THREE police officers and the State must pay a registered bailiff more than $62,000 after the High Court found that his constitutional rights were breached during two unlawful detentions at the Valelevu Police Station.
Master Liyanage Wickramasekara ordered the police officers — Isoa Natui, Amrit Lal, and Niklesh Navin Chand — alongside the Police Commissioner and the Attorney-General to pay Muni Prasad, who has practised as a bailiff for over 25 years, $57,598.36 in damages and interest, with a further $5000 in costs, payable jointly and severally.
The case arose from Mr Prasad’s detention on December 20, 2018, and again between January 16 and 18, 2019, over a vehicle he had seized while carrying out a lawful distress for rent in Kinoya, Nasinu.
Following a complaint from the tenant, police held Mr Prasad for at least two hours during the first incident until a senior officer confirmed he had acted lawfully.
Despite that confirmation, officers detained Mr Prasad a second time over the same vehicle for 48 hours and 40 minutes without charge or court production.
Confined in a congested, unventilated, and unhygienic cell with four others, he shared a single soiled mattress and faced sanitary facilities so filthy that he refrained from relieving himself. He later developed a fever and gastric issues and was returned to the cell overnight after receiving medical treatment.
Master Wickramasekara found that police had no proper reason to detain Mr Prasad a second time, as a senior officer had already explained the circumstances surrounding the vehicle to them.
Master Wickramasekara ruled the repeated detention constituted harassment and breached Mr Prasad’s constitutional rights to personal liberty and human dignity.
The award included $36,000 in general damages and $15,000 in exemplary damages.
