CHENNAI: Holding that the illegal detention of two women even after the invocation of the Goondas Act against them was struck down as a classic case of ‘bureaucratic lethargy’ and ‘slumber’, the Madras High Court has ordered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to them.
While it is the duty of the court to see that any individual, who crosses the boundaries carved out by law is dealt with appropriately, it is also the foremost duty of the courts to uphold the dignity of personal liberty, observed a division bench of justices S Vaidyanathan and AD Jagadish Chandira recently.
They ordered, “...Having found that she was kept in illegal detention for 128 days, we direct the State to pay a sum of Rs 5 lakh to Muthulakshmi towards compensation in 6 weeks.” The order was passed on a petition filed by Muthulakshmi’s husband Manoharan of Nagapattinam district. Similarly, the bench ordered the same amount of compensation for another woman, Sathiya of Nagapattinam.
Both were arrested by the district police on December 8, 2021, and the Goondas Act, for bootlegging, was invoked against them on January 28, 2022. However, the detention order was struck down by the Advisory Board on March 15, 2022. It was submitted before the bench that the relevant file was sent to the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise by the concerned officers of the Home department on March 16 and the Minister approved it on the following day. However, it reached only on July 22.
The judges noted that it is a classic case of bureaucratic lethargy and slumber, which has played a lot in depriving the personal liberty of a citizen guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The protection extends even to a convict who does not lose his fundamental rights merely because he is convicted or under preventive detention.
Arrested in January
Both were arrested by the district police on December 8, 2021, and the Goondas Act, for bootlegging, was invoked against them on January 28, 2022