The Bombay High Court has ruled that the re-arrest of activist Arun Ferreira in 2011, while being released from jail, violated multiple articles of the Indian Constitution, including Article 21 (personal liberty) and Article 22(1) (right to be informed of grounds for arrest).
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court upheld a petition by activist Arun Ferreira, stating that his re-arrest in 2011, while being released from Nagpur Central Jail, was unlawful and violated multiple articles of the Indian Constitution. The court pointed out that neither the general diary entry nor the arrest memo contained information about the reasons for his re-arrest, which is a contravention of Article 21 (personal liberty) and Article 22(1) (right to be informed of grounds for arrest).
Ferreira was initially arrested in May 2007 and spent over four years in jail on allegations of Maoist activities. On September 27, 2011, while being released after acquittal in eight cases against him at the time, he was re-arrested near the jail’s gate by a group of unknown civilians who shut his mouth, lifted him, and took him away in a numbered vehicle. According to Ferreira, this was an act of forcible abduction.
The court held the Gadchiroli superintendent of police and the police sub-inspector responsible for this violation of law and directed that a compensation of INR 2 lakh be given to Ferreira within eight weeks. The state, not the police personnel held responsible, was ordered to pay the amount.
It is important to note that Ferreira also claimed that he was intentionally shown to be absconding despite having been in jail between 2007 and 2011. He was later informed that he was being held in two old cases related to Maoist violence in 2007, but at the time, Ferreira was not informed about the accusation against him and the grounds of arrest, as stated in his petition.
Additionally, Ferreira was among the 16 activists, academics, and lawyers who were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in instigating caste violence at Bhima Koregaon near Pune in January 2018. He was arrested in August 2018 and spent almost five years in custody before the Supreme Court granted him regular bail in July 2023, with certain conditions.
Source:
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