Point of Law: Illegal arrest –Power to arrest – No arrest without reasonable satisfaction

ORDER :

The afore captioned Contempt of Court case has been instituted alleging patent and flagrant violation of the directives and guidelines issued by the Apex Court in the Celebrated case Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar (2014(8) SCC 273) : 2014 (3) KLJ 330.

2. The above contempt of Court case had come up for admission on 02.03.2022. Request for adjournment was made on behalf of the respondent. We did not issue notice at that stage. Request for adjournment was made on behalf of the respondent officer through the learned Senior Government Pleader for time to get instructions and to ensure that an affidavit is sworn to personally by the respondent Officer. Later the matter came up on 08.04.2022, on which day also, the plea for adjournment was made on behalf of the respondent officer stating that the case may be adjourned to enable him to personally swear to an affidavit. Still later, the matter came up after summer vacation on 30.05.2022, on which day also, the respondent officer has not even bothered to file any affidavit. On the other hand, again he sought for adjournment. On that day, the Counsel for the 1st petitioner had submitted that IA No.1 of 2022 has been filed by him in the Contempt Petition producing therein, the additional documents as per Annexures 6 to 11 thereof. We had then directed that the respondent officer should also respond to the matters arising out of Annexures A6 to A11 in the affidavit to be sworn to him. The case has thereafter come up for consideration today. Even today, the respondent Officer who is the Sub-Inspector of Police, Elamakkara, Ernakulam, has not cared to file any affidavit.

3. The case of the first petitioner is that she is a 22 year old lady who is divorced and is having a ten month old baby. That she was residing with her mother, one Smt.Rekha and her mother (Smt.Rekha) is divorced from her first husband (viz, the first petitioner's father) and is now in a live in relationship with one Sri. Saji Varghese and that her mother has not legally married the said Saji Varghese. That since the first petitioner is divorced and is having a child, she was constrained to live with her mother and the abovesaid Sri.Saji Varghese in an apartment rented out by her mother. Further, Counsel for the 1st petitioner would point out that the abovesaid Saji Varghese used to sexually harass the first petitioner. This was not stopped by the mother and this constrained the first petitioner to alert the Police authorities about the abovesaid unlawful conduct of Sri.Saji Varghese. Further, the first petitioner is working in a cleaning agency which is managed by the 2nd petitioner, and she sought his help to go to the Police authorities for complaining against Shri.Saji, on 21.1.2022. On being alerted that the first petitioner would give complaint against Shri Saji, the mother had immediately called the 1st petitioner by mobile and quarreled and asked her, not to come to the house. That the first petitioner had then gone over to the office of the Commissioner of Police along with the 2nd petitioner and had handed over a complaint to the Police Authorities there regarding the abovesaid harassment caused by Sri.Saji Varghese. No receipt was issued on the said complaint and it is not known whether the said complaint has been processed by the Police Authorities.

4. In view of these aspects, the first petitioner's mother was taking a highly antagonistic attitude. The first petitioner's mother was then aware that the petitioners would lodge complaint against Sri.Saji Varghese to the Police as above. Since her mother was having a highly antagonistic attitude, and had asked the first petitioner, not to come to that house and in view of the harassment meted out by Shri Saji, the first petitioner was constrained to go along with the 2nd petitioner to his residence at Kollam. That thereafter, the mother gave the first information statement as per Annexure A11, only stating that the 1st petitioner, after going for work, has no