HC asks Delhi Police to explain 'illegal' detention of activists, says preserve CCTV footage

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Sunday asked the city police to file an affidavit explaining the circumstances and the authority of law under which it detained certain activists last week.

The Delhi Police counsel said all detained persons have been released and the matter was "not so simple". The counsel also stated during the hearing that the FIR was confidential.

In a special Sunday hearing, a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja directed preservation of relevant CCTV footage showing how the police took them away.

The court, however, said it would consider the issue of preservation of CCTV footage of Special Cell office at a later stage and listed the matter for the next hearing on March 27.

It also listed for hearing on Monday a petition related to one of the detained activists, following his counsel's claim that he was yet to be released.

The police maintained that all persons have been released.

"You will have to trace him," the bench said.

"We are informed that as far as the missing persons alleged to have been illegally detained, they have since been released. The respondent shall file an affidavit explaining the circumstances and the authority of the law by which they were detained within a week from today," the bench ordered.

The counsel appearing for the petitioners alleged that the detained activists were "picked up" in violation of the law, not produced before a magistrate and were abused and tortured.

Around 10 activists including students were picked up from outside the Dayal Singh College and Vijay Nagar, the lawyers alleged.

Advocate Shahrukh Alam alleged that the police picked up petitioner Sagrika Rajora's sister, Lakshita Rajora, in plain clothes.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for petitioner Ehsanul Haq, said the situation was "alarming" and urged the court to direct the police to give them a copy of the FIR.

Police said the FIR was confidential in nature.

The counsel appearing for the petitioners said the activists were released only after the news of the high court constituting a bench to hear the habeas corpus petitions came out.

"We are not closing the petition. We are issuing notice to find out what happened," the court said.

Alam also requested the court to extend "protection" to the activists and students.

"We don't know what they are required for. We can't say anything," the court responded.

Rajora, in her petition, sought the immediate production of her sister, 22, who had been missing since the evening of March 13 and claimed that she was in illegal detention.

The plea said Lakshita Rajora was last known to be at the office of the student organisation 'BSCEM' (Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch) in Vijay Nagar, near Delhi University North Campus.

It added that approximately eight months ago, she and her associates were previously subjected to unrecorded, illegal abduction and severe custodial torture by officials of the Delhi Police Special Cell for over a week.