New Delhi, Jun 10 (I Exress) : A Delhi court on Tuesday sent former Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar to four days in police custody. It, however, observed that the arrest notice issued to Tomar by Delhi Police was a “farce”.
Metropolitan Magistrate Navneet Budhiraja observed that the notice served under section 160 CrPC “appears to be a farce exercise”, after Tomar’s counsel argued that the police arrested him under “political pressure” and the notice for arrest was served upon only after the arrest.
“This has happened for the first time in history that a person is arrested first and served a notice under section 160 CrPC hours later. This shows there is political pressure. The complaint was given by the Bar Council on May 10, but police comes to my office almost a month later, and I am taken to the police station. Only after this was I served the notice (under 160 CrPC) at 12:30 pm. This can happen only in police raj,” senor advocate H S Phoolka said.
After this the court asked the police, “Was there compliance with the Supreme Court guidelines on arrests? Have you served the notice to him?” The investigating office replied: “Tomar is an influential person. Almost every educational certificate was fabricated and he can also tamper with evidence.”
The court rebutted this argument and said, “What was the hurry to arrest him. You have served the notice only today. The notice issued appears to be a farce.” The court has directed the police that a lawyer will accompany him wherever he is taken.