Politics · India · 1 hr ago
Supreme Court orders Uttar Pradesh to pay man held six years without evidence
The Supreme Court ordered Uttar Pradesh to pay Rs 6 lakh to a man who spent six years in custody as an undertrial.
He had been accused in a kidnapping and murder case, but the court said there was no evidence against him.
Police had not named him in the first information report and accused him based on CCTV footage, the court noted.
The man was later acquitted, but the court said the careless investigation and prosecution cost him six years of his life.
It said the state is responsible for protecting citizens and cannot avoid accountability for police failures.
The court also said Uttar Pradesh police should train officers in proper investigations.
The Supreme Court directed Uttar Pradesh to pay ₹6 lakh to a man who spent six years in jail as an undertrial in a kidnapping and murder case.
The court said there was no evidence against him and criticised the police investigation and prosecution.
The man was not named in the FIR and was later acquitted.
The bench said the state could not avoid responsibility for protecting citizens and urged police to train officers in proper investigation methods.
The court questioned the use of CCTV footage that lacked a required certificate for electronic evidence.
- Who
- The Supreme Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to compensate a man who was acquitted.
- What
- The state was ordered to pay him ₹6 lakh after he spent six years in jail as an undertrial.
- When
- Monday, according to the articles published on October 26, 2026.
- Where
- Uttar Pradesh; the case was registered in Agra district.
- Why
- The court found that he had been imprisoned despite there being no evidence against him and criticised the investigation and prosecution.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An FIR was registered in Agra district in connection with a kidnapping and murder.
Police arrested the man.
The Supreme Court directed the trial court to complete the trial within three months while hearing the man's bail plea.
The man was acquitted, and the Supreme Court examined the trial court's judgment.
The Supreme Court directed Uttar Pradesh to pay the man ₹6 lakh in compensation.
- Compensation
- ₹6 lakh
- Time in jail
- Six years as an undertrial
- FIR
- Registered in Agra district in October 2019
- Arrest
- November 14, 2019
- Supreme Court bench
- Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran
- CCTV evidence
- Footage lacked a certificate required under Section 65B of the Evidence Act
3 sources
What people are saying
The state cannot shirk from its responsibility to protect its citizens
Not even a rudimentary investigation was carried out
State police would do well to educate their officers in the process of investigation.