India, Oct. 24 -- A businessman's arrest in a 2017 extortion case was illegal and marked an abuse of police powers in alleged collusion with a developer, the Bombay high court ruled on Thursday, directing the Maharashtra government to pay him Rs.5 lakh in compensation within two weeks.

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata also called for strict action, including the immediate suspension of the police sub-inspector and other officers concerned.

Describing the arrest and remand as "high handed" and arbitrary, the court said they had been carried out "without application of mind and without following the basic statutory provisions of law."

The case dates back to August 4, 2017, when Bipin Satish Chandra Agarwal was arre...