SC orders immediate release of lawyer Vikram Singh in Gurugram murder case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Delhi-based advocate Vikram Singh, who was arrested by a Special Task Force (STF) of Gurugram Police in connection with a murder case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria passed the order after hearing senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared for the lawyer.

The court directed that Vikram Singh be released forthwith on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10,000 and listed the matter for further hearing next week. The registrar (judicial) of the Court was directed to communicate the order to the Gurugram police commissioner for immediate compliance.

At the outset, Vikas Singh, who is also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said any advocate practising criminal law would now be vulnerable to coercive police measures.

He argued that though the arrested lawyer represented several clients facing serious criminal charges, including alleged gangsters, the STF’s conduct was impermissible and undermined the rule of law.

Referring to a recent Supreme Court judgment that mandates furnishing written grounds of arrest in a language understood by the accused, the senior counsel alleged that the STF had failed to comply with this requirement. He added that he had persuaded lawyers in Delhi not to continue their strike on the issue as the matter had been placed before the apex Court.

Taking note of the submissions, the bench issued notices to the governments of Haryana and Delhi as well as the Bar Council of India. “The petitioner is an advocate and not likely to evade the process of law. Thus interim protection is granted to release the petitioner forthwith on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10,000. List the plea on next Wednesday,” the bench said, directing immediate communication of the order to Gurugram Police.

The court also noted the contention that the STF officers had been in contact with the lawyer before his arrest. “The petitioner contends that he, on the persuasion of an Assistant Sub-Inspector, went to the police station. However, after he went, without furnishing him the grounds of arrest, he was taken into custody,” the bench recorded.

Bar associations across Delhi had abstained from work on 6 November to protest the alleged false implication of Vikram Singh. The petition before the Supreme Court seeks his immediate release, a judicial probe into the STF’s actions, and quashing of all criminal proceedings in the case registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 25 of the Arms Act.

Vikram Singh, enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi since July 2019, is currently lodged in Faridabad Jail. In his petition, he said his arrest was a retaliatory act following his application before a court alleging custodial assault on his client Jyoti Prakash alias 'Baba', who reportedly suffered a leg fracture in STF custody.

“The retaliatory action by the investigating agency culminated in my illegal arrest,” the petition said, adding that the STF failed to provide written grounds of arrest or independent witnesses, violating Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.

A trial court in Faridabad, the plea added, remanded him to judicial custody on 1 November by a “mechanical and non-speaking order” without reasoning or material linking him to the alleged offences.