Illegal arrest of Lady Lawyer: Delhi High Court assured of strict action against erring cops

The Delhi High Court yesterday disposed of the petition filed by Advocate Deepa Arya complaining of illegal arrest by certain police officials and seeking a CBI investigation into the matter..On December 18, the police officials had broken into the house where Arya was staying and had arrested her despite an assurance given by the Additional Public Prosecutor to the court that no coercive action would be taken in a matter against Arya..The next day, the executive committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association had called for a strike in protest of the illegal action taken against the 60 year old woman lawyer..Appearing for the Delhi Police, Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra submitted a report undersigned by the Deputy Commissioner of Police South Romil Baaniya stating that there was a serious lapse on part of Sub Inspector Naresh Kumar..It was stated that Kumar along with ASI Mahender had boarded the private car of the complainant (who had filed the case against Arya) and had arrested the woman lawyer despite knowledge of the court order that no coercive action was to be taken against her..It was also stated that Kumar disobeyed the orders of the ACP and the SHO of Safdarjung Enclave Police Station and acted on his own will. It was brought to the Court’s notice that a departmental inquiry for imposing major penalty has been initiated against Kumar and an explanation has been sought from the SHO for lack of supervision on his part..The Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Deepa Sharma took the status report on record and disposed of the petition with the assurance of strict action against the guilty officers and continuation of security which is being provided to Deepa Arya.