Kangana
Ranaut's
Lawyer
RELEASED
by
Bombay
High
Court
in
CDR
case
|
FilmiBeat
The
Bombay
High
Court
on
Wednesday
directed
the
Thane
police
to
release
from
their
custody
advocate
Rizwan
Siddiqui,
who
was
arrested
last
week
for
illegal
possession
of
the
call
detail
records
(CDRs)
of
Bollywood
actor
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui's
wife.
A
bench
of
Justices
S
C
Dharamadhikari
and
P
D
Naik
held
that
in
arresting
Rizwan
Siddiqui,
the
Thane
police
had
acted
in
a
"high-handed"
manner
and
failed
to
follow
"due
process
of
law".
The
bench
also
directed
senior
most
officials
of
Thane
police
and
the
state
Home
department
to
enquire
into
the
actions
of
the
Thane
police
and
if
deemed
fit,
initiate
appropriate
punitive
proceedings
against
the
officials
concerned.
The
bench
was
hearing
a
habeas
corpus
petition
filed
by
Rizwan
Siddiqui's
wife,
Tasneem,
challenging
the
manner
of
his
arrest
in
the
case.
The
advocate
was
arrested
by
the
Thane
police
on
the
night
of
March
16
for
allegedly
having
ordered
the
illegal
procurement
of
the
CDR
of
actor
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui's
wife.
In
the
plea,
Tasneem
claimed
that
her
husband
Rizwan
Siddiqui
had
received
a
witness
summon
from
the
Thane
Crime
Branch
Unit
one
on
February
14.
However,
around
10
pm
on
March
16,
Thane
Crime
Branch
officials
came
to
his
office
and
while
recording
the
statement,
arrested
him
without
giving
him
any
notice
under
section
41(A)
of
the
CrPC
to
give
him
time
to
make
an
appearance
before
the
police,
the
plea
said.
It
further
alleged
that
the
Thane
police
has
kept
him
in
wrongful
and
illegal
custody
since
then.
The
state,
that
is
the
prosecution
in
the
case,
however,
told
the
HC
that
the
Thane
Crime
Branch
had
attempted
to
serve
the
41(A)
notice
on
Rizwan
Siddiqui.
But
since
he
refused
to
accept
the
same,
he
was
arrested,
the
prosecution
said.
Section
41
(A)
of
the
Criminal
Procedure
Code
(CrPC)
sets
out
guidelines
for
a
prosecuting
agency
to
arrest
a
person
without
warrant.
It
mandates
that,
if
a
complaint
is
received
against
someone,
or
if
a
cognisable
offence
is
made
out
against
that
person
and
he
must
be
arrested
without
a
warrant,
then
the
agency
must
serve
such
person
with
a
notice
under
section
41(A),
asking
the
person
to
appear
before
it
at
a
given
location
and
time.
On
Wednesday,
the
prosecution
submitted
the
details
of
such
notice.
However,
the
court
realised
that
while
the
notice
had
been
issued
on
March
15,
asking
Rizwan
Siddiqui
to
be
present
before
it
on
March
17
at
11
am,
he
was
arrested
before
he
could
have
visited
the
police.
When
the
bench
observed
that
this
was
in
clear
contravention
of
the
law,
government
lawyer
Aruna
Pai
submitted
that
while
the
Thane
police
had
no
objection
to
Rizwan
Siddiqui's
release,
as
per
the
magistrate's
court
order,
he
had
been
remanded
in
police
custody
till
March
23.
The
bench,
however,
dismissed
the
argument.
"The
magistrate's
order
is
not
binding
upon
this
court.
This
court
had
to
intervene
only
because
due
process
of
law
was
not
followed
by
officials
concerned,"
the
bench
said.
It
said
their
arguments
and
the
perusal
of
police
records
have
failed
to
offer
a
justification
for
the
high-handed
manner
in
which
the
police
acted
and
arrested
the
petitioner's
husband
(Rizwan
Siddiqui).
"Therefore,
we
also
suggest
that
senior
most
officials
of
the
Thane
police
and
the
state
Home
department
look
into
this
and
initiate
appropriate
action
against
the
officials
concerned,"
the
high
court
said.
The
bench
also
said
the
prosecution
and
the
police
failed
to
answer
its
questions
on
the
process
of
law
and
therefore
conceded
to
saying
that
they
have
no
objection
to
releasing
the
petitioner's
husband.
"See
to
it
that
he
is
released
forthwith,"
the
bench
said.
The
court,
however,
clarified
that
its
observations
and
order
did
not
pass
any
judgement
on
Rizwan
Siddiqui's
role
in
the
CDR
case,
and
that
the
police
was
free
to
act
against
him
as
long
as
the
same
was
done
in
accordance
with
the
law.
(PTI
News)