Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim Moves Supreme Court Alleging Illegal Detention & Assault Of DYFI Members During Delhi CEC Protests

Rajya Sabha MP and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) National President A.A. Rahim has approached the Supreme Court seeking an independent inquiry into the alleged illegal detention and custodial torture of DYFI office-bearers, Central Committee members and activists during a protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar at Connaught Place, New Delhi, on October 11.

The writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution alleges that the protesters were forcibly taken away in police vehicles with curtained windows, assaulted while in custody, and detained for more than seven hours without arrest memos, intimation to their relatives, medical examination in custody, or production before a Magistrate.

According to the petition, the protesters were taken to Surajmal Stadium and released around 7:30 PM, approximately seven hours after their detention began. The plea alleges that no arrest memos were prepared, relatives were not informed, and the detainees were neither produced before a Magistrate nor medically examined as required under law.

The petition further claims that plainclothes police personnel remained present during the injured protesters' medico-legal examinations at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, allegedly preventing them from communicating freely with doctors.

The plea refers to the Supreme Court's October 11 directions in proceedings concerning the protests, including:

“There shall be no illegal detention, particularly in cases of peaceful unarmed assemblage of people beyond the area where Section 163 BNSS is in operation.”

It alleges violations of Articles 14, 19, 21 and 22 of the Constitution and relies on safeguards laid down in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal and other decisions concerning personal liberty and custodial safeguards.

Seeks Inquiry, Evidence Preservation

The petitioner has sought an independent inquiry into the alleged incident, registration of an FIR against officers found responsible, and preservation of CCTV footage, GPS data, vehicle movement records and police duty rosters.

The petition also seeks a declaration that curtained, compartmentalised vehicles cannot be used as places of detention or to transport detainees to undisclosed locations. It seeks binding guidelines requiring transparency in protest-related detentions, visible identification of police personnel, access to lawyers and relatives, and safeguards for women detainees.

The plea also seeks an independent medical examination of the injured protesters without police personnel being present.

Reliefs Sought

The following reliefs have been sought in the plea:

"a) Issue a writ, order or direction declaring the detention of the members, office bearers and Central Committee members of DYFI at Connaught Place on 11.10.2026, to be illegal and violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), 19(1)(d), 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India; and

b) Issue a writ, order or direction declaring that the use of curtained, compartmentalised or otherwise sealed vehicles as places of detention, or for transporting detainees to places other than a police station or a notified place of custody, is unconstitutional, and restraining the Respondents from such use; and

c) Issue a writ, order or direction directing the Respondents to forthwith cease and prevent all acts of custodial torture, physical assault, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and illegal detention of protesters and other persons, and to ensure strict compliance with the constitutional and statutory safeguards governing arrest, detention, interrogation and custodial treatment;

d) Direct an independent court-monitored inquiry into the illegal detention and custodial torture, with directions to register an FIR against the officers found responsible for the detention of the members, office bearers and Central Committee members of DYFI at Connaught Place on 11.10.2026; and

e) Direct the Respondents to forthwith preserve and produce before this Hon'ble Court the CCTV footage of Connaught Place and the area around Daryaganj Restaurant, the GPS and movement logs of the bus and the compartmentalised vehicles, PCR and wireless logs, vehicle logbooks and duty rosters for 11.10.2026; and

f) Direct the Respondent Nos. 3, 4 and 6 to identify, by name, designation and unit, all personnel of the Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force and any other force who detained and held the members of DYFI on 11.10.2026, and direct that all personnel of every force deployed for protest duty bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations, in terms of D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, (1997) 1 SCC 416 and Section 36(a) BNSS; and

g) Direct the Respondent No. 1 to frame and notify guidelines governing detentions during protests, which shall provide, inter alia, that (i) detainees shall be taken only to a police station or a notified place of custody; (ii) no vehicle with covered, curtained or blacked-out windows shall be used to hold or transport detainees; (iii) every vehicle used to hold detainees shall be fitted with CCTV and accompanied by officers wearing body cameras; (iv) women detainees shall be dealt with only by women officers, in compliance with Section 43(5) BNSS; (v) detainees shall have access to lawyers and relatives; (vi) all personnel deployed shall wear visible name and designation tags; (vii) the requirements laid down in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, (1997) 1 SCC 416 shall be complied with by the personnel of every force deployed for protest duty, including the Central Reserve Police Force; and, pending such guidelines, lay down interim directions to the same effect."

The petition has been drawn by Advocates Anirudh KP and Fidal Tom and filed through Advocate-on-Record Subhash Chandran K.R., along with an application seeking urgent interim directions.