Supreme Court orders CBI Probe into Custodial Death, Awards ₹25 Lakh Compensation | SCC Times
Supreme Court: In a case concerning the custodial death of a man arrested for allegedly possessing 6 litres of raw Mahua liquor, a Division Bench of Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta*, JJ., directed the CBI to register a regular criminal case and investigate the circumstances leading to his death, while directing the State of Chhattisgarh to pay ₹25 lakhs as interim compensation to his legal heirs. Taking serious exception to the stand of the State authorities, particularly the DGP, DG (Prisons) and Principal Secretary (Home), that no FIR could be registered as the judicial inquiry report under Section 176, Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) had not been received by the police, the Court termed the explanation a “cover-up story” and an attempt to mislead the Court.
Explanation in simple terms: A man died while in police custody after being arrested for illegal alcohol possession in Chhattisgarh. The Supreme Court (India's highest court) found this suspicious and ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (the national police force) to investigate what happened. The court also ordered the government to pay the man's family ₹25 lakh (about $30,000 USD) as compensation for their loss.