New Delhi, Nov. 6 -- The Delhi High Court has restrained the Delhi Police from taking coercive action against accused charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), in a case dating to March, over the alleged involvement of the accused in an organised network for the sale and distribution of heroin.

A bench of justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Tuesday after the counsels for the accused, Rahul Sharma and Kundan Kumar, contended that the essential requirement of "continuing unlawful activity" for invoking MCOCA was not met, as the FIRs relied upon by the approving authority contained no allegations indicating the existence of an organised crime syndicate. The counsels further asserted that the very basis for...