The Supreme Court in a judgment on Monday (July 21, 2025) directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the custodial torture of a Jammu and Kashmir Police constable, who suffered genital mutilation at the hands of his colleagues.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to pay Khursheed Ahmad Chohan a compensation of ₹50 lakh for the “life-debilitating injuries he suffered while in the custody of his fellow state actors.” The apex court directed the Central agency to conduct the investigation and arrest the perpetrators.

The alleged incident dated back to February 17, 2023, when Mr. Chohan was called by the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kupwara to report to the office of the Senior Superintendent a couple of days later in connection with a narcotics issue. When Mr. Chohan reached this office, he was detained and tortured. He was taken to the hospital in a comatose condition.

Mr. Chohan’s wife appealed to the senior police officers to register a case; however the judgment said they had turned a deaf ear. An FIR was meanwhile registered against her husband.

Wife’s pleas ignored

Her appeal to the State High Court failed. The High Court gave the job of investigation into the torture to the very police officer who had issued the signal to Mr. Chohan to go to Kupwara. The High Court had refused to intervene in the FIR lodged against him.

This outcome had led Mr. Chohan to move the Supreme Court. He sought the registration of a criminal case against the police officers who tortured him, transfer of the case to the CBI, and quashing of the FIR against him.

Justice Mehta, who authored the judgment in the case, granted him all three prayers. The apex court threw out the argument raised by the Union Territory that the injuries on Mr. Chohan were self-afflicted during a suicide attempt to avoid questioning in the drugs case.

Inhuman torture

“The unprecedented gravity of this case involving brutal and inhuman custodial torture, characterised by the complete mutilation of the appellant’s [Chohan] genitalia, represents one of the most barbaric instances of police atrocity, which the State is trying to defend and cover up with all pervasive power. The medical evidence conclusively establishes that such injuries are impossible to be self-inflicted. The respondent’s theory of suicide attempt crumbles under scrutiny when examined against the timeline and the medical evidence… It is foolhardy to suggest that a rational person would subject himself to complete genital mutilation and cause injuries to inaccessible body parts so as to avoid questioning in a drug case,” Justice Mehta reasoned.

The apex court said the transformation of a torture victim into an accused through a concocted theory of attempted suicide, based on manifestly implausible medical opinion and glaring procedural violations, reflected institutional malice of the highest order.

The court said the narrative of the case revealed a “disturbing pattern of systematic cover-up and abuse of authority that further strengthens the appellant’s claim for CBI investigation.”

Grave error in law

“The High Court committed a grave error in law by failing to exercise the writ jurisdiction and in refusing to apply the mandatory principles laid down by the Constitution Bench in Lalita Kumari. Instead of ordering immediate registration of FIR, the High Court directed the very same Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, who had issued the signal on February 17, 2023, and under whose jurisdiction the alleged torture occurred, to conduct an inquiry into his own subordinates’ actions. This direction constitutes a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of natural justice,” Justice Mehta underscored.

The court said the local police authorities completely failed to conduct a fair investigation.

“The majesty of law demands nothing less than complete independence and impartiality in investigating crimes that shock the conscience of society and violate the most fundamental principles of human dignity… Hence, the transfer of investigation to the CBI becomes not merely advisable but constitutionally imperative to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law,” the court held.