CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has converted a writ petition alleging illegal detention and torture of a minor at Bhadrak’s Pirahat police station into a regular PIL, saying the case exposed “rampant violation” and poor implementation of laws meant to protect children in conflict with law.
A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman has directed the registry to register a separate PIL after examining CCTV footage from the police station and hearing senior police officials, including the Bhadrak SP, the IIC of Pirahat police station and the child welfare police officer.
The bench said that while the CCTV footage did not substantiate the allegation that the minor was physically assaulted in the police station, it revealed serious departures from the safeguards mandated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Odisha Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2018.
The judges noted that the footage showed that the child entered the police station at 7.52 pm on November 2, 2025, and left with his father at 12.04 am, making the allegation of illegal detention unsustainable. The child was 14 years old. He was called to the police station in connection with a mobile theft case. His father had accompanied him to the police station.
The medical records produced by the petitioner also did not corroborate the claim of physical assault, except showing that the child was admitted to hospital on November 4 and discharged the next day.
However, the court held that the larger issue was the apparent disregard for statutory safeguards governing the treatment of children. “We feel that the instant writ petition should be converted into a regular Public Interest Litigation... where there has been rampant violation and/or implementation of various provisions of the Act concerning children,” it said.
Observing that juveniles do not deserve to be treated like the others, the court had earlier directed the Bhadrak SP to personally explain whether facilities like child-friendly corner existed in police stations under his jurisdiction.
On May 18, after the SP filed an affidavit claiming all safeguards under the Juvenile Justice Act had been followed, the bench noted that the police’s own instructions suggested the IIC had interrogated the child instead of the designated child welfare police officer.
It had ordered production of CCTV footage from 8 pm to midnight on November 2 and directed the SP, IIC and child welfare police officer to appear in person before the court.