Dr. Rini Johar v. State of M.P. [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 30 of 2015] has brought back memories of Rudul v. State of Bihar, (1983) 4 SCC 141 that heralded a new era of compensatory jurisprudence in Indian legal history.

Rini and Gulshan Johar were arrested in 2012 without following the procedure of arrest.

SC held, “Officers of State had played with liberty of Petitioners and, in a way, experimented with it. Law does not countenance such kind of experiments as that causes trauma and pain. In case at hand, there has been violation of Article 21 and Petitioners were compelled to face humiliation. They have been treated with an attitude of insensibility. Not only there are violation of guidelines issued in the case of D.K. Basu, there are also flagrant violation of mandate of law enshrined under Section 41 and Section 41-A of the CrPC. Investigating Officers in no circumstances can flout the law with brazen proclivity. Constitutional Courts taking note of suffering and humiliation are entitled to grant compensation. In case at hand, taking into consideration totality of facts and circumstances, we think it appropriate to grant a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- [Rupees Five Lakhs] towards compensation to each Petitioner to be paid within 3 months hence.”

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The seeds of aura photography were sown in 1939 by Russian scientist Semyon Kirlian. Kirlian accidentally discovered that an an object placed on a photographic plate connected to a source of voltage produced an image of that object surrounded by some mysterious energy.

Dr. Guy Coggins rode the California culture of crystals and mood rings and adapted existing imaging technology to bring the first aura camera to mass market. The camera gave new-age acolytes the chance to see their “auras” in a photograph.

Coggins was there along with Rini Johar to experiment with some new aura capturing technology at the 2014 International Indian Film Academy Awards held at Tampa, Florida.

“John was a very pleasant in person, and was very warm towards me when he offered to have his photo taken with me,” Rini shared. “In that time, I was able to see how John’s aura glowed blue, which told me how much of a sensitive person he is, along with a hint of violet, which depicts Mr. Travolta’s magical dancing talent.”