Delhi HC releases suspected gang member on bail due to police failure to follow norms

The Delhi High Court granted bail to gangster Harshpal Singh, citing police failure to produce him before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest.

New Delhi

The court said that Delhi Police’s claim that SIngh was released a day after his arrest “appears highly doubtful”. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court granted bail to a 35-year-old suspected gangster, who was arrested at the Amritsar Airport in connection with the murder of a businessman at Farsh Bazar in a mistaken identity case in 2024, noting that the Delhi Police’s Special Cell failed to produce the accused before a magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest.

The accused, Harshpal Singh alias Rubal, was charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA), for allegedly providing financial support to the assailants and helping them evade police after the murder. Police said that gangsters from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had targeted a rival gang member but mistakenly killed the businessman in 2024.

In its order, issued on February 10, the court said, “...The respondent (Police) has admitted the timeline, and the record shows that the appellant (Singh) was not produced before the nearest magistrate within twenty-four hours from the time his liberty was first restrained. The continued detention of the appellant, therefore, stands vitiated, being in violation of Article 22(2) of the Constitution of India….as there has been a violation of the mandatory provisions of law, the appellant will have to be released on bail.”

Setting a few conditions, including appearance before station house officer every three days, not make any inducement, threat or promise to any person linked with the case, submitting passport and not leaving the country, the court released Singh on bail on execution of a personal bond of ₹2 lakh.

Officers of the Special Cell said they arrested Singh on September 25, 2025, after being tipped off about his attempt to flee to Thailand.

Investigators said Singh was not only related to the businessman’s murder but was also found to have been involved in the murder of 35-year-old Nadir Shah, a gym owner who was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Greater Kailash area on September 12, 2024.

“We wanted to question him in both the infamous crimes that took place in 2024 but the court has granted him bail now,” an investigator aware of the case, requesting not to be named, said.

According to the court order, the police claimed that they arrested Singh on September 25, 2025, but then released him for a day, before producing him in court on September 27, 2025.

Singgh’s counsel contended that the police violated the norms under Article 22(2) of the Constitution and Section 187 of the BNSS, as Singh spent more than 24 hours in their custody.

The court said that Delhi Police’s claim that SIngh was released a day after his arrest “appears highly doubtful”.

While the police contended that the accused may try to abscond, the court pointed to Singh’s appearance for questioning after he was released for three weeks in the interim.