The Bombay High Court has directed the registration of an FIR in connection with the alleged custodial death of 35-year-old Somnath Suryawanshi, a final-year law student and son of the petitioner.
The petitioner alleged that student was brutally assaulted by police following his arrest during protests held on 11 December 2024. Despite visible injuries, no complaint was recorded before the Magistrate, allegedly due to threats from the police. He died in judicial custody on 15 December 2024, with the postmortem report citing “shock following multiple injuries” as the cause of death. A detailed magisterial inquiry under Section 196 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) corroborated the presence of 24 visible injuries and concluded there had been a gross violation of human rights.
The petitioner also alleged attempts by the police to hush up the matter, including offers of compensation and pressure to perform last rites quietly. The Court noted that despite prima facie evidence including the postmortem report, the judicial inquiry, and the petitioner’s detailed complaint—the police failed to register an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC or the relevant provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the BNSS.
Invoking Lalita Kumari v. State of U.P. 2014 (2) SCC 1 and DK Basu v. State of West Bengal 1997 (1) SCC 416, the Court comprising of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay A. Deshmukh held that where a cognizable offence is disclosed, registration of FIR is mandatory. Accordingly, it directed the Mondha Police Station, Parbhani, to register an FIR based on the petitioner’s complaint dated 18 December 2024, within one week, and transfer the case to a Deputy Superintendent of Police for investigation.
The Court clarified that the rest of the prayers, including for policy guidelines on handling custodial deaths, would be considered later. The matter is next listed for 30 July 2025.
Appearance in the case:
Petitioner : Mr. Prakash Ambedkar, Advocate i/b Mr. M. B. Sandanshiv, Advocate
Respondents: Mr. A. B. Girase, Public Prosecutor
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