Toolkit case: Delhi Commission for Women issues notice to police over Disha Ravi's arrest

Amid criticism over the way Disha Ravi was arrested, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday asked Delhi Police to provide reasons for not producing the activist arrested in the toolkit case before a court in Bengaluru from where she was picked up and why she was not provided a lawyer of her choice.

DCW's notice came even as Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava defended the activist's arrest, saying the action was taken as per law and it "does not differentiate between a 22-year-old or a 50-year-old" and it is "false when people say that there were lapses" in the arrest.

Read | Toolkit case: Disha Ravi's arrest made in accordance with law, says Delhi Police chief

Taking suo-moto cognizance of media reports, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal wrote to Delhi Police seeking a report by February 19 "considering the gravity of the matter".

In her letter, Maliwal said activists were quoted in media reports that Disha was taken to Delhi from Bengaluru by police "with no disclosure of her whereabouts, not even to her parents".

"It was also alleged in the media by some activists that she was taken to Delhi from Bengaluru without presenting her before a local court for transit remand. It has been further alleged in media reports that Disha Ravi was produced before the court in Delhi without a lawyer of her choice being present in the court," the letter said.

Maliwal said it was a "serious matter" and quoted a Delhi High Court order of 2019, "endeavor should be made to obtain transit remand after producing the arrestee before the nearest Magistrate...unless exigencies of the situation warrant otherwise."

She also quoted Article 22(1) of the Constitution which says that every person arrested has the right to be defended by a "legal practitioner of his choice".

Against this background, Maliwal asked police to provide the Commission a copy of the FIR registered in the matter, reasons for allegedly not producing Disha before the local court for transit remand and reasons for allegedly not providing the lawyer of her choice to the girl when she was produced before the court in Delhi.

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Disha was picked up from Bengaluru on February 13 and brought to Delhi the same day. She was produced before a Duty Magistrate on Sunday, who sent her to five-day police custody, even as activists and lawyers accused police of violating guidelines by not procuring a transit remand from a Bengaluru court. They also claimed that Disha did not get a lawyer of her choice when she was produced before Duty Magistrate.

On Monday, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) on Monday said that Disha should have been first produced before a competent court in Bengaluru for obtaining transit remand since she was being moved between states, but was not.

She was instead produced before the Duty Magistrate in Delhi, who is “by no means the nearest magistrate as required by clause (2) of Article 22”, it said adding Delhi Police have failed to follow any of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.