Delhi cops flouting SC guidelines?
25 May 2012 1:19 PM IST
Is Delhi police violating D K Basu guidelines regarding arrest? Khudai Khidmatgar, a social organisation, has posed this question to Delhi police in view of the increasing menace of false arrests and flouting of laws and guidelines while arresting.
In an open letter to Chief Justice of Supreme Court, the organisation stated that the police and other security agencies are routinely flouting laws, violating D K Basu guidelines regarding arrest, fabricating false cases and illegally arresting muslim youths.
Because of the police terror and fear of being falsely implicated, arrested and tortured in police custody, the victims' families and even social activists are reluctant to raise this issue in public.
Khudai Khidmatgar has requested the Supreme Court to look into the matter and issue instructions as deemed necessary.
Talking to Millennium Post, Khudai Khidmatgar founder, Faisal Khan, said, 'We are not against any arrest of Delhi police as they have to curb terrorism also from our country. It's just that the police should follow guidelines at the time of arresting. Many families of the accused have complained to us that they came to know of the arrest through media after several weeks of their detention.'
Last November, relatives of Gauhar Aziz Khomany and Mohammad Irshad Khan, who have been arrested by Delhi police special cell for having alleged links with terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, have approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Minorities, seeking intervention. They had accused the police of not having adhered to the Supreme Court guidelines while making arrests.
In a letter to the NHRC, Gauhar's brother, Hasan Aziz Aamir, alleged that the police had violated the Supreme Court directions by failing to inform his family about his arrest. 'No official information about the arrest has been made to the family members so far. I fear that my brother is being falsely implicated. The police claim that Gauhar was arrested on 23 November, whereas, I received a call from him on the evening of 26 November. This clearly contradicts the police claim,' said the letter.
According to Khudai Khidmatgar, after interaction with peace activists and the families of those arrested, including those subsequently acquitted across the country, it was found out that the D K Basu guidelines on arrest were being flouted with impunity. In fact, according to Khudai Khidmatgar, in most cases, the arrests of the innocent youth could be more appropriately termed as 'kidnapping' by the police.
'Police should have followed the rules laid down by the Supreme Court while carrying out arrests. Gauhar's brother has also written to Delhi police commissioner stating that the Supreme Court directives had been violated and that his family came to know about his arrest only through the media,' said Faisal Khan.
Khudai Khidmatgar had filed a petition with NHRC demanding a reply from Delhi police regarding this issue. Sources said, after a reminder, Delhi police, sent a reply to NHRC that stated, 'We tried to contact the relative of the accused, but he was unavailable to us. Hence information was given to his close friend as he was present there on the occasion.' But the organisation deemed that as unsatisfactory. According to the organisation, there are more than 15 cases where the police almost 'kidnapped' the accused and detain them illegally in their custody. Almost 90 per cent of the cases of muslim arrests violate D K Basu guidelines.
SC’s GUIDELINES IN D K BASU CASE
Some of the principles laid down by the Supreme Court:
In an open letter to Chief Justice of Supreme Court, the organisation stated that the police and other security agencies are routinely flouting laws, violating D K Basu guidelines regarding arrest, fabricating false cases and illegally arresting muslim youths.
Because of the police terror and fear of being falsely implicated, arrested and tortured in police custody, the victims' families and even social activists are reluctant to raise this issue in public.
Khudai Khidmatgar has requested the Supreme Court to look into the matter and issue instructions as deemed necessary.
Talking to Millennium Post, Khudai Khidmatgar founder, Faisal Khan, said, 'We are not against any arrest of Delhi police as they have to curb terrorism also from our country. It's just that the police should follow guidelines at the time of arresting. Many families of the accused have complained to us that they came to know of the arrest through media after several weeks of their detention.'
Last November, relatives of Gauhar Aziz Khomany and Mohammad Irshad Khan, who have been arrested by Delhi police special cell for having alleged links with terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, have approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Minorities, seeking intervention. They had accused the police of not having adhered to the Supreme Court guidelines while making arrests.
In a letter to the NHRC, Gauhar's brother, Hasan Aziz Aamir, alleged that the police had violated the Supreme Court directions by failing to inform his family about his arrest. 'No official information about the arrest has been made to the family members so far. I fear that my brother is being falsely implicated. The police claim that Gauhar was arrested on 23 November, whereas, I received a call from him on the evening of 26 November. This clearly contradicts the police claim,' said the letter.
According to Khudai Khidmatgar, after interaction with peace activists and the families of those arrested, including those subsequently acquitted across the country, it was found out that the D K Basu guidelines on arrest were being flouted with impunity. In fact, according to Khudai Khidmatgar, in most cases, the arrests of the innocent youth could be more appropriately termed as 'kidnapping' by the police.
'Police should have followed the rules laid down by the Supreme Court while carrying out arrests. Gauhar's brother has also written to Delhi police commissioner stating that the Supreme Court directives had been violated and that his family came to know about his arrest only through the media,' said Faisal Khan.
Khudai Khidmatgar had filed a petition with NHRC demanding a reply from Delhi police regarding this issue. Sources said, after a reminder, Delhi police, sent a reply to NHRC that stated, 'We tried to contact the relative of the accused, but he was unavailable to us. Hence information was given to his close friend as he was present there on the occasion.' But the organisation deemed that as unsatisfactory. According to the organisation, there are more than 15 cases where the police almost 'kidnapped' the accused and detain them illegally in their custody. Almost 90 per cent of the cases of muslim arrests violate D K Basu guidelines.
SC’s GUIDELINES IN D K BASU CASE
Some of the principles laid down by the Supreme Court:
- The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations.
- Police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made.
- Copies of all the documents, including the memo of arrest, should be sent to the Magistrate for his record.
- The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
- The person arrested must be made aware of his right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
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