Legal experts question 'violation of procedure' in Disha Ravi arrest, remand

New Delhi: As 22-year-old climate activist, Disha Ravi was sent to five days in police custody by a local court in Delhi, allegations surfaced of the authorities circumventing arrest procedures under the CrPC to take her into custody from her Bengaluru home on Saturday night.

According to sources who were at the remand proceedings in the Patiala House district courthouse, Ravi did not have legal representation when she was produced in the court. The cour, however, appointed her representation from the public legal aid.

Allegations also surfaced that the arrest procedure might have been circumvented by the police when they picked her up from Bengaluru. Legal experts have said that under the CrPC if an arrest is made in Bengaluru, the accused must first be produced in the nearest court, which can then issue a transit remand, on which the police can bring her to the city where the investigation is being conducted.

Sources said that since she had been arrested, she was produced only in the Delhi court for her remand hearing and was not produced anywhere else.

The Delhi Police officials said that they had arrested her from Bengaluru on Saturday night and brought her to Delhi.

Following these allegations, Senior advocate Rebecca John and other legal experts have questioned the way many magistrates were executing their remand duties "mechanically". John told Millennium Post that such practices of not ensuring whether the accused has legal representation or ensuring whether procedure was followed during the arrest are becoming "increasingly common".

She also said that in many cases, there is a cat-and-mouse game being played by the arresting agency where they try to mislead the accused's party as to where they will produce them. This happened in the case of journalist Mandeep Punia as well, John said.

As a result, she continued, that a duty magistrate sitting on a Sunday might at least call for the required paperwork and grant one-day custody so that regular court can take up the matter the next day.

Many other senior lawyers like Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, senior advocate Saurabh Kripal have spoken out against the 22-year-old activist's arrest.

A detailed question to Delhi Police on whether they had procured a transit remand for Ravi to be brought to Delhi or whether they had brought her to Delhi and then arrested her is yet to be answered at the time of filing. The response will be carried as it arrives.