The Punjab and Haryana High Court has instructed the Director General of Police (DGP) in Haryana to submit a statement and investigate a peculiar case. The petitioner, Sunil Kumar, claims to have been held in custody for more than two years and five months. However, the Haryana Police has filed an affidavit stating that Kumar was never in their custody.

The case dates back to 1999 when Kumar was accused of rioting and assaulting a government official on duty, leading to a case being registered at Meham police station. In 2002, Kumar was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Also Read: SC raps up Punjab and Haryana HC for awarding different jail terms for same offence 

He subsequently appealed to the high court in 2010, resulting in a reduction of his sentence to four years. In 2016, the Supreme Court further reduced his punishment to two years.

During the hearing, Kumar’s attorneys, Nikhil Ghai and Shubham Mangla, argued before the high court that their client had reported to the jail authorities in October 2016 to serve the remaining portion of his sentence. However, the authorities refused to take him into custody, claiming that his sentence had already been served.

Also Read: Developers hail Haryana Cabinet’s nod for amendment in affordable housing policy

In 2019, the jail authorities applied to a trial court in Rohtak for the re-arrest of Kumar. In response, the trial court issued warrants for his re-arrest in February 2020. Kumar then approached the high court to challenge the execution of the warrants.

The high court, upon hearing Kumar’s plea in March 2020, granted him relief by staying any coercive actions resulting from his conviction and requested a response from the state government.

In its response, the police referred to a letter from the deputy superintendent of Narnaul prison in 2020, which stated that Kumar had been an undertrial accused from November 1999 to July 2001 in District Jail, Rohtak. After his conviction, he spent time in District Jail, Rohtak, from November 2002 to June 2003, and in District Jail, Narnaul, from June 2003 to August 2003.

According to the police, Kumar was released in October 2016 based on information provided by the superintendent of Rohtak jail. However, during a departmental investigation, it was discovered that Kumar had never been held in any jail between November 17, 1999, and July 30, 2001. Consequently, the re-arrest warrant was issued in 2019.

In their affidavit submitted to the high court, the state reiterated that, “The petitioner has never been detained in custody. He had approached the jail authorities on 03.10.2016 but they had not taken him into custody”

During the hearing on July 7, 2023, Justice Suvir Sehgal remarked, “Although the petitioner claims to have been in custody for more than two years and five months, the reply from the additional superintendent of police, Meham, asserts that the petitioner was never in custody.” Consequently, Justice Sehgal ordered the Director General of Police, Haryana, to investigate the matter and provide a sworn statement.

The case has been scheduled for October 18, 2023, and the interim order to stay coercive action against Kumar remains in effect.