NEW DELHI: The high court on Tuesday observed that police from other states cannot pick up Delhi residents without informing the Delhi Police. While hearing a Habeas Corpus petition filed by a mother alleging that her son was picked up from Dwarka by the Telangana Police in October last year, a bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani observed that such incidents have increased in the city recently.
“We cannot permit Telangana Police to whisk away people of Delhi without informing the Delhi Police… Our problem is that episodes like these seem to be increasing now. To say that law requires any other police force to make entries… What if they don’t do it? What are the safeguards?”, the Court asked Standing Counsel (Criminal) for Delhi Police, Sanjay Lao.
As per the petition, the man was taken to Telangana and produced before a state court after 72 hours instead of being produced before the concerned magistrate in Delhi within the mandated period of 24 hours. The man’s counsel submitted that though the man was granted bail in November 2021, there was no information about his whereabouts since.
However, Lao informed the Court that as per information available with him, the man lived in a different police’s jurisdiction and was picked up from some other area. He added that the petitioner should have approached the Telangana High Court with the petition.
The bench, however, said that it was concerned about the larger issue, and when the entire procedure is side-tracked, the Delhi Police cannot feign ignorance. “If a petition comes and says, they (Delhi Police) have to take the stand on following things: Were they informed? If they were not, then can they ask Telangana Police to confirm or deny? And if Telangana Police says yes, then what is the recourse for the Delhi Police and the person concerned?,” Justice Bhambhani said. The Delhi Police have been given two weeks to file a status report.
Case that started it
As per the petition, the man was picked from Dwarka, taken to Telangana and produced before a state court after 72 hours instead of being produced before a magistrate in Delhi within the mandated period of 24 hours