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CASE NO.: Writ Petition (crl.)  205 of 2006

PETITIONER: Vinay Shukla

RESPONDENT: Union of India & Ors

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 17/01/2007

BENCH: G.P. Mathur & Lokeshwar Singh Panta

JUDGMENT: J U D G M E N T

G.P. MATHUR, J.

1.      This writ petition has been filed under Article 32 of the  Constitution seeking the following reliefs :- (a)     direct the respondent no.2 to properly investigate the subject  matter of the present writ petition, regarding the abduction,  harassment, illegal detention and other serious criminal  offences committed by the high officials as stated in the writ  petition and to punish the wrongdoers in accordance with the  various provisions of the Indian Penal Code;

(b)     direct the respondent nos.4 and 5 to adequately compensate the  applicant for the illegal confinement, illegal detention,  harassment and humiliation caused to the applicant because by  their action applicant’s fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21  etc. have been grossly impaired;

(c)     direct the respondent no.4 and 5 to take necessary disciplinary  action against erring officials of the Local Administration of  District Gwalior, for insubordination, misconduct and criminal  misuse of power; and  

(d)     pass such other or further orders as this Hon’ble Court may  deem fit and proper in the interest of justice.  

2.      It is averred in the writ petition that the petitioner is an IAS  office belonging to Madhya Pradesh cadre and was lastly posted as  Member, Board of Revenue, at Gwalior.  On the division of the State  of Madhya Pradesh, he was allocated to Chhattisgarh State.  The  petitioner fell ill in May 2000 and continued to stay in the Circuit  House at Gwalior and a Medical Board was constituted in May/June,  2005 for his medical examination.  It is also averred that in December  2005 the petitioner was forcibly evicted from the house which was  allotted to him in Bhopal, in pursuance of some proceedings which  had been initiated under M.P. Public Premises Act and the appeal  preferred by him was dismissed in limine by the Commissioner,  Bhopal.   It is then averred that the petitioner was evicted from Circuit  House, Gwalior, at 3.00 p.m. on 21.9.2006.  On 21.9.2006 at about  11.00 p.m. when the petitioner came out of a restaurant near railway  station and sat in a car, four armed policemen forcibly occupied the  said car and he was taken to an unknown destination and was put in a  Rest House at about 3.00 a.m. on 22.9.2006 and in the morning, he  was brought to Shivpuri.  The S.D.M. Shivpuri told him that as his  mother was seriously ill at Bilaspur, he was being taken there.  On the  refusal of the petitioner to go either to Bilaspur or to Bhopal, the

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SDM, Shivpuri ordered the police officers to take the petitioner back  to Gwalior and as the regular route to Gwalior was blocked due to  some accident, he was taken to Jhansi and was kept in an AC retiring  room at the railway station.  It is further averred that at about 1.30  a.m. on 22.9.2006 he was made to board Chhattisgarh Express train  which was going towards Bilaspur, but as he did not want to go there,  he got down at Vidisha station and came back to Gwalior by the first  available train, where he reached in the early hours of 23.9.2006.  It is  further averred in para 19 of the writ petition that the petitioner’s  brother Shri K.M. Shukla filed a writ petition by way of a letter before  the Gwalior Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on  24.9.2006, but the same was not entertained.  It is also alleged that  Shri K.M. Shukla filed a criminal complaint with S.H.O., P.S. Padav,  Gwalior on 24.9.2006, but no progress has been made in the said  complaint.  In para 21 it is alleged that Shri K.M. Shukla filed a writ  petition bearing No.5141 of 2006 before the Gwalior Bench of  Madhya Pradesh High Court on 29.9.2006, but he withdrew the same  on 3.11.2006.

4.      We have heard Shri K.M. Shukla, Advocate, at considerable  length and have perused the writ petition.   The main allegation in the  writ petition is that when the petitioner, after taking dinner, sat in the  car at about 11.00 p.m. on 21.9.2006, some police personnel forcibly  entered the car and took him to Shivpuri and then to Jhansi, where he  was made to board the Chhattisgarh Express at 1.30 a.m. on  22.9.2006, from which he got down at Vidisha station and came back  to Gwalior by catching first available train.  The alleged abduction of  the petitioner took place at about 11.00 p.m. on 21.9.2006 and the  alleged wrongful confinement ended on 22.9.2006.   This shows that  the petitioner is not in any kind of detention or unlawful restraint at  the present moment.  Therefore, we are not inclined to entertain the  present writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.    5.     Learned counsel has next submitted that the petitioner should  be awarded damages for his illegal abduction and confinement by the  authorities of State.  The allegations made by the petitioner are  entirely factual in nature, which can be established only by recording  oral evidence.  It will be open to the petitioner to seek such legal  remedy as is available to him in law for claiming damages on the  ground of his alleged abduction and confinement.   The writ petition is  dismissed.