A group of lawyers has written to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court over the “troubling developments” of continued summoning, detention and arrest during the lockdown in connection with the recent riots in north-east Delhi.

The lawyers, who have been working to provide legal assistance to those affected by the violence, said that investigating agencies were summoning many to appear at police stations in FIRs related to the riots.

They said many of these summonses note that failure to comply with it would render the person liable for criminal action. However, as per the March 24 lockdown order issued by the MHA, ordinary residents and citizens are permitted to step out only for essential supplies , the lawyers argued. “In trying to comply with such summons, its recipients render themselves liable to penal action for violating lockdown orders, and in failing to comply with the summons, they may be liable for penal action... apart from exposing themselves, their families and the public to a grave health risk,” the lawyers said.

They also said that people have been directed to appear at Crime Branch or Special Cell police stations that are at a considerable distance from their homes, making it extremely difficult for them to travel in the absence of public transportation.

In many cases, the police are detaining people from their homes and neighbourhoods without any notice or information on the grounds of detention and without informing family members of the person, they alleged. “Moreover, there has been a troubling pattern of the police picking up family members of the person they seek to arrest, as proxies, and detaining them for hours on end, to threaten and coerce such families to produce the person they seek to arrest,” they said.

They cited the example of a man from Chand Bagh area in Delhi who was detained overnight at PS Crime Branch, Chanakyapuri. The police officers had reached his house and asked for his nephew and on being told that the nephew was not home, had detained him. They also brought up the issue of police neither providing a copy of the FIR nor ground of arrest to the arrested persons and the family members.

The lawyers said in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, these “ongoing and arbitrary police actions pose a significant risk to the health of the affected individuals, their families, and the public at large”.

Additionally, they stated that there has been a complete abrogation of the fundamental rights of the persons concerned as they are unable to avail of the rights that accrue at the stage of summoning, detention, arrest and remand due to the shutdown of courts and unavailability of lawyers.

They made several suggestions, including that investigation ought to be carried out telephonically or by electronic mode, and witnesses should not be directed to appear at police stations for interrogation.