The Supreme Court has agreed to examine an important legal question on whether a habeas corpus petition is maintainable when an accused challenges continued detention due to successive arrests. A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Sheel Nagu issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government while hearing a petition filed by gangster Haji Abdul Razzak, who has been in custody since August 2021.
Razzak challenged a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that dismissed his habeas corpus petition, holding that his detention could not be considered illegal because he remained in judicial custody in connection with multiple criminal cases. Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Siddharth Dave argued that the written grounds of arrest had not been supplied to Razzak, making the detention legally questionable. On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the state government, argued that the habeas corpus petition itself was not maintainable and supported the High Court’s decision.
In his plea, Razzak alleged that authorities repeatedly invoked the National Security Act (NSA) and registered successive criminal cases to keep him behind bars. He claimed that three detention orders issued under the NSA were revoked after failing to receive approval from the advisory board and alleged that fresh criminal cases were filed whenever he secured relief in existing cases, resulting in his continued detention.
