Aryan Grover
The Delhi Police’s plea for custodial interrogation of actor-activist Deep Sidhu in connection to the violent events at the Red Fort on January 26 has been denied by a Delhi court.
The plea had been filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) after the violence that took place on Republic Day and resulted in damage to the Red Fort, where parts of the heritage structure were reportedly damaged.
Gajendra Singh Nagar, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, denied the police’s demand for a 4-day remand of Sidhu, and instead sent Sidhu to a 14-day judicial custody, stating that there were no sufficient grounds to permit such custodial interrogation.
Having been initially arrested in early February, Sidhu had only recently been furnished bail in mid-April, when he was arrested again for the violence during the farmers’ tractor march against the central government’s new farm laws.
Advocate Abhishek Gupta, counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner Sidhu, argued that both FIRs rested on similar allegations, and having been interrogated by the police in this matter already, there was no need for fresh police remand.
The court, therefore, denied Sidhu’s custody to the police on the aforementioned grounds.