UditVani, Jamshedpur : In the Bhuiyandih Nirmalnagar hotel sealing case, Jharkhand Director General of Police Tadasha Mishra, Jamshedpur Senior Superintendent of Police Piyush Pandey, and Sitaramdera Police Station in-charge Vinay Prasad Mandal appeared in person before the single bench of Justice Rajesh Kumar in the Jharkhand High Court.
The court had issued the appearance order on November 18 while hearing writ petition WP(C) 4309/2024 filed by Anjana Bhuiyan, wife of former Jharkhand Revenue Minister Dulal Bhuiyan and owner of Hotel Atithi Bhawan.
During the hearing, the court expressed sharp displeasure over the police investigation. It observed that responsible officers neither conducted a proper inquiry nor followed legal procedures. The bench remarked that sealing three rooms of the hotel solely on the basis of an unverified tip-off reflected “immature policing.” If there were doubts regarding the hotel’s licence, the first step should have been to seek clarification from the concerned department, the court noted.
Acting without verification and presuming citizens guilty for lack of documents, it said, goes against the spirit of the Indian Penal Code.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Zaid Imam, argued that the FIR was lodged 40 days after the raid, violating principles of natural justice and harming Anjana Bhuiyan’s social reputation. Such arbitrary action, he said, erodes public trust in the police.
The court directed the authorities to unseal the three rooms of Hotel Atithi Bhawan within 48 hours and stated that further proceedings would follow only after de-sealing is completed.
