Police cannot ‘pick and choose’ whom to arrest, says Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has said police cannot selectively arrest accused in a case and must clearly state whether they intend to take a person into custody, observing that a “pick-and-choose” approach to arrests must be deprecated

The Delhi High Court has said police cannot selectively arrest accused in a case and must clearly state whether they intend to take a person into custody, observing that a “pick-and-choose” approach to arrests must be deprecated.

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“Of course, the policy of the state to selectively arrest some of the accused persons cannot be approved. The police should clearly state as to whether they want to arrest an accused or not,” justice Girish Kathpalia said in an order on August 31.

“The court cannot direct the police to do or not to do so. Such kind of pick and choose in matter of arrest must be deprecated,” the court said.

The court made the observations while hearing the bail plea of a man accused in a child trafficking case. The accused was arrested by Delhi Police after an FIR was registered against him in 2024 under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), relating to human trafficking, and Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice Act, concerning the sale and procurement of children.

In his bail plea, the man submitted that he had spent nearly 2.5 years in custody and that all public witnesses had already been examined during the trial. His counsel argued that he had been falsely implicated because he was the paternal uncle of another accused, who had already been granted bail.

The defence also pointed out that police had so far taken no steps to arrest the alleged main accused in the case.

Opposing the bail plea, Delhi Police argued that the allegations against the accused were serious. The investigating officer, however, acknowledged that practically no action had been taken against the alleged main accused and assured the court that the person would also be arrested.

The high court ultimately declined to grant bail to the accused but strongly criticised the police investigation, particularly its failure to trace the child.

“The role played by the investigators in this case is highly appalling. Till date, the allegedly trafficked girl child has not been recovered/rescued by police,” the court said.

The court also directed the deputy commissioner of police concerned to take steps to recover the child and submit a status report within four weeks.