The Allahabad High Court has reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh Police for violating mandatory arrest safeguards in connection with the arrest of the director of Wiztown Planners Pvt. Ltd. in the Noida techie death case, holding that the procedure adopted was illegal.
A division bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Jai Krishna Upadhyay passed the order in Writ Petition filed as a habeas corpus petition challenging the arrest and detention of the petitioner.
The petitioner, a builder and director of Wiztown Planners Pvt. Ltd., had been taken into custody in connection with an FIR registered over the death of a tech professional in Sector 150, Noida. It was argued that the arresting authorities had failed to comply with the mandatory arrest guidelines laid down by the High Court in Umang Rastogi v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2026 SCC OnLine All 82.
Accepting the contention, the Court observed that the police had disregarded the binding safeguards governing arrests, including the requirement to record reasons and strictly follow the prescribed procedure. It held that non-compliance with the arrest protocol amounts to a direct violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
Emphasising that personal liberty is sacrosanct and that procedural safeguards are mandatory, the bench held the arrest to be illegal and directed the immediate release of the petitioner.
Appearances:
Senior Advocate Manu Sharma, along with Advocates Sinha Shrey Nikhilesh, Swastik Verma, and Ram Kaushik, appeared for the petitioner. Sri Arvind Kumar, learned AGA for the State
