26-04-2025
T.N. government pays ₹1 lakh to lawyer subjected to custodial torture
A Government Order (G.O.) has been issued by the Public (Law and Order) department to pay a compensation of ₹1 lakh to a young lawyer who was subjected to custodial torture in 2022, on charges of not following COVID-19 guidelines, and to recover the amount from nine police personnel in Chennai.
The G.O. issued on April 21, 2025 has authorised the Chennai Collector to disburse the compensation amount to A. Abdul Rahim, who was a law student in 2022 but had now got enrolled as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and send the proof of payment to the government at the earliest.
The government also instructed the Director General of Police/Head of Police Force to initiate disciplinary action against Inspector of Police Naseema, Sub Inspector Palani, Head Constable Boominathan and constables Uthirakumar, Sathyaraj, Hemanathan, Jaya Anthony Sundar Raj, Santhanamahalingam and Tirunavukarasu.
The G.O. pointed out that inquiry conducted by a Revenue Divisional Officer, under the Police Standing Orders, had revealed that the police personnel had intercepted Mr. Rahim during a vehicle check on January 13, 2022 and demanded a fine of ₹500 despite him wearing a face mask and also maintaining physical distance.
The RDO also found the police personnel to have demanded the fine amount by stating that they had been asked to book at least 50 cases a day for COVID-19 guideline violations. When the law student questioned the illegality, he was taken to the Kodungaiyur police station and beaten up black and blue.
Since a government doctor had confirmed the student to have suffered grievous injuries, the government decided to pay compensation to the student, now a lawyer, besides ordering disciplinary action against the police personnel concerned for subjecting him to human rights violations.
The government also took note that the Madras High Court had already ordered a Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) inquiry with respect to the criminal action to be taken against the police personnel concerned for the alleged excess committed by them.
