The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Sunday, December 1, condemned the Delhi Police's attempt to detain human rights activist Nadeem Khan in Bangalore, calling it a "targeted witch-hunt" that violates due process of law. The Delhi police had booked Nadeem Khan, national general secretary, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) for taking part in a three-day community exhibition in Hyderabad from November 15.
A team of police officers from Delhi which visited the APCR office on Friday, November 29 also tried to arrest Nadeem from his brother’s house in Bengaluru, allegedly without a warrant.
According to the statement by PUCL, police personnel were present at the residence from 5 pm to 9 pm, attempting to secure Khan's "voluntary" cooperation for an FIR filed that afternoon. The FIR (No. 0280/2024) was registered at 12:48 PM at Shaheen Bagh Police Station in North Delhi.
The organisation claimed that a notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was only pasted at 10:45 PM, after nearly six hours of what PUCL described as harassment and intimidation.
The FIR involves sections 196, 353(2), and 61, with punishments less than three years. PUCL pointed out that according to legal precedent and Section 35 of BNSS, these offences do not warrant arrest.
Khan, who serves as the national general secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), was allegedly targeted for an exhibition highlighting recent hate crimes and Supreme Court judgments on mob violence.
The exhibition was hosted by Jamaat-e-Islami as part of their National Members Conclave with the theme ‘Justice and Equality’ at Wadi-e-Huda Grounds in Pahadi Shareef. The APCR, an organisation dedicated to working on upholding civil liberties, had set up stalls providing information about legal aid against hate crimes in India and how they help victims. The stalls displayed Supreme Court judgments on hate crimes and Union government’s policy measures. It also showed videos of communal remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
PUCL has demanded the immediate quashing of the FIR, compensation for harassment, and registration of a case against the Shaheen Bagh Police Station SHO for alleged criminal intimidation and trespassing.