RAJKUMARI Vs. S H O NOIDA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution have been filed praying that a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ be issued directing the respondents to stop arresting women between sunset and sunrise except in grave offences like murder and to ensure that if a woman is kept in police station, she should be allowed to have a relative with her and in her view. The other prayer made is to issue a direction to the Director General of Police, U.P. to take appropriate action to punish the police personnel involved in the arrest of petitioner No. 1. Contempt petitions have also been filed against Shri Devinder Singh, SHO, P.S. Sector, 20, Noida for punishing him for having committed contempt of the orders and directions issued by this Court.

(2.) The case set up in the writ petitions is that petitioner No. 1, Smt. Rajkumari is resident of F-143, BHEL Colony, Sector 16, Noida and petitioner No. 2, Smt. Brinda Karat is the General Secretary, All India Democratic Womens Conference, which is an organisation concerned with the right to equality and democratic rights of women in the country. The workers of Noida Industrial Area, Faridabad and Delhi went on one days strike on 11-8-1997. On the same day at the behest of the employers, cases were registered against leaders and other workers in Noida and in connection therewith 70 workers were arrested. At about 1.30 a.m. in the night intervening 15/16-8-1997 a police party consisting of one lady Constable and four other police personnel, came to the house of petitioner No. 1-Smt. Rajkumari and starting banging on the front door. The son of petitioner No. 1 opened the door and requested the police party to come in the morning and the husband of petitioner No. 1 also said that if there was any warrant of arrest against her, he would ensure that she came to the police station in the morning. However, the police personnel barged inside and took petitioner No. 1 in custody and thereafter she was taken to the police station in Sector 58, where she was interrogated for over 1 1/2 hours. The police personnel wanted to know the names of the main leaders who organised the strike and also the addresses of two other women workers, namely, Lata Singh and Manju. Though petitioner No. 1 was alleged to have committed offences under Ss. 147/323/427, I.P.C., which are bailable offences, yet, she was taken into custody and was brought to the police station. The provisions of S. 50, Cr. P.C. were not complied with and she was not informed as to why she was being arrested, nor the grounds of her arrest were disclosed to her. Similarly the safeguards contained in DO letter, dated 10/14-3-1980 of the Home Secretary, Government of India were also not complied with. It is thus pleaded that the arrest of petitioner No. 1 violated her fundamental rights guaranteed under Arts. 14, 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution of India.

(3.) The writ petitions were heard on 20-4-1998 when an order was passed directing the petitioners to clearly indicate as to which of the directions issued by this Court in Joginder Kumar vs. State of U.P. and others, AIR 1994 SC 1349 and D. K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 610, had been flouted by the respondents and if so, by whom Thereafter, petitioner No. 1 filed another affidavit and the principal pleas taken therein are that the police personnel including Shri P. R. Singh and Shri Devinder Singh, who came to arrest her, did not bear any name tags with designation; that no memo of arrest was prepared at the time of arrest of petitioner No. 1; that petitioner No. 1 was not informed of her right that she is entitled to meet her lawyer during interrogation and that there was no necessity to arrest her during the middle of the night.