New Delhi: The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) of former All India and Central Services officers has expressed solidarity with retired senior civil servant Ashish Joshi over the method of his detention and interrogation by the Delhi Police.

Joshi, a CCG member, was stopped during his morning walk on September 2 by two people who identified themselves as Special Cell officers and was taken to the Special Cell police station in New Friends Colony in connection with a social-media post. He said later that he was detained and questioned for 10 hours, without being provided a copy of the FIR or his family being informed of his whereabouts.

The CCG noted that the episode raises serious concerns under Article 21, including the rights to personal liberty, due process and timely access to the FIR.

The former civil servants also questioned the proportionality of using the Special Cell in the case, warning of a chilling effect on free speech. It called on the Delhi Police to inform families of detainees and ensure investigations comply with constitutional safeguards, the penal code and binding judicial directions.

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The full statement is as follows.

Our group of former civil servants from the All India and Central Services, the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), has no political affiliation and is committed to the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India and the observance of the norms of Constitutional conduct by all citizens as well as the institutions of governance. 

We write today to express our solidarity with Mr. Ashish Joshi, a retired senior officer, who is a member of our group. We are deeply shocked and dismayed by the blatant display of unconstitutional power by the Delhi Police in the matter of the custodial interrogation of Mr. Joshi on 2 September 2026. Mr. Joshi, who was on his morning walk, was accosted by two persons claiming to be from the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and compelled to accompany them to the Police Station, Special Cell, New Friends Colony, New Delhi, in connection with the investigation into an alleged tweet posted on Mr. Joshi’s X (formerly Twitter) account. He was also informed that he had been arrayed as an accused in a First Information Report (FIR). Mr. Joshi was detained and interrogated from 9 AM to 7 PM on 2 September. He was not provided a copy of the FIR, nor was his wife informed of his whereabouts, causing his family anxiety and extreme mental agony. He was finally allowed to return home only around 7.30 PM that day.

In spite of repeated requests, orally and in writing, Mr. Joshi was not provided a copy of the FIR which was supposedly the basis for his interrogation. When his representations dated 3 September 2026 requesting for a copy of the FIR to the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, elicited no response, Mr. Joshi was compelled to approach the Chief Judicial Magistrate, New Delhi district on 6 September 2026 for directions to the police to furnish him a copy of the FIR. It was only thereafter that he was given a copy of the FIR at 6 PM on 7 September 2026 by the Special Cell at the Delhi Police Headquarters. 

The manner of Shri Joshi’s detention raises fundamental Constitutional concerns:

1. The right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to be informed of the grounds of detention and the right to a copy of the FIR at the earliest stage. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India (2016) 9 SCC 473 and the Delhi High Court in Court On Its Own Motion Through Mr. Ajay Chaudhary v. State (2010) have authoritatively held that an accused (or a person who has reason to believe he is named in an FIR) is entitled to a copy of the FIR within 24 hours of request, and that such entitlement is not a matter of discretion of the investigating agency.
2. The failure to inform the family of the detention violates basic norms of fairness, transparency, and human dignity that flow from Article 21.
3. The use of the Special Cell, an agency primarily associated with serious organised crime and national security matters — to pick up a retired senior civil servant for questioning over an alleged social media post, without supplying the FIR and without informing his family, appears disproportionate and is capable of creating a chilling effect on free speech and democratic discourse.

Many in our group who have worked as Executive Magistrates and police officers are appalled at this gross violation by the Delhi Police of the Constitution of India and the laws enacted therein, including gross neglect and contempt of numerous rulings of the highest judicial authorities of this country. We reiterate that no citizen, least of all a former public servant who has served the nation with dedication and honesty for over three decades, should be subjected to arbitrary detention or interrogation without due process.

We call upon the Delhi Police to:

i) Ensure that in all future cases, the family of a person being detained or interrogated is promptly informed of his or her whereabouts; and

ii) Conduct any investigation strictly in accordance with the Constitution, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the binding directions of the Supreme Court.

CCG stands in full support of Shri Ashish Joshi’s efforts to secure his Constitutional rights and urges all concerned authorities to act in a manner consistent with the rule of law and the values of the Constitution.

Copies of this statement are being sent to the Union Home Minister, Union Home Secretary, Lt. Governor of NCT of Delhi and Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

Constitutional Conduct Group (108 signatories, as below)

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