"This Is Gunda Gardi": Uttarakhand High Court Slams Police Over Illegal Detention of Politician Heading to Delhi Protest

The Uttarakhand High Court has lashed out at the state police for unlawfully detaining political activist and Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP) president Prabhat Dhyani while he was on his way to New Delhi to attend a national protest march towards Parliament.

A division bench comprising Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Siddhartha Sah voiced intense indignation over the conduct of law enforcement authorities, demanding to know the legal provisions under which an individual’s constitutional freedom of movement was curtailed.

During heated proceedings, the bench delivered a scathing reprimand, asking whether the police force exists to safeguard citizens' constitutional rights or to shield the government's political image.

"Section 144 offence toh wahan (Delhi) commit hoga… what jurisdiction did you have here? This is gunda gardi!" the bench orally remarked while interrogating the state counsel on the legal basis of the police action.

Intercepted at Rishikesh Railway Station

The controversy stems from an incident on the evening of 19 July, when Prabhat Dhyani, along with party colleagues, boarded a train at Rishikesh railway station bound for the national capital. Dhyani had earlier announced on social media that the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party supported student-led demands for educational reforms and would join the "Sansad Chalo" march organized at Jantar Mantar alongside activist groups, demanding accountability from the Union Education Ministry.

Before the train could depart, officers belonging to the Ramnagar and Rishikesh police intercepted Dhyani inside a general compartment and took him into custody.

Following his abrupt removal, Dhyani was able to make a brief, hurried phone call to associates before his phone went silent. For hours, his family and party workers were left completely in the dark regarding his whereabouts, status, or physical condition. Repeated attempts by his family and legal representatives to obtain an official arrest memo or formal justification from local police stations yielded no response.

Habeas Corpus Petition Exposes Opaque Police Action

Faced with a total denial of information, UPP Secretary Lal Mani filed an urgent habeas corpus petition before the Uttarakhand High Court on 20 July. Represented by advocate Snigdha Tiwari, the petitioner argued that Dhyani had been subjected to arbitrary and illegal preventive custody, violating established procedural safeguards mandated by the Supreme Court in landmark rulings such as DK Basu and Joginder Kumar. The petition sought the immediate production of Dhyani, preservation of CCTV footage from Rishikesh station, and compensation for rights violations.

As the High Court took up the petition, state counsel Additional Government Advocate Pankaj Joshi initially requested time to produce records explaining the detention. However, mid-way through the hearing, the state informed the court that Dhyani had been released.

Controversy deepened when the state counsel revealed that Dhyani, an adult political leader, had been released "into the custody of his mother, Mrs. Uma Dhyani" rather than being granted unconditional freedom.

High Court Demands Explanation from State

The division bench expressed deep dissatisfaction with both the detention and the unconventional mode of release, taking strong exception to the state handling an adult citizen as though he were a minor ward.

"The court would like to know as to why an adult is given into the custody of his mother and why he was not set free?" the bench observed in its order. "The first and foremost question would be, under what circumstances and under what provisions of law was Prabhat Dhyani detained?"

The High Court has directed the Uttarakhand government and state police to place on record the complete official documentation surrounding Dhyani’s apprehension, detention, and eventual release, setting the matter for further detailed examination.