# Akola Man v. State of Maharashtra and Others

HTML version: [https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0038](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0038)

## Report card

By judgment dated 31 August 2026 in Criminal Writ Petition No. 389 of 2024, the Bombay High Court (Coram: Urmila Joshi-Phalke, Raj D. Wakode, JJ.) returned findings adverse to 2 police personnel, namely: Assistant Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola; Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola, and directed payment of compensation of Rs 2 lakh (Rs 2,00,000).

- Register number: MH 30 CW 0003
- Case reference: Criminal Writ Petition No. 389 of 2024 / 2026:BHC-NAG:11441-DB
- Court and date: Bombay High Court (Coram: Urmila Joshi-Phalke, Raj D. Wakode, JJ.), 31 August 2026
- Officer(s) at the material time: Assistant Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola; Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola
- Present service status: Not ascertained from the cited sources.
- Provisions invoked: Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955; Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955
- Finding of the Court (extract): “In the light of the above observations, in the present case also, respondent Nos.3 and 4 have acted as police officers and exceeded their limits and thus committed an error in arresting the petitioner without following due provisions of law.” (at para 47)
- Verdict, sentence and quantum: Adverse finding + compensation. Sentence: compensation only. Compensation: Rs 2 lakh (Rs 2,00,000).
- Present status of the proceedings: The judgment is recent and may be subject to appeal; the pendency of an appeal is not a finding.
- Source orders: [Judgment / order (primary source)](https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/2026/09/05/detention-698328.pdf); [Permanent link to this record](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0038)

**Record:** CW-2026-0038 (compiler id CWC-0613); case SWILLEGA-034
**Title:** Akola Man v. State of Maharashtra and Others
**Court:** Bombay High Court; bench: Nagpur; judges: Urmila Joshi-Phalke; Raj D. Wakode
**Case number / citation:** Criminal Writ Petition No. 389 of 2024 / 2026:BHC-NAG:11441-DB
**Judgment:** 2026-08-31 (2026, day precision)
**Incident date:** 2024-03-04 (2024)
**Place:** Akola, Maharashtra; city town: Akola; police station or unit: Police Station Khadan; force: state_police
**Category:** Violence & unlawful detention
**Sub-category:** illegal detention false imprisonment
**Outcome:** Adverse finding + compensation (adverse_finding_compensation)
**Sections:** Essential Commodities Act 1955 s.3; Essential Commodities Act 1955 s.7
**Officers (gated display forms):** Assistant Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola; Police Inspector, Police Station Khadan, Akola (2 in record)
**Victims:** Akola man, age 26 (1 in record)
**Sentence / compensation:** compensation only; Rs 2 lakh (Rs 2,00,000)
**Sentence type:** compensation only (compensation_only)

Student was picked up from his family hotel on 04-03-2024 by PI \[name withheld\] and API \[name withheld\], detained overnight without any Section 41/41-A notice or recorded grounds after an alleged Rs. 50,000 extortion demand, and released next morning. A departmental enquiry had already held both officers guilty of misconduct and punished them. The Division Bench held they exceeded their limits in arresting the petitioner without following due process, violating his Article 21 rights. It directed the State to pay Rs. 2 lakh compensation within eight weeks, deposited in court, rejecting the further-enquiry prayer as already satisfied. Matters not addressed in the cited judgment text are not recorded here.

> In the light of the above observations, in the present case also, respondent Nos.3 and 4 have acted as police officers and exceeded their limits and thus committed an error in arresting the petitioner without following due provisions of law.

**Sources (2):** [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/2026/09/05/detention-698328.pdf); [livelaw.in](https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/bombay-high-court/bombay-high-court-orders-compensation-illegal-detention-548884)
**Verification:** V2 · Externally reported
**Review:** Solo Staff combined review (one combined attestation) — not yet recorded
**admin category:** misconduct
**admin subcategory:** illegal_detention_false_imprisonment
**allegations:** {'category': 'Other', 'primary': True, 'position': 'Material fact supported', 'position_explainer': 'Reliable material supports a specifically documented fact relevant to that allegation, not necessarily the full allegation, causation, intent, unlawfulness, or responsibility.', 'official_finding_relation': 'supports allegation'}
**anonymised:** False
**court quote para:** 47
**display title redacted:** Akola Man v. State of Maharashtra and Others
**followup history:** {'date': '2026-09-19', 'scope': 'Round-8 full re-verification: published record re-checked against the judgment text (outcome, officers, quote, key facts) plus methodology-compliance pass', 'method': 'skills-guided adversarial re-verification of the published record against the judgment text (reverify/t1-*/adversarial-8.jsonl)', 'result': 'holds', 'corrections_applied': \[\]}
**followup status:** checked
**institutional response:** {'date': '2026-08-31', 'action_type': 'Order issued', 'status': 'Concluded', 'authority': 'Bombay High Court', 'independence': 'External', 'legal_effect': 'Binding', 'description': 'The Bombay High Court recorded adverse findings against police personnel and ordered Rs 200,000.', 'disposition': 'Compensation ordered · Supports allegation (for the compensated wrong only)', 'source': '2026:BHC-NAG:11441-DB', 'recheck': 'Not yet re-checked.'}
**last checked:** 2026-09-19
**link checked per url:** {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/2026/09/05/detention-698328.pdf', 'link_checked': None}; {'url': 'https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/bombay-high-court/bombay-high-court-orders-compensation-illegal-detention-548884', 'link_checked': None}
**retracted:** {"is_retracted": false}
**service:** police
**source assessment:** {"established": null, "basis": null}
**status:** current
**subcategory display:** illegal detention false imprisonment
**tier:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**tier badge:** Externally reported
**tier history:** Tier A — Externally reported or officially recorded
**verdict:** accept
**verdict note:** Primary judgment verified: overnight detention without grounds illegal; Rs.2 lakh; DE punishment already imposed.
**verification badge:** V2 · Externally reported
**verification status:** V2
**watch:** babuwatch

Status: Adverse finding + compensation.

[Open CW-2026-0038](https://datalibertarian.in/babuwatch/incident/CW-2026-0038)