NOIDA: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered the release of Abhay Kumar, director of real estate firm Wiztown Planners Ltd, holding that his arrest in connection with the death of a software engineer in Noida was illegal due to non-compliance with mandatory arrest procedures.
Kumar was arrested by the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police on January 20 in connection with the death of 32-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta. Mehta died on January 16 after his car plunged into a deep, water-filled pit in Noida’s Sector 150. According to the case records, he remained trapped in the vehicle and reportedly called for help for nearly two hours before drowning.
Police had booked Kumar under provisions relating to culpable homicide, causing death by negligence and negligent acts endangering human life. Wiztown Planners Ltd has been in possession of the land where the pit was located since 2019.
A division bench comprising Justices Siddharth and Jai Krishna Upadhyay passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Kumar, challenging the legality of his arrest and detention. The petition sought his immediate release and the quashing of remand orders passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Kumar’s counsel argued that the police failed to supply an arrest memo disclosing the grounds of arrest, in violation of Clause 13 of the prescribed arrest memo format.
The bench said the matter was covered by its earlier ruling in a similar petition filed by Umang Rastogi, who was released on identical grounds on January 22. Holding the arrest illegal, the court ordered Kumar’s immediate release and reiterated directions for strict action against erring police officers.