Chandigarh: A court in Chandigarh today dismissed three applications filed by Chandigarh-based hotelier and property developer Vikram Wadhwa, who is currently in police custody and is alleged to be the key accused in Rs 590-crore fraud involving Haryana government departments and Rs 190-crore financial irregularities linked to the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) and the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST).Wadhwa had been booked under Sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 61(2), 316(5) of the BNS at the EWO police station in Sector-17.The applications were moved through the counsel of the applicant, seeking relief on various grounds related to the legality of the arrest and access to case documents.In the first application, Wadhwa claimed that he had been taken into custody by the police but had not been informed about the reasons for his detention. He further claimed that he had not been told whether any FIR had been registered against him or what allegations had been made. The hotelier also alleged that he had not been provided with copies of key documents such as the FIR, arrest memo, remand application, and the satisfaction recorded by the police under Section 35(c) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The applicant argued that without these documents he would not be able to effectively oppose the police remand.In the second application, the applicant contended that his arrest was illegal as he was not informed of the “grounds of arrest,” which he claimed was a mandatory requirement under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India. He also alleged that the procedure established by law under the provisions of the BNSS had not been followed, citing violations of Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution along with Sections 36, 35(c), 47, 48, and 62 of the BNSS. The applicant further claimed that while in police custody he was made to sign several handwritten, typed, and blank documents. On these grounds, he sought a declaration from the court that his arrest and custody were illegal.In the third application, the applicant requested that his statement be recorded before the court under Section 183(1) read with Section 183(5) of the BNSS. He stated that he had not been informed of the allegations or the reasons for his arrest and claimed that he was forced to sign several documents while in police custody without knowing their contents.
