Delhi High Court seeks police report on illegal confinement of activist

New Delhi 

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a status report from the Delhi police on a petition filed by civil rights activist Mohammad Wasiq Nadeem Khan, alleging that he was illegally confined at a premises in the city on September 29 to prevent him from attending a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma issued notice on Mr. Khan’s plea, which also alleged continued police surveillance and repeated phone calls seeking information about his whereabouts.

Mr. Khan, national secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and founder of the ‘United Against Hate’ initiative, approached the High Court last week, alleging that police personnel attached to the Shaheen Bagh police station confined him at the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind headquarters in Abul Fazal Enclave from around 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on September 29.

According to Mr. Khan’s petition, the alleged confinement was intended to prevent him from joining a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar called by the APCR, the Monitoring Committee of Indian Muslims and other civil society groups against alleged repeated attacks on places of worship.

‘Not justified’

Questioning the police over the alleged conduct of its personnel, the Bench observed that while the authorities could deny permission for a protest, that did not justify entering a person’s residence and restricting his movement.

“How can you enter the house of this man? You have your right to conduct your duty (but) how can you do it in such a way? Where is your cause to confine him?” the court orally remarked during the hearing.

Mr. Khan’s counsel told the court that two police personnel visited his residence-cum-office on September 29 and allegedly restricted his movement for the entire day. The lawyer sought a declaration that the alleged conduct amounted to “harassment and arbitrary action”, citing the Supreme Court’s directions to the police and the Union government on Sunday to ensure the free movement of people.

Opposing the allegations, the police’s counsel submitted that Mr. Khan had not been detained and pointed out that he had travelled to Kolkata the previous week. Seeking time to place the police’s position on record, the counsel also assured the court that Mr. Khan would not receive any further phone calls from the police.

No intimation

In his petition, Mr. Khan alleged that he was neither formally arrested nor given written grounds for his confinement. He also claimed that no arrest memo was prepared, no family member was informed and he was not produced before a magistrate.

The petition further alleged that police personnel continued to contact him about his whereabouts in connection with subsequent protests scheduled for October 2 and 5, raising concerns that further restrictions could be imposed on his movement.