The Madras High Court on Friday (May 29, 2026) censured former Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police and incumbent Director of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) A. Arun after coming to a conclusion that he had detained a realtor Santosh Sharma under the Goondas Act “for extraneous reasons.”
A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan said, Mr. Arun was habituated to passing such preventive detention orders. It added, the order against the realtor had been passed “deliberately” though there was no threat to public order because of the detainee.
“The detaining authority (Mr. Arun) knew fully well that the case on hand does not fall within the category of public order. He also knew that he was placing reliance on events that had taken place not less than two years earlier. The detaining authority is not a novice. He is a direct recruit to Indian Police Service. He has served in various capacities. If with 28 years of experience, such an order can be passed, it would only mean that it was done deliberately and with full knowledge of the law and the facts involved,” the Bench wrote.
Pointing out the realtor was only facing cheating cases, including a complaint lodged against him by Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Rajya Sabha member L.K. Sudheesh’s wife S. Poornajothi, the judges said, those cases did not warrant the invocation of the draconian preventive detention law in September 2025 to curtail his freedom, without trial, for more than eight months.
“A bare look at the sequence of events would show that the materials relied on by the detaining authority are rather stale and there is no live and proximate link with the detenu’s past conduct. In other words, there was no urgent or imperative need to detain the detenu. The impugned (under challenge) order has to fail on this score also,” the court observed.
This was also not the first instance of Mr. Arun having passed such a detention order, the court said, and referred to the preventive detention orders issued by him against YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar and another person Varaaki too.
“Therefore, we are clearly of the view that the impugned detention order ought not to have been passed in the first instance. We express our severe anguish and displeasure. We reject the explanation given by Thiru Arun, IPS. The impugned order has been deliberately passed. We would normally not make such remark. But we are constrained to do so because Thiru Arun IPS is habituated to issuing such orders, most of which have come to the notice of this court and quashed,” the Bench added.
The judges also recorded that even after being summoned by them to the court to offer his explanation, Mr. Arun did not appear to have felt that he had passed a wrong order. On the other hand, he justified his conduct by stating that he had taken tough action against “criminals and scoundrels” and they have now ganged up against him and launched a vicious campaign on social media.
He also lamented that being a government servant he was not in a position to rebut the allegations. The judges pointed out Mr. Arun was in compulsory wait when they issued summons to him on May 21, 2026 but was appointed as DVAC when he appeared before them on May 27, 2026.
DVAC “is a post held by persons of exceptional calibre and integrity such as Shri. C.V. Narasimhan and Shri C.L. Ramakrishnan. Even a whiff of allegation was never made against them during their entire career. Corruption is a major social evil and it is eating into the vitals of our society. Just as Caesor’s wife must be above suspicion, the post of Director, V&AC should be headed by professionals of sterling reputation,” the judges said.
They set aside the preventive detention order of Mr. Sharma and ordered him to be set at liberty forthwith unless his continued detention was necessary in connection with any other case.
Published – May 30, 2026 05:30 am IST
