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The High Court of Karnataka on Saturday, August 29, summoned and pulled up Deputy Commissioner of Police of Whitefield division Saidulu Adavath, taking serious note of yet another instance of illegal detention by the Whitefield police.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, hearing a petition filed by Mohan Gowda of Hindu Rashtra Samanvaya Samithi, questioned how police could arrest or detain persons illegally, contrary to Supreme Court judgments and "right under the nose" of the State Police Chief.
The court directed the Director-General and Inspector General of Police to issue guidelines clarifying that illegal arrest or detention would attract disciplinary action against officers, regardless of rank, besides exemplary costs whenever such instances come to the court's notice.
The case stemmed from a Facebook post by Gowda celebrating the cancellation of a show by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, calling it a "victory for Hindu unity," after the samithi had opposed the show being held in Whitefield.
However, the show was not cancelled. Kamra shifted the venue of the show after Hindutva proponents objected to it.
The Whitefield police registered a suo motu case over the post on August 4 at 2 a.m., and the next day sent two sub-inspectors and two constables to Udupi to bring the petitioner back in his own car.
The court found that officers served him a notice dated August 5/6, 2026, under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita — giving him three days to appear for questioning — only after he was already in custody, just yards from the police station. Calling this a blatant violation, the court also noted the police acted without any complaint, contrary to Supreme Court-upheld guidelines from the Telangana High Court's ruling in Nalla Balu v State of Telangana on registering FIRs based on social media posts.
"You can't take the liberty of citizens for granted just because you are in a uniform," the court orally told Adavath, who had no answers to the questions posed to him. When Adavath claimed the petitioner came voluntarily, the petitioner's advocate said he was told to face consequences.
The court had earlier, on August 27, imposed Rs 3 lakh in costs on the DCP, ACP and investigating officer of Whitefield police in a separate illegal arrest case.
