The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Allahabad High Court's direction requiring the Uttar Pradesh government to pay ₹10 lakh compensation to a man who was illegally detained for more than three months without being furnished written grounds of arrest.

A Bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva passed the interim order while hearing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the compensation awarded by the High Court.

The Supreme Court ordered:

"Issue notice. In the meanwhile, the impugned order in so far as it relates to imposition of cost of ₹10 lakh on the petitioner shall remain stayed till the next date of hearing."

The State clarified before the Court that it was not disputing the finding that the arrested person had not been supplied written grounds of arrest. However, it challenged only the direction imposing ₹10 lakh compensation. The State also informed the Court that the concerned Station House Officer (SHO) had already been suspended.

The matter arose from a habeas corpus petition filed by Manoj Kumar before the Allahabad High Court. Kumar had challenged his arrest in a criminal case registered in Unnao, contending that the police failed to provide him with written grounds of arrest as required under Article 22(1) of the Constitution and recent Supreme Court rulings.

The High Court examined the arrest memo and found that it merely mentioned the crime number without disclosing the actual grounds of arrest. Relying on the Supreme Court decisions in Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra and Dr Rajinder Rajan v. Union of India, the Court held that the failure to communicate grounds of arrest rendered both the arrest and subsequent remand illegal.

The High Court had further criticized the response filed by the State's Additional Chief Secretary (Home), observing a lack of application of mind and expressing concern over the manner in which constitutional safeguards were being implemented.

Consequently, on April 29, the High Court declared Kumar's arrest illegal, quashed the remand order, directed his immediate release, and imposed ₹10 lakh compensation on the State for violating his fundamental right to personal liberty.

The Uttar Pradesh government subsequently challenged only the compensation component of the judgment before the Supreme Court. While staying the payment of compensation, the apex court has kept the matter pending for further consideration.