Wrong Order by DM! Court Orders Compensation to be Recovered from DM’s Salary

The Bombay High Court has taken a strict action in the case of a man’s prolonged detention. Court has ordered that compensation should be recovered from the District Magistrate’s salary. The court directed the state government to pay ₹2 lakh as compensation, which must be deducted from the District Magistrate’s salary.

The 20-year-old man, who has a criminal record and is charged with attempted murder, was earlier jailed for the same offense. Later, District Magistrate Ayush Prasad ordered his detention under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act.

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court said, “Keeping someone in jail without a valid reason is against the Constitution. Therefore, the laborer should be given ₹2 lakh as compensation. The amount should be recovered from the District Magistrate’s salary.”

The case is from Jalgaon, Maharashtra, where 20-year-old Dikshant alias Dadu Devidas Sapkale was detained. In July 2024, the DM ordered his detention under the MPDA, even though he was already in judicial custody in another case at the MIDC police station. He was about to get bail when a new detention order was issued.

According to lawyer Harshal Randhir, who represented Sapkale, the detention order was issued in July 2024 but implemented only in May 2025—after 11 months. When Sapkale was released on bail in another case, the police re-arrested him under this delayed order.

A bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten S. Venegaonkar observed that preventive detention is a serious matter as it limits personal freedom. The court said the officials’ conduct was unacceptable, as they deliberately delayed executing the order and failed to give a reasonable explanation.

The court also noted that the detention order mentioned a 2023 case unrelated to Sapkale. Later, officials called it a “typing error,” but the court rejected this excuse, saying such mistakes cannot be justified when someone’s liberty is at stake.

Additionally, the court pointed out that Sapkale, a Marathi-medium student, was not given Marathi translations of the necessary documents, violating his right to defend himself. However, the DM claimed the documents were provided in Marathi.

The court finally termed the entire act as an “abuse of power” and ordered ₹2 lakh in compensation to the laborer, to be recovered directly from the District Magistrate’s salary.

This decision of the Bombay High Court shows that the power should not be misused and nothing is above Law.