Now,a professor moves HC over illegal detention

A petition has been filed by Prof Rajkumar Katakdhond,alleging that the police had arrested and detained him in the wee hours following a non-cognisable complaint lodged by his wife in March this year.

The court is already considering a petition filed by activists Feroze Mithiboriwala of Awami Bharat and Aslam Gazi of Jamat-e-Islam who were detained under the Section during the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Katakdhond said in his petition that the police had detained him without any evidence of ‘anticipation of offence’. He had filed a complaint with the Jail Road police against his wife after being fed up with her alleged ill-treatment over the past three years.

With no action taken,he had sent a legal notice to his wife. However,on March 30 his wife filed a complaint with the police and Katakdhond was picked up that night itself,the petition said.

Petitioner’s counsel NN Gawankar,who is also amicus curie in the activist detention case,stated that Section 151 provides for arrest of a person “who designs to commit any cognisable offence” without orders from the magistrate and without a warrant if it appears to the officer that the commission of offence cannot be otherwise prevented.