Police can't pick and choose accused to arrest: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has deprecated the police for not arresting a nurse, alleged to be the main accused in a 2024 child trafficking case despite the gravity of the offence, asserting police cannot "pick and choose".

Justice Girish Kathpalia, while rejecting the bail plea by a co-accused in the case, observed that the court cannot approve of the State's policy to selectively arrest only some of the accused persons.

The present applicant, along with another co-accused, allegedly impersonated as husband and wife when they adopted an infant girl, who was then sold to another co-accused.

He contended that he had been falsely implicated and that the main accused, nurse Kulvinder Kaur, was yet to be arrested.

"Of course, the policy of the State to selectively arrest some of the accused persons cannot be approved. The police should clearly state as to whether they want to arrest an accused or not. The court cannot direct the police to do or not to do so. Such kind of pick and choose in matter of arrest must be deprecated," said the court in the order passed on August 31.

The court asked the investigating officer to explain Kaur's status, noting that there was no explanation for the "selective arrest" of the accused persons involved in the present case, and that police were practically taking no action against her.

The prosecution counsel said Kaur was an "unqualified nurse" and assured that she would be arrested.

"It seems that now the State realizes the gravity of the alleged offence. I am of the considered view that merely because for some unknown reason, the police opted not to arrest one of the accused persons, the Court cannot shut its eyes to the gravity of the alleged offence," Justice Kathpalia said.

The court asked the DCP concerned to make sure that the girl child is rescued at the earliest and sought a report in four weeks.

The court observed that the material prima facie showed that the infant girl, sixth in her family, was sold by the present applicant as there were photographs showing him accepting her in presence of her biological parents, and he admittedly did not have her custody now.

The court emphasized that the infant suffers a "tremendous dent in her psyche" when she is taken away from her biological mother by the adoptive parent, followed further by other persons.

While dismissing the bail plea of the applicant, the court said his role is "highly appalling" and it was not a fit case for release from custody.