The Punjab & Haryana High Court recently granted Rs. 3 Lakh compensation to a convict in a drugs case who was kept in custody beyond the sentence imposed, observing that “Such violations are not mere administrative lapses; they are acts of constitutional disregard that demand accountability, redressal, and systemic correction.”
Turning a blind eye to these injustices would not only embolden further violations but also diminish the very essence of a democratic society governed by the rule of law, it added, reported Live Law. The court of Justice Harpreet Singh Brar found that the man had spent 2 years, 3 months and 29 days in custody, while he was only sentenced to 1 year and 6 months of imprisonment.
“State-inflicted injustice, such as unlawfully extending a person’s custody beyond the sentence imposed by a competent Court, is a serious breach that cannot be condoned under any circumstances. The State, as the custodian of constitutional values, bears the highest responsibility to uphold the rights of its citizens which includes even those who are convicted of crimes. When the State itself becomes the violator of liberty through negligence or apathy, it sets a dangerous precedent that erodes faith in the justice system,” the court said.
It said said that the present case highlights a troubling gap where access to legal remedies is influenced not by the merits of the case, “but by one’s financial means.”
It added that the Court would be “remiss to ignore the ineptitude displayed by the District Legal Services Authority in this regard.”
“The concerned agency is required to demonstrate promptness so as to meaningfully ensure that convicts like the present appellant do not suffer unnecessary incarceration in already overcrowded prisons, for the time lost cannot be truly compensated,” the judge opined.
The Court was hearing an appeal against the conviction in a drugs case wherein Satnam Singh was convicted and sentenced for the offence punishable under Section 15 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) in 2006 in an FIR lodged in 2002.
