Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president Prakash Ambedkar on Wednesday pointed to what he described as serious “gaps” in the law while arguing the Somnath Suryavanshi custodial death case, saying that only the government or the judiciary has the authority to address these shortcomings.

Ambedkar, who is representing the family of Somnath Suryavanshi, made the remarks while speaking to reporters outside the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court after a hearing in the matter.

Suryavanshi, a law student, died in judicial custody on December 15, 2024. He had been arrested in connection with violence that erupted in Maharashtra’s Parbhani district following the vandalisation of a replica of the Constitution held by a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar.

Ambedkar said the existing legal framework does not clearly lay down the procedure to be followed once a magistrate completes an inquiry into a custodial death. He alleged that neither the central government nor the state government has taken steps to amend or clarify the law to address this issue.

“The law remains incomplete on this point. Only the government or the court can correct this gap,” he said.

During the hearing, affidavits were submitted on behalf of the police department and the Chief Secretary of the Home Department, Ambedkar said. However, he argued that the officials who have been summoned by the court possess only executive powers and are not in a position to take policy-level decisions.

He said that to ensure justice in the Suryavanshi case, the court should either interpret and fill the existing legal vacuum or seek clarity from the government on whether it intends to complete what he termed an “incomplete” law.

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The court is scheduled to hear the matter again on Thursday.