The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim protection to a Delhi-based lawyer who claimed that he was illegally arrested by the Special Task Force (STF), Gurugram, for representing clients accused in criminal cases.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justices Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria today ordered the lawyer's release on his furnishing of bail bonds of ₹10,000.
The Court recorded the lawyer's claim that he was coaxed into appearing before a police station in Gurugram, where he was arrested by the police without giving any grounds for such an arrest.
The lawyer's counsel, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, argued today that such a course of action was totally impermissible.
After hearing such preliminary arguments, the Court proceeded to grant the arrested lawyer interim relief.
"Petitioner is an advocate and not likely to evade process. Thus, interim protection is granted to release the petitioner forthwith on furnishing of bail bonds of Rs 10,000.. List next Wednesday. Let the registrar judicial communicate the order to the Gurgaon commissioner of police," it said.
The Court will hear the matter further on November 19. It has also sought the response of the concerned authorities at Gurugram to the lawyer's plea to quash the criminal proceedings against him.
The petition before the Court was filed by an advocate who has been enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi since July 2019 and who regularly practises before courts in Delhi and Haryana.
He claims that his professional representation of several clients between 2021 and 2025, including persons alleged to be linked to one Kapil Sangwan alias “Nandu”, has been misconstrued as criminal complicity.
The petition added that the only material relied upon to suspect the lawyer of any wrongdoing was a disclosure statement that is uncorroborated, inadmissible in law, and leads to no recovery.
It further said that the lawyer has acted strictly within his professional obligations under the Advocates Act, 1961.
He added that he had earlier moved court applications highlighting custodial assault and ill-treatment faced by his client, and that the STF proceeded to arrest him on October 31 as a form of retaliation.
His counsel, Senior Advocate Singh, argued today that if the STF's actions are condoned, any criminal lawyer would be at risk.
"Anybody (any lawyer) practicing criminal law will now be susceptible to all this. He did respond to the first summons. Every conversation, he is told say something against the client and we will see the arrest... I am not saying lawyer has some (special) protection. If there is some evidence on record, he must be taken into custody.. any admissible evidence.. But there is none," he said.
The plea also claims that prior to the lawyer's arrest, the investigating officer had resorted to coercive WhatsApp communications to demand confidential case details, in violation of statutory protections for advocate–client privilege.
The petitioner (lawyer) contends that he was arrested without written grounds or independent witnesses and remanded to judicial custody by a mechanical and non-speaking order. The sequence of events, according to the plea, reflects a deliberate and mala fide exercise of power intended to punish an advocate for fearlessly discharging his professional duties.
The petitioner has sought quashing of all criminal proceedings initiated against him, a declaration that his arrest was illegal, and a judicial inquiry into the STF’s alleged coercive conduct.
[Live Coverage]