Karnataka HC summons DCP over illegal detention, orders statewide police caution

The High Court of Karnataka on Saturday summoned Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield division) Saidulu Adavath, taking serious note of another instance of illegal detention by the Whitefield police. The court questioned how police could arrest or detain persons contrary to law, especially given the Supreme Court's judgments and the State Police Chief's oversight.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna directed the Director-General and Inspector General of Police to issue guidelines making it clear that illegal arrest or detention would attract disciplinary proceedings against officers of any rank, apart from exemplary costs when such instances are brought to the court's notice.

The directions came on a petition filed by Mohan Gowda of Hindu Rashtra Samanvaya Samithi. The Whitefield police had suo motu registered a case against him for a Facebook post celebrating the cancellation of a show by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, terming it "a victory for Hindu unity."

The court noted the case was registered on August 4 at 2 a.m., and the next day, two sub-inspectors and two constables travelled to Udupi, where the petitioner had gone, and brought him back to Whitefield in his car. The court observed that the police served him a notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Surakasha Sanhita, dated August 5/6, which gave him three days to appear for questioning — yet he was already in their custody before the notice reached him.

The High Court also noted the police took suo motu cognizance of the post without any complaint, allegedly "imagining disharmony overnight," contrary to the Supreme Court's guidelines in the Nalla Balu case for registering FIRs based on social media posts.

"You can't take the liberty of citizens for granted just because you are in a uniform," the court orally told the DCP, who had no answers to justify the illegal detention. When Adavath claimed the petitioner voluntarily came to the station in his personal car, the petitioner's advocate said he was told to face consequences. The court also rejected the DCP's justification that the petitioner was "not receiving calls," noting the notice itself gave him three days to appear.

This comes after the court on August 27 imposed a ₹3 lakh cost on the DCP, ACP (Whitefield division), and the Investigation Officer for illegally arresting a man in a criminal case arising from a civil dispute.