New Delhi: Delhi high court quashed Thursday the arrests of UNLF’s “army chief” Thokchom S Singh and two other members of the outlawed insurgent group in Manipur, reinforcing the requirement that authorities must furnish written grounds of arrest in all cases.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani cited Supreme Court verdicts and emphasised that there remains “no doubt that the requirement of serving grounds of arrest in writing to an arrestee is compulsory and unquestionable regardless of whether an arrest was made under the PMLA or UAPA or under any other criminal statute”.
Apart from Singh, the court also quashed the arrests of “lieutenant colonel” Laimayum Anand Sharma, head of the separatist group’s intelligence wing, and its member Ibomcha Meite. NIA had taken the trio into custody in Manipur and brought to Delhi.
“The arrest of all three petitioners on March 13, 2024, is accordingly vitiated and is hereby set aside. Consequently, the remand order dated March 14, 2024, and all subsequent remand orders passed by the special court are also quashed,” HC ruled.
The court ordered the trio’s release unless they were required in any other case and directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the jail superintendent. The court pointed out that the only way the grounds of arrest were communicated to the accused was through verbal explanation.
