WHAT SHOULD BE the parameter or formula to compensate a victim of custodial death has been a little implored and never concluded thought. On June 8, 2026, a bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram V. Shirsat has given fundamental impetus to this issue in Smt. Noorjan Samshuddin Bhanvadiya v. State of Maharashtra. The judgement, which is well-crafted and progressive, has been authored by Justice Pitale.
From time to time, constitutional courts have come across cases of custodial deaths due to negligence of State machinery. It has been consistently held that in such situations monetary compensation is one of the ways to render justice, even if not complete justice. Courts, thus, have been giving compensation based on their own wisdom and leaving parties to claim their desired amounts from the civil courts, which of course has seldom happened. A victim who has already lost a family member and has fought a battle all the way to the Supreme Court, would hardly desire to resume his battle again from the start. One can also not lose sight of the fact that most of the victims of custodial deaths are either Dalits, Adivasis, or marginalised people, who lack resources to take up time and money demanding legal battle.
Background
The bench was dealing with a case of death in a State-run mental health facility, where the victim lost his life owing to a violent attack by a co-patient. The victim, who was suffering from schizophrenia, had been admitted to the facility on advice of a mental health expert. The family of the victim found that the staff-to-patient ratio was not according to standards. And so, his wife and children petitioned the Court and sought compensation under the public law remedy.
The State, which did not dispute the incident, maintained that it had done everything it could to salvage the situation. It also argued that under State policy, compensation was capped at five lakh rupees, of which one lakh had already been paid pursuant to the Lokayukta’s orders.
