CJ's concern is also ours
We are waiting with bated breath the Supreme Court judgment fixed for May 24th. The issues on which the SC will pronounce are those that touch upon our fundamental rights of freedom, safety from arbitrary arrest, torture in custody and protection of an individual before he or she is found guilty by the court. But while we wait for the judgment, we would like to echo the Chief Justice's concern about arrest by plain clothes law enforcers. We consider it to be a very bad practice that should be stopped forthwith just as much for the sake of the citizens as for the reputation and public confidence in the police and other law enforcement agencies.
In recent times there have been several instances of plain clothes persons, posing as officials, and picking up people in the wee hours of the night, either from some street or from the victim's home. Many such individuals later reappeared after a week or so of absence refusing to reveal, obviously under threat, as to where they were or who their captors were. These were the fortunate ones. There were others, who never came back creating panic among citizens as to their safety.
There may be some logic to using plain clothes law enforcers in case of individual or group surveillance or in case of crowd control. But there cannot be any justification in using them to arrest citizens. Such practice must by definition lead to abuse allowing law enforces far more flexibility in using their power than is good either for the legal system or the rights of the citizens.
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