Himachal Pradesh custodial death case: HC suspends jail term of former IGP Zaidi

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has suspended the life imprisonment of former Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zahur Haider Zaidi in the 2017 custodial death case of an accused in the gang rape and murder of a girl in the hill state.

Zaidi, along with seven other policemen, was awarded life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Chandigarh in January in the custodial death case of Suraj, who was found dead at the Kotkhai police station in Himachal Pradesh on July 18, 2017.

Reportedly, a 16-year-old girl went missing in Kotkhai on July 4, 2017, and her body was found in the Halaila forests two days later. The post-mortem report confirmed rape and murder. Amid huge public outcry in the State, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Zaidi was constituted. Suraj was among six people arrested by the SIT. In May 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the case related to the custodial death from Shimla to Chandigarh.

Also Read I CBI court sentences Himachal IGP, seven other cops to life imprisonment in custodial death case

Justices Anoop Chitkara and Sukhvinder Kaur on Tuesday (December 24, 2025) issued directions for the release of Zaidi, directing him to furnish a bail bond of ₹25,000. The court order noted a lack of motive and prolonged period of incarceration undergone by the officer.

In his plea, the former IGP sought the suspension of his sentence, claiming that he was not present at the police station when the custodial death occurred. He said he was already on a pre-sanctioned leave to perform the rituals of his deceased father.

“It appears that the injuries noticed by post-mortem conducted by AIIMS or use of blunt weapons like lathi, iron rod etc. and the injuries on the sole point out towards the usual brutal methods of the police. However, it was certain Zaidi was not present in the police station at that time. He cannot be attributed for injuries which were not caused in his presence. Further, there was no motive for the accused to have caused the death of Suraj,” the court order stated.

The court further observed that in the entirety of these prima facie analyses, coupled with the period of custody already undergone, which is more than 5 years, the officer is entitled to suspension of sentence.

The HC noted Zaidi addressed a press conference in which he claimed to have solved the rape and murder case subsequent to Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) case for criminal conspiracy on July 13, 2017. “The CBI’s allegations noted Zaidi claimed in the press conference of sufficient scientific evidence to substantiate the arrest of the six accused. To justify the claims made by Zaidi, a conspiracy was hatched to elicit confessions. This story itself raises a doubt: even if the investigators were able to extract confessions as desired, such confessions could not have been construed as scientific evidence,” it said.

Further, the HC clarified that the observations made hereinabove are only for the purpose of deciding the present suspension application, and it shall not be interpreted as an expression of opinion at the time of deciding the final appeal.

After Suraj’s death in custody in 2017, the then Himachal Pradesh government handed over the investigation in both cases to the CBI. The central agency then arrested Zaidi and other policemen in connection with the custodial death. The CBI charge-sheeted the accused police officials for criminal conspiracy, murder, fabrication of false evidence, destruction of evidence, torture in police custody for extracting a confession and preparation of false records.