The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to grant an urgent hearing to rights activist Mohammad Wasiq Nadeem Khan’s plea alleging illegal detention by police, saying there was no written communication ordering him not to travel or placing him under house arrest. The bench fixed the matter for October 12.
A bench comprising acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was hearing a request by Khan’s counsel to list the petition during the day. The lawyer told the court that Khan feared being detained again before a planned protest and needed to travel to Kolkata on a flight booked for Friday.
The plea concerns Khan’s allegation that he was confined at the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Abul Fazal Enclave on September 29. According to the petition, personnel attached to the Shaheen Bagh police station kept him there from around 9.30am to 5.30pm to prevent him from attending a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar against repeated attacks on places of worship.
Khan’s counsel said he had also received an oral communication indicating that he could be detained again or placed under house arrest. She argued that the case involved personal liberty and that delaying the hearing could make the plea infructuous. She also said Khan was not participating in the protest in any manner and had already booked tickets to travel to Kolkata.
The court questioned the basis for seeking an immediate order in the absence of a written direction. “Who has stopped you from travelling? There is no written communication that you should not travel or that you will be put under house arrest. On the basis of some call you are saying that we should pass some order. Sorry. We will hear you. Not today, but Monday,” the bench said.
Khan is the national secretary of the Association of Protection of Civil Rights and founder of the United Against Hate initiative. His petition seeks protection against what he describes as arbitrary detention and challenges a prohibitory order restricting public gatherings in New Delhi district.
The case places police restrictions on public assembly alongside the procedural question of whether a court can intervene urgently on the basis of an alleged oral warning without a written detention or travel order. The High Court is scheduled to hear the plea on October 12.
