J&K court grants bail to 8 accused in custodial torture case

Srinagar, Dec 30 The Principal District & Sessions Judge, Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday granted bail to eight accused in the infamous custodial torture case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under orders of the Supreme Court.

The accused, identified as Deputy SP Aijaz Ahmad, Sub-Inspector Riyaz Ahmad Mir, Special Police Officer Jahangeer Ahmad Beigh, Head Constables Mohammad Younis Khan and Tanveer Ahmad Malla, Selection Grade Constables Shakir Hussain Khoja and Altaf Hussain Bhat, and Constable Shahnawaz Ahmad, are lodged in the central jail after they were arrested by the CBI in August.

The accused have been ordered to furnish personal bonds and surety bonds of Rs 1,00,000 each. The court has prohibited the accused from leaving the territorial jurisdiction of the court without prior permission. If any one of them holds a passport, he should deposit the same in the court, the order said.

“The accused must not intimidate, influence or tamper with prosecution evidence, nor threaten any prosecution witness, and must remain present at every hearing before the trial court unless exempted by the court. Any breach of the bail conditions would be viewed seriously and could lead to cancellation of bail,” the court order said.

The Supreme Court, in an indictment of state abuse and institutional failure, had ordered CBI to take over the investigation into the illegal detention and brutal custodial torture of a serving police constable, Khursheed Ahmad Chohan, at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Kupwara, J&K.

As crucial, in recognition of the brutality of the violations inflicted, reparation was also ordered. The court also awarded Rs 50,00,000 as compensation to the appellant, holding it to be a necessary constitutional remedy in light of the established violation of Article 21.

The Supreme Court not only quashed a retaliatory FIR filed against the victim under Section 309 IPC for “attempt to suicide” but directed the immediate arrest of the officers involved and ordered the Union Territory of J&K to pay Rs 50 lakh as constitutional compensation, recoverable from the guilty officers following departmental proceedings.

The CBI has also been tasked with investigating systemic failures and institutional impunity at the JIC.

“The unprecedented gravity of this case involving brutal and inhuman custodial torture, characterised by the complete mutilation of the appellant’s genitalia, represents one of the most barbaric instances of police atrocity which the state is trying to defend and cover up with all-pervasive power. The medical evidence conclusively establishes that such injuries are impossible to be self-inflicted. The respondent’s theory of suicide attempt crumbles under scrutiny when examined against the timeline and the medical evidence,” the apex court said.

Delivering the judgment, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta described the case as one involving “unprecedented gravity”, with complete mutilation of genitalia, pepper powder and electric shocks on private parts, and injuries consistent with custodial torture techniques such as falanga, the presence of multiple vegetative particles in the rectum, and anal insertion.

The court found the state’s claim of attempted suicide “medically impossible”, rejecting it as a fabricated counter-narrative aimed at shielding perpetrators.

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