“Nobody has been illegally detained,” the Advocate General told the Bombay High Court, which has nevertheless asked the State to respond to petitions alleging illegal Mumbai Police detentions during the October 10 and 11 anti-CEC protests.
Mumbai: On Monday the Bombay High Court told the State of Maharashtra to respond to petitions alleging that individuals were illegally detained by the Mumbai Police during the protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar held on October 10 and 11, 2026. The Advocate General was asked to file an affidavit through a senior officer [Sagar Devre v. State of Maharashtra and Others, and connected petitions].
Affidavits of at least seven persons, who claim they were illegally detained even though they did not take part in the protests, were taken on record by a bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna. Some say they were picked up from their homes. Maharashtra Advocate General Dr Milind Sathe appeared for the State. These are the deponents’ allegations; the police version is yet to be placed on record and the Court has expressed no view on the merits.
The State’s position
“Nobody has been illegally detained” at the August Kranti Maidan protest site, Advocate General Sathe told the bench. In the State’s account, protesters had blocked Nana Chowk near the Maidan without permission, and the police only dispersed the crowd. A formal response to the petitions has not yet been filed by the State.
The Chief Justice’s remarks
Agitation is a right, Chief Justice Tripathi observed, but one that must be exercised peacefully, and any instance of unlawful detention would be dealt with:
Everybody has a right to agitate but that agitation must be peaceful.
If there were instances of unlawful detention, the Chief Justice added, “we will obviously take care of it”, and the Advocate General was directed to file an affidavit through a senior officer on the issue.
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The PIL and the earlier hearing
Over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, protests were held in Mumbai on October 10 and 11. In a public interest litigation, advocate and social activist Sagar Kantilal Devre alleges that police detained protesters as well as passersby and pedestrians without individual recorded reasons and without prohibitory orders in force. About 600 people on October 10 and about 300 on October 11 are the numbers given in the petition, a claim by the petitioner that has not been tested. Preservation of CCTV footage and police records, a verified list of those detained and an independent inquiry are what it seeks.
When the matter was heard on October 13, the same bench declined to pass blanket orders for release and asked the petitioner to place specific instances on record. The State said it had only just received the petition, and the matter was adjourned to Monday.
Two strands the Court is holding together
Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, which protect peaceful assembly and personal liberty, continue to govern the police power of preventive detention of persons at a protest. So far the Court has kept both strands in view: it has refused to grant release in bulk without specific instances, and has also said that unlawful detention will not be permitted. Whether any individual detention was unauthorised will turn on the State’s affidavit and the particulars placed by the deponents.
Case Title: Sagar Devre v. State of Maharashtra and Others, and connected petitions (case numbers not available)
Bench: Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna, Bombay High Court
Date of Hearing: October 19, 2026
Appearances: Advocate General Dr Milind Sathe for the State of Maharashtra