Madhya Pradesh High Court recently ruled that evidence collected by Telangana Police in the “illegal arrest” of an assistant professor from Bhopal should not be used in any trial against him.
In Feb 2022, Telangana police arrested ten persons in an alleged fake degree scandal case. The case also involved Ketan Singh, an assistant professor at Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan University in Bhopal.
During the recent hearing in Madhya Pradesh High Court, Justice Vishal Dhagat found that Ketan Singh was not arrested in Hyderabad as Telangana Police had claimed. Instead, he was allegedly abducted from Bhopal without an arrest warrant or even informing the local police.
“It is directed that evidence which is collected by police after making illegal arrest of petitioner after 11.02.2022 shall not be used in evidence against petitioner in pending criminal trial,” ruled the court.
Ketan Singh had moved the court seeking an enquiry against the police, claiming he was “abducted” and physically assaulted in custody. Singh’s counsel, senior advocate Sumit Nema and advocate Ayush Gupta told the court that a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against Singh only days after his abduction.
Assistant commissioner of police, Special Investigation Team from Hyderabad, in response, told the court that Singh and others were accused of preparing fake educational certificates of various courses. The petitioner was arrested in Hyderabad, the police claimed.
After hearing the parties, the court noted that while Hyderabad police had admitted its officials were present in Bhopal for some other investigation, no evidence was produced to back the claim, Bar and Bench reported.
