The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by former Delhi Mayor Farhad Suri against Uttar Pradesh Police officers who raided his home, allegedly without a warrant, while searching for journalist Abhishek Upadhyay. The incident took place on August 23, and Suri was initially told that the police were looking for a suspect in a double murder case.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to pass guidelines regarding inter-state police operations, particularly pertaining to searches of residential premises, as sought by former Delhi Mayor Farhad Suri. He had filed a plea against Uttar Pradesh Police officers who raided his home at around 12.45 am on August 23, according to Live Law. The raid was conducted with an 'unusually large' team of Ghaziabad Police in a convoy of about 15 police vehicles. Some officers were reportedly in plainclothes and did not furnish a search warrant.
Suri claimed that he was initially told by the police that they were looking for a suspect in a double murder case that they believed was hiding in his home. However, he later learnt that the searches were in connection with a road rage case in which Upadhyay has been booked, as reported by Bar and Bench.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana told Suri to approach the Delhi Police for a case to be filed, stating that they had ‘no reason to doubt that competent police will strictly act in accordance with law’.
According to The Hindu, during the hearing on Tuesday, the counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government said that Ghaziabad Police was acting on a warrant after having tracked a suspect to a building within 200 yards of Suri’s premises. They further stated that the police officers had followed due procedure and had left the premises after being told that no such person was there.
On August 18, a FIR was registered against Upadhyay in connection with an alleged road rage incident in Ghaziabad. The journalist has claimed that the case, which invokes provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, was filed to harass him for his reports on alleged corruption at the Ram temple.
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