Supreme Court Refuses Plea Alleging Illegal House Entry By UP ATS, Asks Petitioner To Approach HC First
Debby Jain
13 Oct 2026 1:50 PM IST
The bench observed that the Court of first instance should be approached against alleged violation of fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a petition filed under Article 32 alleging that Uttar Pradesh ATS personnel entered the petitioner's house without proper uniform and identification even though there were no criminal proceedings pending against him.
The Court noted that the petitioner had not approached the Allahabad High Court at first instance and gave him liberty to avail that remedy. A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana heard the matter.
During the hearing, considering the bench's disinclination, the petitioner's counsel questioned why the Supreme Court could not entertain an Article 32 petition claiming breach of fundamental rights.
The bench noted that the petitioner had not approached the High Court and had directly come to the Supreme Court. "If I am coming under Article 32, the Supreme Court can't [shy away]", the petitioner's counsel responded.
At this point, Justice Bagchi opined that in Articles 32 and 226, there is an overlap qua the jurisdiction over breach of fundamental rights. The judge said, "we would always [prefer] court of first instance to take cognizance of violation of fundamental rights."
The counsel contended, "it's guaranteed that Supreme Court cannot suspend fundamental rights". Justice Bagchi replied, "you're right, but so can't High Court".
When the counsel persisted that the Parliament provided the jurisdiction to both the High Courts and the Supreme Court, Justice Bagchi said, "you have a fundamental duty to enforce those rights".
When the counsel cited DK Basu v. State of West Bengal, Justice Bagchi pointed out that as per DK Basu, the remedy for a person who is illegally arrested is to approach the High Court. The counsel stressed that the petitioner asked the ATS how it could enter his house without badges, but CJI responded, "why can't you approach High Court?"
The counsel questioned why Article 32 petition could not be entertained when violation of fundamental rights means violation of the Constitution. CJI dictated in the order, "no case to entertain the petition made out. Dismissed. The petitioner if so advised may approach the High Court".
