Jabalpur, April 27 The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday strongly reprimanded the Rajasthan Police for failing to present three Congress IT cell workers who were detained in Bhopal and later taken to Rajasthan.
The action relates to a viral fake letter circulated in the name of senior BJP leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the families of the detained workers.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf expressed strong displeasure over non-compliance with its earlier directions.
The Bench rejected the explanation of “miscommunication” given by the police and termed the lapse "unacceptable".
The court granted a final two-day opportunity and directed that the three accused -- Nikhil, Bilal and Inam -- be produced before it on April 29 without fail.
The court also directed the police to submit all documents related to the arrests. It sought CCTV footage and details of the sequence of events. The judges made it clear that compliance with the order was mandatory.
The case originates from a letter that went viral on social media earlier this month. The letter was purportedly issued in the name of Vasundhara Raje and raised questions regarding women’s reservation and the delimitation exercise.
The letter was later declared fake. Following this, the Rajasthan Police initiated action and, with assistance from the Madhya Pradesh Police, three Congress workers were detained from Bhopal and subsequently taken to Rajasthan for further investigation.
Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha, along with some other senior Congress leaders, including state unit chief Jitu Patwari, had raised questions about the legality of the action.
The Congress had alleged that the workers were kept in custody for over 27 hours without sufficient grounds and raised concerns over the timing of the police response.
Family members alleged that due process was not followed. They claimed the workers were kept in custody unlawfully and were not produced within the stipulated time, prompting them to approach the High Court.
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