In a sharp rebuke that cuts through the silence of midnight brutality, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has fired a contempt notice at eleven police officers from Kathua’s Basohli police station—including its sub-divisional head and the station house officer—over what it called an egregious case of illegal detention and custodial torture of two Punjab-based labourers.
The bench, presided by Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, was faced with grim details: a midnight arrest on June 30, no legal paperwork, and two men—Sukar Deen and Farid Mohammad of Pathankot—dragged from outside the jurisdiction of J&K and thrown into a nightmare.
Their crime? Working for a licensed contractor in the Atal Setu area near the Ranjit Sagar Dam during a seasonal fishing ban. Their punishment? Allegedly meted out by the state itself.
The plea laid it bare: no arrest memo, no explanation of rights, no checklist under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code submitted to any Magistrate. Instead, what followed were allegations of third-degree custodial torture, corroborated by disturbing photos and medical reports from both Basohli and Pathankot hospitals. The physical trauma included broken toes, bite marks, deep bruises, and fingernails ripped from their beds.
The petition, citing gross violations of Supreme Court rulings in DK Basu v. State of West Bengal and Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, slammed the conduct as not just unlawful but deliberate.
Legal representation for the labourers, led by advocates SS Ahmed and Rahul Raina, emphasized that the police acted far beyond their legal remit. No offence justifying arrest existed, and yet, violence filled the vacuum where the law should have stood.
Taking serious note, the Court issued contempt notices to all named officials, directing their response within three weeks. The case now awaits its next hearing on September 3.
Justice, it seems, may be slow—but for two men whose screams echoed in a dark cell, the echo has finally reached a courtroom.
