HC grants protection from arrest to hairstylist Jawed Habib and son

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to celebrity hairstylist Jawed Habib and his son Anosh Habib in an alleged investment fraud case.

Directing the police not to take any coercive action against the father-son duo until the investigation is complete, a two-judge bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Achal Sachdev on Monday also disposed of a clutch of petitions filed by the accused seeking a restraint on their arrest, and challenging an FIR lodged against them in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal.

The bench directed to ensure the procedure of arrest in accordance with the guidelines of the Supreme Court enshrined in the case of Arnesh Kumar vs the State of Bihar in 2014.

The ruling in that case established that police must first comply with the criteria under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before making an arrest for offences punishable by up to seven years imprisonment, and provide a written checklist and justification to the magistrate for any arrest.

“We have perused the FIR, which prima facie discloses a cognisable offence and therefore, the prayer made to quash the FIR cannot be entertained in view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of the State of Telangana vs Habib Abdullah Jellani and in other cases,” the bench noted.

The said FIR was lodged at Raisatti police station in Sambhal district, accusing Jawed and his son of cheating people of crores of rupees.

According to police, more than 150 people were defrauded of at least Rs 7 crore by Jawed, though formal complaints have so far been received from 33.

A total of 33 FIRs have been registered against Jawed, his son Anos, and another person, Saiful, in connection with the alleged fraud.

The trio has been accused of running a scheme under the banner of Follicle Global Company (FLC), and taking Rs 5-7 lakh from each investor, promising them 50-70 per cent returns on Bitcoin purchases.