‘Right to sleep a basic human requirement’ Bombay HC on ED questioning senior citizen post midnight

The Bombay High Court deprecated Enforcentemt Directorate (ED) for questioning a senior citizen for a whole night in a money laundering case. The high court said that ‘right to sleep’ under Article 21 (Right to life with dignity) of the constitution, is a basic human right and cannot be violated. 

A bench of judges- Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande asserted on the fact that statements must be recorded  during the day or early horse and not during late nights when a person's cognitive abilities may be compromised.

The court released the order during the hearing of a plea files by 64-year -old Ram Issrani challenging his investigation in a money laundering case.

Issrani was arrested by ED last year in August. In the plea he claimed that his arrest was illegal and uncalled for as he was cooperating with the investigating agency throughout the probe.

 On August 7, 2023, Issrani appeared before the agency as per the summons issued, and he was questioned throughout the night and arrested in the case the next day, the plea stated.

The bench dismissed the petition but said it disapproved of the practice of questioning the petitioner through the night. According to the plea, Issrani was questioned till about 3 AM by the officials. 

"Voluntary or otherwise, we deprecate the manner in which the petitioner's statement was recorded so late in the night, which went on post midnight till 3.30 am," the court said.

Lack of sleep can  impacts a person's health and may impair his mental faculties, cognitive skills and so on, it said.

The court stated that when a person is summoned for interrogation, the investigating agency has yet to establish a "reason to believe" that the individual is guilty of an offense.

The petitioner could have been summoned on some other day or even the next day instead of keeping him waiting after midnight, despite his alleged consent, it said.

(with inputs from PTI)