New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday, October 12, asked the Delhi Police why its officers entered activist Nadeem Khan’s house, where he alleged he was confined on September 29 to keep him away from the anti-Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) protest at Jantar Mantar.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma issued notice on the plea of Khan, national secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). It directed the police to file a status report within two weeks.
“How can you enter house of this man? You have right to conduct duty but how can you in such a way? Where is your cause to confine him? Denying permission is your right,” the bench told the police counsel.
Police deny detention
The Delhi Police said Khan was not detained and officers had only gone to make inquiries. His request to protest had been turned down, he said, and the Shaheen Bagh Police Station had inputs that he would go ahead anyway.
“It was only to restrict his movement because permission was denied. We didn’t visit him thereafter,” the counsel for the police said.
The bench recorded the police’s stand that officers were deputed only to watch Khan’s movement. It accepted the counsel’s assurance, given on the Station House Officer’s (SHO) instructions, that Khan would not be called again.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma objected to notice being issued. The bench overruled him, noting that an advance copy had been served.
“They should have been ready with status report today. Their intention of not filing status report means they wanted an order of court,” it said.
Nadeem Khan’s case
Advocate Shahrukh Alam, appearing for Khan, showed photographs and said officers came to his house and office, located in the same compound, without any notice or order. She alleged surveillance since then. Police called Khan on October 2, when he stepped out because his mother was unwell, to ask where he was going.
Alam pressed only for a declaration that the police action amounted to harassment. She relied on the Supreme Court’s directions of Sunday, October 11. At a special sitting on the protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the apex court had directed that no one be detained except in accordance with law and that free movement be permitted in the city.
The petition said Khan was held at the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind headquarters in Abul Fazal Enclave from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. He was not formally arrested, given written grounds, produced before a magistrate or allowed intimation to his family, it said.
The protest was against attacks on places of worship and the alleged exclusion of citizens through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petition said it posed no threat of violence or breach of peace.
Khan said his September 19 application to the Parliament Street Police Station went unanswered. He later learnt through an anonymous call that permission had been cancelled, and his challenge before the SHO also drew no reply.
He has also challenged an undated prohibitory order covering the entire New Delhi district, including Jantar Mantar. It barred gatherings of five or more people and any demonstration, speech or placard without prior written permission. Khan said the order violates Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b) and 21 of the Constitution.
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