Delhi HC directs cops to preserve CCTV of activist’s detention

Delhi High Court orders police to preserve CCTV footage related to activist Rudra's detention and explain the legal grounds for his custody.

The Delhi high court on Monday directed the Delhi Police to preserve CCTV footage from the special cell station in New Friends Colony and explain the circumstances and legal authority under which activist Rudra was detained on March 13.

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A bench of justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja directed police to preserve the footage from March 12 till 8pm on March 15, but declined to pass any order for the constitution of a medical board to examine the injuries allegedly sustained by Rudra while in custody.

“The CCTV of the special cell PS New Friends Colony shall be preserved from the period of March 12 till 8pm of the 15th and, if so requested, produced before this court. The respondent shall file an affidavit explaining the circumstances and the authority of law by which they were detained in the first place within a week from today. No need for medical; if you want to get it done, you can get it done for yourself,” the court said.

The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Rudra’s friend Deepak Kumar on Saturday, seeking Rudra’s immediate production before the court.

According to the petition, argued by advocate Jasdeep Dhillon, Rudra was last known to be at the BSCEM office in Delhi’s Vijay Nagar and was suspected to be in the illegal custody of the special cell since the evening of March 13. Rudra was picked up along with six other activists, including Lakshita Rajora and Ehtemam Haq.

To be sure, the high court in a special sitting on Sunday had directed the Delhi Police to file an affidavit explaining the circumstances and legal authority under which they detained 10 activists, even as the police submitted that the detainees had been released.

Dhillon, during the hearing, urged the court to constitute a medical board to examine Rudra’s injuries, asserting that although the police had released him around 1pm on Sunday, he was subjected to torture in custody and was assaulted on his hands, private parts, and face. He further requested the court to direct preservation of the CCTV footage from the special cell station.

During the hearing, Delhi Police’s additional standing counsel Sanjeev Bhandari submitted that the 10 activists, including Rudra, had been called for investigation on Monday but did not appear.

To this, the court replied, “We don’t even know what is your investigation…all we want is that there is a procedure, please follow it.”

The same bench had also directed the police to preserve CCTV footage from areas including BSCEM in Vijay Nagar, behind Dayal Singh College, and near Gate 5 of the Jawaharlal Nehru Metro Station, from where these 10 activists were allegedly picked up.

The order was passed while hearing three habeas corpus petitions seeking the immediate production of four detained activists. The petitions were filed by Sagrika Rajora, sister of detained activist Lakshita Rajora; Ehsanul Haq, elder brother of another detained activist, Ehtemam Haq; and Rajbir, father of detained activist Shiv Kumar, who sought the production of Shiv and his associate Manjeet.

While Lakshita and Ehtemam were picked up from Vijay Nagar, Kumar, along with Manjeet, was picked up from outside the Dayal Singh College gate near the JLN Metro station on March 12.

The petitions will now be heard on March 27.