Kollam, a Kerala court awarded damages of $Five lakh to a retired army officer on charges of “malicious prosecution” by police.
Director Moncef Raji S directed the state government and six of its police officers to jointly pay compensation to the 54-year-old Wellingtonian, a retired Naik Subedar, for his “unlawful detention, harassment and malicious prosecution”.
The retired Army officer, who was involved in a criminal case in 2013, was acquitted in 2017 after a reinvestigation ordered by the Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram District.
The Munsif court ruled in favor of the plaintiff army officer relying on an official letter from the Kerala Legislative Secretariat confirming his illegal detention and malicious prosecution.
“…From the State’s admission it can be concluded that the actions of the defendants amount to unlawful trespass, abuse of power and malicious arrest, all carried out with the malicious intent to harass the plaintiff through no fault of his own.
The court said: “There was no reasonable and probable cause to initiate proceedings against the plaintiff. It is clear that the plaintiff was unlawfully detained, falsely implicated, and judicially detained based on false allegations.”
It further said that the conduct of the defendant police officers was allegedly “conducted with malice” and was carried out beyond lawful authority, thus depriving them of the protection of sovereign immunity.
The court said: “Even if we assume that the officers acted maliciously or exceeded their legal authority, such conduct does not absolve the state from responsibility as the acts were committed in the course of work and were enabled by the official position they held. … The state is indirectly responsible for the consequences of the abuse of power.”
Wellington, represented by lawyers S R Prasanth and Vayanakam K Somasekharan Pillai, alleged that on the night of March 4, 2013, a police team forcefully entered his residence at Kizhakkalada here by breaking the front gate and main door, assaulted him in front of his wife and children, ransacked his house, killed two pet rabbits and polluted the family well with turpentine.
He also alleged that he was forcibly taken to Kalada East Police Station, where he was illegally detained for two days in his underwear and prevented from contacting his family.
He was then falsely implicated in a crime and accused of harboring his brother, who was wanted in another case, the retired army officer claimed.
After hearing from Wellington, police and state officers, the court said, “Plaintiff successfully demonstrated that he was subjected to unlawful trespass, unlawful arrest, wrongful confinement, and malicious prosecution at the hands of defendants acting under the cover of official authority but without legal justification.”
The court said the material on record proves that he suffered physical injury, mental suffering, loss of reputation and damage to property “as a direct result of the unlawful acts committed by the defendants.”
“It is well established that wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, and unlawful detention constitute actionable civil wrongs that entitle the victim to compensation.
The text of the ruling stated, “The injuries sustained by the plaintiff are not only financial, but extend to psychological trauma, humiliation, and loss of social standing, all of which are compensable under the law of damages. In light of the above circumstances, this court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for the wrongful acts committed by the defendants.”
Wellington has demanded compensation $Five lakh which the court said was neither excessive nor disproportionate.
“On the contrary, the claim represents a reasonable assessment of the loss of reputation, mental anguish and financial burden borne by the plaintiff.
“The amount of compensation claimed amounts to… $She said the 500,000 sum, supported by the evidence and proportionate to the harm suffered, was found to be fair, reasonable and compensable.
The court held that Wellington was entitled to recover an amount from the defendants $5,00,000 pounds in compensation with interest at the rate of 6 percent annually from the date of the lawsuit until its investigation, along with costs.
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