Police Must Not Curtail Citizen's Freedom For Political Protest Without Due Process Of Law: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court has criticised the police for detaining and arresting a citizen merely for protesting and highlighting corruption allegations against a ruling party member.

"Only because a citizen has protested or has raised his voice to highlight the illegalities or corruption by a member of the ruling dispensation and against the member of the Legislative Assembly, the police ought to have taken such stringent steps to curtail the freedom of the said citizen. Fundamental right of a citizen of this country to move about freely ought not to be curtailed without abiding the due process of law," the Court observed. 

The Single Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha termed the act of detention "high-handed" and emphasized that a citizen's fundamental right to freedom of movement should not be curtailed without due process of law.

"Prima facie, it appears that the act of detention and arrest of the person concerned is sheer highhandedness on the part of the police officer. Accordingly, the Court is minded to pass direction for immediate release of the husband of the petitioner. The person concerned should be released from the custody by 5 P.M. today," the Court said in its Order dated July 3. 

The Court's observation came while hearing a Writ Petition, where the wife of the detained man petitioned against his arrest by Shibpur Police Station officers on June 30. The arrest was reportedly based on a complaint filed two days earlier, alleging defamation against the man for remarks made against a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) belonging to the ruling party.

The Court, while ordering the immediate release of the detained individual, criticized the police for issuing a notice under Section 41(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for appearance on July 1, yet arresting him on June 30. The Court characterized this discrepancy as an overzealous act by the police.

The Advocate General representing the State argued that the detained man had already been produced before the magistrate and was in judicial custody.

However, the Court directed the preservation of CCTV footage from the police station on June 30 to resolve the dispute over the circumstances of the arrest. "The notice under Section 41A of the CrPC dated 30th June, 2024 be retained with the record. G.D. extracts dated 30th June, 2024 of the Shibpur Police Station be also retained with the record. As dispute has arisen with regard to the place of arrest, let the CCTV Footage of the police station on 30th June, 2024 (the entire day) shall be preserved and be produced as and when called for," the Court said. Accordingly, the Court scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 10.

Cause Title: Sarika Khatun v. State of West Bengal & Ors. 

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocates Sabyasachi Chatterjee, Pintu Karar, Sayan Banerjee, Kiron Sk, Ramij Munshi

Respondent: Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta, Senior Advocate Amitesh Banerjee, Advocates Debangshu Dinda, Sabnam De Bardhan, S Mitra, Sayan Dutta, Soma Chakraborty, Suvodeep Moitra

Click here to read/download the Order