Pune teacher held for sexual assault of 39 girls let off after court terms arrest illegal

PUNE: A teacher (52) arrested in December last year on the charge of sexually assaulting/harassing 39 girls in a school walked out of the Yerawada central prison after a special court on Monday declared his detention and arrest illegal on the grounds that the Pune rural police did not follow the mandatory arrest procedure.
"The applicant-teacher was arrested on December 24, 2024. The arrest form mentions that intimation was given to his relative. But there is nothing on record to show that written intimation was given to him detailing reasons of arrest. The police have not followed the mandatory provisions. Detention is illegal and violates the clear mandate of law. It cannot be allowed and the applicant needs to be set free forthwith," special judge (POCSO Act) Kavita Shirbhate said in her four-page order.
The court directed the teacher to furnish personal/surety bonds of Rs25,000 within eight days after his release. "Our client was released from jail after the court order but he will have to face the trial once the police files a chargesheet," defence lawyer Vipul Dushing told TOI.
Dushing had cited Article 22 (1) of the Indian Constitution while arguing that informing a person of the grounds of arrest was not a formality but a fundamental right. "Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) also provides that an arrested person needs to be informed the grounds of arrest and the right to bail. Every police officer arresting any person without a warrant shall forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for which s/he is arrested," the lawyer had argued. He relied on high court and supreme court rulings that if the information related to arrest is not communicated, then the police action becomes unconstitutional, illegal and violation of fundamental rights.
Superintendent of police (Pune rural) Pankaj Deshmukh told TOI, "We have asked the state prosecution to file a criminal revision petition in the Bombay High Court against the special court's order as we feel we have complied with the mandatory provisions of law before arresting the teacher."
Inspector Mahadeo Waghmode, the Ranjangaon MIDC police in-charge, said "Our investigating officer had served a written notice on the teacher and informed him of the reasons behind his arrest. The court had also justified his arrest when he was produced for seeking first custodial remand."
Special public prosecutor Nitin Konghe cited Section 251 of the CrPC and argued that the police had given information of the teacher's arrest to his relative and there was no necessity to communicate details in writing.