a passage by installing a gate.But instead of accepting his fate and moving on like countless others do, he decided to fight back. Singh filed a habeas corpus writ in the Allahabad High Court. On June 8, the court not only termed his detention as “illegal” but also ordered the state government to pay him a compensation of Rs 75,000 (Rs 25,000 per day) for the three days of illegal detention he had suffered, within six weeks.The court also directed the state government to recover the amount from the assistant commissioner of police, Shalimar Garden, Ghaziabad and from the Station House Officer of Teelamodh police station, whoever is found at fault or both proportionally after conducting disciplinary inquiry against them within three months. “When it can happen to me, then what all must be happening to other people? I am a man of the law. I took recourse to the law. What will other people do,” Singh asked. A practising advocate at the Allahabad high court, Singh belongs to a Dalit community and is physically challenged. ‘Implications of the judgement far beyond individual relief’Speaking with The Wire, the lawyer emphasised that the high court’s judgment extends far beyond his individual relief, serving as a vital shield to protect the “poor, common people” from arbitrary police detention across the state. Shortly after the Allahbad high court judgement, a court in Datia, MP ordered the registration of an FIR against then SHO at Sinawal police station and three other police personnel for allegedly forcibly entering a house and assaulting members including women and children in March 2024.While awarding Singh compensation, a division bench of Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi observed that there existed a state government policy from 2021 for guiding district magistrates, executive and special magistrates in cases of maintaining public peace and public order. Despite the clear guidelines, the court noted that police officials and magistrates in the state were “acting in a highly irresponsible manner” by routinely sending persons brought before them to jail for days together under the guise of preventing a breach of peace. The 2021 policy mandated that a person who was illegally detained would receive a compensation of Rs 25,000. The high court said that the amount deserved to be enhanced by framing a new policy. Until the state government comes up with a new policy and “keeping in view the flagrant violation of the right to liberty” of the illegally detained and jailed persons, the court directed that where a person was detained for more than 24 hours in violation of its order, without any plausible reason, an amount of Rs 25,000 per day shall be payable to the detained person as compensation by the government. The amount would be recovered from the salary of the concerned magistrate or police officer, or both, if they are found responsible for the default. The court also said that the magistrate or police official prima facie found responsible for the lapse would face disciplinary proceedings for dereliction of duty as per their relevant service rules.Singh hopes that the judgment in his case would open the doors for the compliance of the law and guidelines across the state. “I got justice. But through this judgment, the entire people of Uttar Pradesh have got relief. In future, police will comply with the law and won’t trouble people like this,” said Singh.The arrestOn February 13, this year, Singh, who works in Prayagraj, visited his native village in Ghaziabad to attend the marriage of his niece. The wedding was scheduled on February 20. Singh got his train ticket to Prayagraj reserved for February 22. However, on the same day, at around 11 am, he was allegedly picked up from his house by police personnel from Teelamodh police station. Violating set laws, Singh was not produced before any magistrate within 24 hours. He was only produced before the assistant commissioner of police, Shalimar Garden, and sent to jail under section 170 of the BNSS, which allows police to make preventive arrests. Singh was sent to jail without being allowed to execute bonds for keeping peace.Prior to that, he and his nephew were lodged in a cell at the police station for a whole day. It was only on February 23 that they furnished a bond of Rs 50,000 under sections 170, 126 and 135 BNSS but despite the execution of the bail bonds, the two were sent to jail. The duo was released only after the Allahabad high court sought details from the state government on a habeas corpus petition filed by Singh. While he was eventually released on February 25 at around 8:30 am, his nephew had to spend an extra day behind bars and was released the following morning.Singh alleged that he was mentally and physically harassed by the police. It did not matter to them that he was an advocate practising in the high court. “They tortured me and misbehaved with me. There were around four to five police officers,” he said. “I told them that I had a train to catch and cases to appear in Prayagraj. I even told them that I would give them a written undertaking that I would not commit any crime. Yet, they paid no heed,” said Singh.Singh said that even as he asked the police what crime he had committed and under which provision he was being held, they kept insisting on keeping him in jail. The ordeal also threatened to disrupt the medical care of his wife, a cancer patient, who needs to be taken to Delhi for treatment once a week. Singh says he was determined to fight it out legally when he was sent to jail for no reason. There were no allegations of physical violence or verbal abuse against him. “I felt that I should do something once I am out. I must get justice,” he said.Not an isolated caseThe high court also directed that if a person was held under preventive detention, they would be required to furnish a personal bond (signature bond without deposit of any money) binding him or her to keep peace and maintain good behaviour. The amount should not exceed Rs 20,000. Singh’s was not an isolated case. Recently, the Allahabad high court in the case of Matambar Mishra directed the state to pay him a compensation of Rs 35,000, including Rs 10,000 as costs, for illegally keeping him in detention in Prayagraj in 2022. While passing the judgment on May 29, a bench of Justices J.J Munir and Sanjiv Kumar observed that the declaration of law and the laying down of good policies by the government, more often than not, had little effect upon the “sundry officers” who had to implement these policies or laws. “They are persistent by habit in their old ways and seem to have faith more in the statistics that out of a case of one thousand violations or may be much more hardly, one citizen would go forward to enforce his right and bring accountability to them,” said the court. It is for this reason, the court further said, that in cases where a citizen gets up to enforce his right and approaches the high court, it “becomes our duty to enforce what is already a declared right of his under the Constitution, the laws, the State Government policy and our interpretation thereof.”