SC agrees to hear plea of advocate challenging arrest by Haryana STF

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Wednesday a plea by lawyer Vikram Singh challenging his arrest by the Haryana Police’s Special Task Force in a murder case on the grounds that he was merely representing a co-accused in the matter.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria was urged by senior advocate Vikas Singh that the matter needed an urgent hearing as a lawyer has been implicated and arrested for performing his professional work.

“We will hear it on Wednesday”, the CJI said.

On November 6, the coordination committee of district courts' bar associations in Delhi abstained from work across all district courts alleging false implication of Singh in a murder case.

The petition seeks his immediate release and a judicial probe into the alleged illegal actions of the STF, Gurugram.

Besides, the plea has sought a direction to quash “all criminal proceedings instituted against the petitioner in connection with FIR No…registered at Police Station Sector–8, Faridabad, Haryana under Sections 302, 34 IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act.” The plea has also sought a judicial inquiry into alleged illegal action taken by Gurugram STF in the case.

Singh, an advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi since July 2019, is presently lodged in Faridabad Jail.

The plea has made Haryana and Delhi governments and the Bar Council of India as parties.

“In the course of his professional duties, the petitioner has represented several clients in criminal cases between 2021 and 2025, including persons alleged to have connections with one Kapil Sangwan @ 'Nandu'. All such representations were undertaken purely in the discharge of his professional obligations and in conformity with the Advocates Act and the standards of professional ethics.

“However, instead of respecting the independence of the Bar, the investigating agency has sought to criminalise the petitioner’s professional association with his clients, thereby undermining the rule of law and the sanctity of the advocate–client relationship,” the plea said.

It said the lawyer was targeted after filing an application before a court alleging custodial assault on one of his clients, Jyoti Prakash alias “Baba,” who reportedly suffered a leg fracture while in STF custody.

“The retaliatory action by the investigating agency culminated in my illegal arrest,” the petition submitted.

The petition said Singh was arrested on October 31 without written grounds of arrest or independent witnesses, in violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.

On November 1, a trial court at Faridabad remanded Singh to judicial custody for 14 days by a mechanical and non-speaking order, devoid of any reasoning or material connecting him to alleged offences, it submitted. PTI SJK SJK DV DV