Retired Justice Rajinder Sachar was on Tuesday taken into preventive custody at JP Narayan park by the Delhi police and taken to the nearby Tilak Nagar police station.

Before courting arrest, Justice Sachar protested that he was not defying Section 144 which is in force at the area.

Eighty-seven-year-old Sachar argued that he had come to the venue with one more person only and so his arrest under Section 144 was illegal.

The police first wanted to take him to Bawana and drop him by the wayside, but Justice Sachar protested.

Being a judge and knowing the intricacies of various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Juctice Sachar told the policemen that under the Constitution if he was arrested for the breach of Section 144, he should have been first produced before a magistrate.

The arresting officer then showed him orders, which said that he could arrest Justice Sachar not only for unlawful assembly but also for making speeches in the jurisdiction where Section 144 is in force.

The retired judge, however, held his pole while arguing over the illegalities of his detention.

Earlier, Justice Sachar told rediff.com that he was in support of a Lokpal Bill that brings the prime minister, the executive and Parliament under its purview.

He, however, contested that there should be a separate Lokpal to check malpractices or instances of corruption in the judiciary.

Image: Justice Rajinder Sachar at JP Narayan park | Photograph: Sanjay Sawant