The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to urgently hear rights activist Mohammad Wasiq Nadeem Khan’s plea against alleged illegal detention by police, saying there was no written communication ordering him not to travel or placing him under house arrest. The court fixed the matter for October 12.
A bench of acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was hearing a request by Khan’s counsel to list the plea during the day. The lawyer told the court that Khan feared he could be detained again before a proposed protest and that he had to travel to Kolkata on a flight booked for Friday.
The plea concerns Khan’s allegation that he was confined at the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind headquarters in Abul Fazal Enclave by personnel attached to the Shaheen Bagh police station on September 29. According to the allegation, the confinement lasted from about 9.30am to 5.30pm and was intended to prevent him from attending a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar against repeated attacks on places of worship.
The counsel argued that the matter involved personal liberty and required urgent consideration. She said Khan had received an oral communication indicating that he could again be detained or placed under house arrest. She also said he was not participating in the protest in any manner, had tickets for travel to Kolkata and was seeking protection against what she described as arbitrary detention.
The bench declined to pass an order based on the alleged oral communication. “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 court said, according to the report.
Khan is the national secretary of the Association of Protection of Civil Rights and the founder of the United Against Hate initiative. His petition also challenges a prohibitory order restricting public gatherings in New Delhi district. The legal dispute therefore includes both the alleged detention and the limits placed on assemblies in an area where public demonstrations are regulated.
The case comes ahead of a Saturday protest concerning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Khan’s counsel told the court that he apprehended detention before that event, while the bench noted that no written order preventing his travel or directing house arrest had been presented. The High Court is scheduled to hear the matter on October 12.
