NOIDA: A Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court denied bail on Monday to Abhay Kumar, a director of MZ Wiztown Planners Pvt. Ltd., who was arrested in connection with the death of software engineer Yuvraj Mehta. The court has extended Kumar’s judicial remand by 10 days, scheduling the next hearing for February 13.
Despite the lower court’s decision, Kumar’s legal team filed a habeas corpus writ petition with the Allahabad High Court, and the case is set for a hearing on Tuesday.
Counsel Swastik Verma stated that Kumar’s arrest by the Greater Noida police failed to adhere to “basic legal provisions,” violating Articles 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution, which safeguard personal liberty and protect against arbitrary arrest and detention.
Verma, alongside lawyer Shrey Sinha, claimed that police did not provide an arrest memo to either Kumar’s family or his counsel. “We filed for habeas corpus due to the illegal detention, as the police did not follow mandatory DK Basu guidelines enforced by the Supreme Court during the arrest of any individual,” Verma explained.
He further noted that without an arrest memo, “the reasons for our client’s arrest remain unclear.”
The lawyers also highlighted inconsistencies in the police general diary entry and demanded Kumar’s immediate release from what they termed as “illegal detention.” The matter is scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, according to Verma.
Kumar was arrested on January 20, facing charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder due to negligence and other relevant sections.
Yuvraj Mehta met his demise when his car veered off the road and plunged into a ditch filled with water on his way back from work. A preliminary investigation indicated that the pit lacked any warning signs or markings, a responsibility attributed to the owner of an under-construction project managed by Wiztown Planners, leading to the directors being named in the FIR.
In connection with this case, two associates of Lotus Greens Constructions Pvt. Ltd., Ravi Bansal and Sachin Karnwal, were granted conditional bail by the CJM court on Friday, with personal bonds set at Rs 25,000 each. They have been instructed not to leave the country without prior permission and to cooperate with the investigation if needed.
