New Delhi: A Delhi court recently granted bail to a gangster, ruling that the failure to convey the grounds for his arrest infringed upon his constitutional rights and warranted his release.
The court emphasised the need for police to communicate the reasons for arrest while hearing a bail application moved by Ata Ur Rehman, an accused in the 2023 murder of rival gangster Prince Tewatia inside Tihar Jail.
“To put it pithily, the constitutional guarantee has been infringed – warranting release of the applicant/releasing back his liberty…” said additional sessions judge (ASJ) Sumit Dass of Patiala house courts.
The order was passed on April 15 but uploaded recently.
The court expressed disappointment over an order passed by the magistrate at Tis Hazari, which failed to record details from the arrest memo during the remand hearing. According to the court, this stage was crucial to ascertain whether the grounds for arrest had been communicated to the accused.
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Rehman’s counsel submitted that one of the primary grounds for seeking bail was that the accused was not informed of the reasons for his arrest by either the police or jail officials.
ASJ Dass observed that the investigating officer (IO) of the case did not submit the arrest memo to the magistrate during the police custody remand hearing, and the magistrate also failed to specify whether the grounds for arrest were adequately communicated.
The order said, “I am unable to persuade myself that there was due compliance of the communication of the grounds of arrest…in the application seeking formal arrest and police custody, in the order passed by the court – at all the places there is nothing which could give a solace that the constitutional mandate incorporated in the CrPC has been adhered to”.
The court noted that it was all the more appalling that neither the investigating agency nor the magistrate made any attempt to comply with the law or align with legal requirements, such as mentioning the grounds of arrest or including any discussion of them in the order.
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Judge Dass added that there had been a complete disregard of the rule of law by the magistrate while passing its order and the accused’s counsel at the time, who did not in any manner make his legal obligation meaningful.
Rehman was granted bail on the condition that he furnish a personal bond of ₹50,000.
According to the police, Rehman—who leads a gang primarily operating in South Delhi—is accused in several murder cases, including the 2018 killing of a BJP councillor’s brother. He was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in 2021 after being shot in the leg during a police encounter. The deceased, Prince Tewatia, was one of Rehman’s fiercest rivals, with his gang also exerting influence in South Delhi.
In April 2023, a violent clash broke out between rival gang members inside Jail No. 3 of Tihar Prison, resulting in the killing of Tewatia with a sharp weapon. Rehman is one of the prime accused in the case.
Charges have been framed against him and other co-accused inmates, and the matter is currently pending trial.