Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India KK Venugopal on Sunday apprised the Supreme Court that a former junior colleague of his was arbitrarily lifted by the Delhi Police and dumped 11 kilometres away without any explanation.

Venugopal, a doyen at the bar, said that the police personnel involved did not have any name badge as required under law and did not offer any explanation for the actions.

"A former junior of mine was lifted and taken away in a police van, taken nine kilometres away and dropped 11 kilometres away. She could not access the Supreme Court. The man had no badge. Multiple violations. She was not informed of anything whatsoever."

The exchange took place before a Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, which convened a special Sunday sitting to hear urgent contempt and habeas corpus petitions arising from police barricading, mass detentions, and metro disruptions in the capital on October 10 in view of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests.

The hearing was moved amid allegations that authorities had acted in contempt of earlier court orders by shutting down Delhi Metro stations and restricting transit to curb public demonstrations.

During the Sunday hearing, Venugopal placed on record the high-handed treatment meted out to his former junior to prevent her from reaching the Supreme Court.

However, he did not name the junior.

Responding to the submission and the broader habeas corpus petitions concerning widespread preventive detentions, Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the State must be held to account and must justify such actions.

"We have to call upon the State. And what we propose to do in these habeas petitions is give the State the opportunity to satisfy three tests:First, the circumstances in which detention, as alleged, took place; second, the manner in which the detention took place; and third, the justification."

The Bench's scrutiny came alongside reports of arbitrary detentions across Delhi.

Earlier on Sunday, activists Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka were released from detention by an Executive Magistrate after being picked up by police personnel soon after their flight landed in the capital.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta maintained that preventive measures were enforced strictly within the statutory regime, and that all individuals picked up have since been released.

Taking a grim view of personnel acting without badges and impeding lawyers, the Court passed an interim order that advocates, journalists, and professionals must not be obstructed from discharging their duties.

The Bench also ordered the immediate removal of Section 163 BNSS notice boards placed outside the Supreme Court and High Court to ensure unhindered ingress, egress, and access to justice.

The hearing also witnessed exchange between other lawyers and the bench.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said that right to protest cannot be curtailed except as per Article 19 of the Constitution and citizen has the right to protest peacefully without making any application.

However, the bench said that the process by which one protests has to be in accordance with procedure.

The State has been directed to file its affidavit and compliance report by Tuesday, October 13.