Bombay High Court Orders Parbhani Police to Register Case in Alleged Custodial Death of Law Student Somnath Suryawanshi

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The Bombay High Court bench at Aurangabad, on Friday ordered the registration of a criminal case in the death of a 35-year-old law student who died while in police custody, stating that preliminary evidence suggested possible police misconduct and violations of constitutional protections.

The directives were issued by the High Court during a hearing on a petition filed by the mother of the deceased, Somnath Suryawanshi, who was arrested in December, 2024 during protests in Parbhani district in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

A division bench, composed of Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Sanjay Deshmukh, cited findings from a post-mortem examination and a judicial inquiry that identified 24 external injuries on Suryawanshi’s body. The court noted that the likely cause of death was “shock following multiple injuries.”

The judges found that the state had failed to take appropriate action based on the material on record. “A cognizable offense was made out,” the court wrote, referencing the inquest report, autopsy findings, and the report from the local magistrate, “and, therefore, the State ought to have registered the FIR.”

Somnath Suryawanshi, who off late had started staying in Pune, had traveled to Parbhani in December 2024 to appear in the law exams. On December 11, he joined a demonstration sparked by an incident in which a man allegedly vandalised a replica of the Indian Constitution during a rally organized by the Hindu Sakal Samaj near a statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar situated on the Parbhani railway station road.

According to the petitioner, police responded with sweeping detentions, arresting more than 50 individuals, including young men and women. Somnath Suryawanshi, who held master’s and education degrees and was in his final year of law school, was among those taken into custody.

He was allegedly tortured while in detention. Suryavanshis are being represented by senior advocate Prakash Ambedkar and Advocate Milind Sandanshiv in this criminal writ petition. The lawyers submitted before the High Court that videos from the protest showed Somnath Suryawanshi holding a copy of the Constitution. They said detainees were beaten and threatened, and were too afraid to speak freely before the magistrate during hearings on December 12 and 14. Somnath Suryawanshi died on December 15 in judicial custody.

Although police claimed that he had suffered a heart attack, the official post-mortem report and judicial inquiry contradicted that assertion, concluding instead that his death was due to injuries consistent with custodial abuse.

The High Court also expressed concern about the conduct of the state’s Criminal Investigation Department, particularly Deputy Superintendent D. B. Talpe. The judges questioned why Talpe sought a medical opinion from a team at Mumbai’s J. J. Hospital rather than consulting the original seven-member post-mortem panel from Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Aurangabad.

“Without expressing a final opinion at this stage, the court must consider why the officer failed to approach the team that conducted the autopsy,” the High Court bench said.

The High Court ordered the Mondha police station in Parbhani to file an FIR based on a complaint submitted by Somnat Suryawanshi’s mother on December 18, 2024. It also instructed the Parbhani district Superintendent of Police to assign the investigation to an officer of at least Deputy Superintendent rank. The High Court has also lifted the stay on Talpe submitting his report.

The High Court scheduled the next hearing for July 30 and requested that additional affidavits be filed within three weeks. Other elements of the petition remain pending.