Police restrained from grilling advocate in cash seizure case

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday restrained the city police from interrogating Siddartha H.M, advocate, without prior permission from the court. In October last year, the police found ₹1.97 crore in Mr. Siddartha’s car while he was entering the Vidhana Soudha. Giving liberty to the police to continue investigation into the case, the court said that the probe should be completed within eight weeks. Justice Anand Byrareddy passed the order while adjourning further hearing on a petition filed by Mr. Siddartha, who had questioned the registration of a case against him. The petitioner-advocate was arrested under Section 41d (power of police to arrest a person in whose possession something is found, which is reasonably suspected to be stolen property and who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such thing) and 102 (power of police to seize stolen property) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court noticed that despite registration of the case way back on October 21, 2016, the police have not been able to establish any particular offence, under the Indian Penal Code, allegedly committed by the petitioner-advocate despite interrogating him several times.

As the State Public Prosecutor sought time to complete the probe while indicating that it is a “sensitive” case and that the petitioner-advocate has been giving different statements to the police and the Income Tax authorities, the court said the police cannot call the petitioner-advocate for questioning at their whims and fancies.