MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to respond to allegations that police illegally detained protesters, passers-by and other citizens during demonstrations across Mumbai on October 10 and 11 demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged election malpractices.
Several detainees alleged that they were harassed by the police. A division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna noted that some individuals had allegedly been picked up from their homes and detained by the Mumbai police despite not having participated in the protests. During Monday’s hearing, advocate general Dr Milind Sathe submitted that “no individual has been illegally detained at the August Kranti protest site. Devre also claimed that a young man suffered a panic attack while inside Tardeo police station.
More than 600 people were detained on October 10 and over 300 on October 11, including actors, social activists, senior citizens and students, according to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate and activist Sagar Kantilal Devre. The court was hearing Devre’s PIL challenging the alleged illegal detention of people during the anti-CEC protests held at various locations in Mumbai on October 10 and 11. In his petition, Devre alleged that the police detained more than 600 people on October 10 and over 300 on October 11 during protests seeking the removal of the CEC at August Kranti Maidan, Nana Chowk, Hutatma Chowk and Shivaji Park. The detainees allegedly included not only protesters but also passers-by, women, a mother accompanied by her child, a senior citizen with a pacemaker and a 22-year-old woman who was merely recording the proceedings.
Because they had been named as accused in cases registered during protests in July 2026 against alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, the petition further alleged that police personnel searched for and picked up people from their homes.
He told the court that protesters had blocked Nana Chowk near August Kranti Maidan without permission, following which the police visited the site and dispersed the crowd. These cases were subsequently quashed by the Supreme Court, Devre said.
