Gujarat HC issues notice to folk singer Kirtidan Gadhvi, police officials over alleged custodial torture

Gujarat High Court has issued a notice to senior police officials and renowned Gujarati folk singer Kirtidan Gadhvi following allegations of illegal detention and "brutal custodial torture" of an event organiser. 

The court has also ordered the immediate preservation of CCTV footage from the Cyber Cell Gandhinagar Police Station.  

The petitioner, Jayesh Parmar, an event organiser, filed a petition alleging that he was illegally detained by Cyber Cell officers in Gandhinagar on February 20, 2026. According to the petition, Parmar was nabbed from his residence around 10 am by individuals in civilian clothes claiming to be government officers.

He alleges he was held until 2 am without any official summons, warrant, or arrest memo. During this period, the petitioner Parmar claims he was subjected to physical assault, he was stripped, and coerced into signing blank documents under duress.

The dispute reportedly stems from a commercial agreement dated August 26, 2025, regarding a Navratri Garba event. The petitioner alleges that the police acted as "recovery agents" for Gadhvi and his partners following a monetary disagreement that should have been settled through arbitration rather than criminal proceedings.

The court directed that the CCTV footage of the concerned police station from February 20 to 21, 2026, be preserved by authorities to prevent the destruction of potential evidence. The notice issued to the authorities is returnable on June 17, 2026.