SC quashes HC strictures against Mumbai police officer
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expunged the scathing strictures passed by the Bombay High Court against an investigating officer of the Mumbai Police in the arrest of one Rizwan Siddique in March.
A 3-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also dismissed a writ of habeas corpus issued by the High Court on March 21 for immediate release of Rizwan Siddiquee.
In the 14-page ruling written by Justice A M Khanwilkar, the Bench held that “the High Court should have been loath to enter upon the merits of the arrest” in absence of any challenge to a magistrate granting police custody till March 23. Justice D Y Chandrachud was the third judge on the Bench.
On a petition by Rizwan’s wife Tasneem, the High Court had held that he was unlawfully detained and be released from the court forthwith.
While a deputy commissioner of police present in the High Court said he had no objection to Rizwan’s release, the investigating officer insisted that he will be released only if the court says so.
Taking an offence at the officer as if he were obliging the court instead of admitting that he had taken law in his hands and voluntarily proceed to release Rizwan from custody, the High Court asked the Home Department to launch disciplinary proceedings against him and gave freedom to Rizwan and his wife to initiate civil suit and criminal prosecution against the police officer for taking the law in his hands.
Rizwan was arrested in the course of the police investigation into the arrest of private detective Mukesh Pandian illegally collecting mobile call detail records of different people and selling them for hefty amount of money.
Police had issued notice to Rizwan subsequent to he figuring
In the 14-page ruling written by Justice A M Khanwilkar, the Bench held that “the High Court should have been loath to enter upon the merits of the arrest” in absence of any challenge to a magistrate granting police custody till March 23. Justice D Y Chandrachud was the third judge on the Bench
in chats with one Prasant Palekar arrested in the case after the later told Police that Rizwan had sought call details of the wife of one Nawazuddin Siddique.
Rizwan was travelling at that time and appeared at the police station on February 23 to record his statement. On March 15, he offered to participate further in the investigation, but refused to accept a notice sent to him the next day. The officer, who along with his subordinates, went to his residence to serve the notice, Rizwan was found destroying the evidence in his mobile and laptop. The officer, therefore, arrested him with the help of the nearby Varsova police station and took him on police remand from the jurisdictional magistrate very next day.
The Maharashtra Government had come in appeal against the High Court order on the ground that no writ of habeas corpus can be issued in respect of a person in police custody in a criminal case under investigation with due remand from a court and sought that the remarks against the concerned police official be expunged.