The Delhi High Court Thursday said it is necessary to obviate repetition of episodes where police from other states come to the national capital and conduct operations without intimating the local police.
The high court’s observation came while dealing with a case where the Uttar Pradesh police took away a young married couple from Delhi to Modi Nagar in Ghaziabad district without even intimating the Delhi Police.
The couple was “lifted” from the place where they were residing in Delhi on February 17 and released later on.
The girl and the boy, aged 19 and 21 years respectively, were also present in the court and interacted with the judge.
Justice Bhambhani was informed by the counsel for the couple that a similar incident had taken place in October 2021 and a coordinate bench of the high court had also addressed a similar situation.
In 2021, the high court had questioned the UP Police for its operations against couples in the national capital and for arresting the father and brother of a man who got married to a woman against her family’s wishes.
It had said it was trite law (laws that are obvious or common) that people under the jurisdiction of Delhi Police could not be apprehended by UP Police without intimation to them and issued notice to the UP police personnel concerned.
Justice Bhambhani observed, “Evidently, history keeps repeating itself. In these circumstances, it is necessary to delve deeper into the matter to obviate the repetition of episodes such as this of police from outside states coming into Delhi and conducting operations without intimation to the local police.”
During the hearing, the high court perused CCTV footage of cameras installed in and around the place of residence of the couple in an effort to ascertain the identity of people who entered and exited their premises on the night of the incident.
The court said faces of those who came and took away the petitioners from Delhi to Modi Nagar were not visible to bare eye and added that the footage appears to be “truncated”.
“I propose to take it further as far as I can take it. These things sometimes come as roadblocks. But this footage is incomplete. It is truncated,” the judge said.
The high court issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner of Police of CyPAD (Cyber Preventation Awareness Detection), Special Cell of Delhi Police, while asking him to examine the CCTV footage to obtain facial shots of persons in the video and to remain present in the court or be represented on March 9.
It also asked the counsel representing UP in the Supreme Court to be present in the high court on the next date of hearing.
The high court directed the investigating officer of the case to obtain the CCTV footage of the area concerned to see if the vehicle number, in which those people had come to the premises, was available.
The court noted the couple has now shifted their residence and were feeling relatively safe but they are still receiving threats from the family members of the girl as they got married against the wishes of her parents.
The counsel for the Delhi Police submitted that a copy of the protective order will be communicated to the SHO of the police station concerned to instruct and sensitise the beat constable and others for necessary compliance.
In the plea, the couple said they got married at an Arya Samaj Mandir here on February 13 and, as they were receiving threats from the girl’s family, they sent a complaint to the SHO of Anand Parbat Police Station seeking protection but to no avail.
The high court had on February 16 directed the SHO of Anand Parbat Police Station to ensure the safety and security of the petitioners against any threats from the girl’s family.
However, on February 18, the court was informed that some people believed to be police officers from Modi Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, have “lifted/ arrested” the petitioners and taken them away to Modi Nagar/Ghaziabad.
It was submitted that the girl has been “handed over to her family members” and the boy has been “lifted/ arrested”.
