Rights activists have accused the Latehar district administration of defying the Jharkhand High Court order to pay compensation to a tribal victim of custodial torture.

The court had directed the payment within two weeks, but seven months have passed with no action.

Anil Singh, the victim, was elated and hopeful for justice after two years of struggle when the Jharkhand High Court, on June 22 last year, directed the payment of ₹5 lakh as compensation, with the amount to be recovered from the guilty police officials.

Singh, 42, a native of Kuku village in the Barwadih block of Latehar district, was allegedly beaten up at the Garu police station on February 23, 2022, by the station-in-charge and two other policemen. He was subjected to physical and mental torture after being illegally confined in the police station for three days on the pretext of helping Maoists.

“We are assisting Anil Singh in filing a contempt case in the high court soon. We have also tagged the issue on social media (X) to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. This is clearly a contempt of the high court’s order and a violation of tribal rights,” said Siraj Dutta, a member of the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a collective of human rights defenders.

Latehar deputy commissioner Utkarsh Gupta, speaking to The Telegraph, said that the request for the release of funds for payment of compensation is with the state home department.

“The request for payment of compensation as per the high court’s order has been sent to the state home department and will be disbursed as soon as it is received,” said Gupta.

He added that the amount would be recovered from the guilty police officers after the compensation was paid.

The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, which has been assisting Anil Singh in his legal struggle, had stated after the court’s order: “This case once again shows how innocent tribals are victims of state repression and how difficult it is for their families to get justice. Just getting an FIR registered against the guilty police and security forces is a long struggle.”

“The Mahasabha demands that the guilty police officers be dismissed immediately, punitive action be taken against them, and Anil Singh be given a compensation of ₹10 lakh instead of ₹5 lakh,” the statement had further added.

“The Jharkhand High Court has ordered compensation of ₹5 lakh to Anil Singh to be paid by the state immediately, preferably within a period of two weeks. The court has also observed that since it is an admitted case that the petitioner was wrongly taken into custody and tortured, the amount should be recovered from the police officials who had taken him into custody and tortured him. The recovery should be made within two months from the date of payment,” said Ranchi-based high court advocate Shailesh Poddar, who fought the case on behalf of Singh.

The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha had initially raised this issue, prompting the then chief minister Hemant Soren to take cognisance of the violence and order the police to take action. However, the Mahasabha alleged that despite this, the police continuously tried to protect the culprits.

“After filing a complaint in the local court several months after the incident, an FIR was registered against the station-in-charge and other guilty police officers. But due to the police not actively investigating and taking action, Anil Singh filed a case in the Jharkhand High Court,” the Mahasabha statement further claimed.