Police Can’t Detain A Person Merely Because Being Maoist : Kerala High Court

23 May, Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala High Court has ruled that being a Maoist is not a crime and police cannot detain a person merely because he or she is a Maoist. The court’s judgement came Friday in a case relating to the arrest of a man by Kerala Police’s special squad suspecting him of being a Maoist.

The court said, though the political ideology of Maoists would not synchronise with our constitutional polity, being a Maoist is of no crime.

Noting that it is the Constitution which sets the boundary through legitimate procedure of ordinary law on arrest, the court said, the police cannot detain a person merely because he is a Maoist, unless police form a reasonable opinion that his activities are unlawful.
The court said that if the individual or organisation resorts to physical violence, law agency can prevent or take action against individuals or organisations.

Disposing the case, the court ordered payment of 1 lakh rupees compensation to the arrested man within two months. It, however, declined the petitioner’s prayer to initiate departmental action against the police officers.