Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest

Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest
Firstly, according to Section 50(1) Cr.P.C. “every police officer or other person arresting any
person without warrant shall forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for
which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest.”
Secondly, when a subordinate officer is deputed by a senior police officer to arrest a person
under Section 55 Cr.P.C., such subordinate officer shall, before making the arrest, notify to the
person to be arrested the substance of the written order given by the senior police officer
specifying the offence or other cause for which the arrest is to be made. Non- compliance with
this provision will render the arrest illegal.
Thirdly, in case of arrest to be made under a warrant, Section 75 Cr.P.C. provides that “the police
officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall notify the substance thereof to the
person to be arrested, and if so required, shall show him the warrant.” If the substance of the
warrant is not notified, the arrest would be unlawful.
Indian constitution has also conferred on this right the status of the fundamental right. Article
22(2) of the constitution provides that “no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody
without being informed as soon as may be, of the grounds of such arrest nor shall he be denied
the right to consult, and to be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
Information Regarding The Right To Be Released On Bail
Section 50(2) Cr.P.C. provides that “where a police officer arrests without warrant any person
other than a person accused of a non- bailable offence, he shall inform the person arrested that he
is entitled to be released in bail that he may arrange for sureties on his.” This will certainly be of
help to persons who may not know about their rights to be released on bail in case of bailable
offences. As a consequence, this provision may in some small measures, improve the relations of
the people with the police and reduce discontent against them.
Right To Be Taken Before A Magistrate Without Delay
Whether the arrest is made without warrant by a police officer, or whether the arrest is made
under a warrant by any person, the person making the arrest must bring the arrested person
before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay. It is also provided that the arrested person
should not be confined in any place other than a police station before he is taken to the
magistrate. These matters have been provided in Cr.P.C. under section 56 and 76 which are as
given below:
56. Person arrested to be taken before Magistrate or officer in charge of police station- A police
officer making an arrest without warrant shall, without unnecessary delay and subject to the
provisions herein contained as to bail, take or send the person arrested before a Magistrate
having jurisdiction in the case, or before the officer in charge of a police station.
76. Person arrested to be brought before Court without delay- The police officer or other person
executing a warrant of arrest shall (subject to the provisions of section 71 as to security) without
unnecessary delay bring the person arrested before the Court before which he is required by law
to produce such person.
Provided that such delay shall not, in any case, exceed 24 hours exclusive of the time necessary
for the journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate’s Court.
Right Of Not Being Detained For More Than 24 Hours Without Judicial Scrutiny
Whether the arrest is without warrant or under a warrant, the arrested person must be brought
before the magistrate or court within 24 hours. Section 57 provides as follows:
57. Person arrested not to be detained more than twenty-four hours- No police officer shall detain
in custody a person arrested without warrant for a longer period than under all the circumstances
of the case is reasonable, and such period shall not, in the absence of a special order of a
Magistrate under section 167, exceed twenty-four hours exclusive of the time necessary for the
journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate’s Court.
This right has been further strengthened by its incorporation in the Constitution as a fundamental
right. Article 22(2) of the Constitution proves that “Every person who is arrested and detained in
custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of
such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of
the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without
the authority of a magistrate.” In case of arrest under a warrant the proviso to Section 76
provides a similar rule in substance.
The right to be brought before a magistrate within a period of not more than 24 hours of arrest
has been created with a view-
i. To prevent arrest and detention for the purpose of extracting confessions, or as a means of
compelling people to give information;
ii. To prevent police stations being used as though they were prisons- a purpose for which they
are unsuitable;
iii. To afford to an early recourse to a judicial officer independent of the police on all questions
of bail or discharge.
In a case of Khatri(II) v. State of Bihar, the Supreme Court has strongly urged upon the state and
its police authorities to ensure that this constitutional and legal requirement to produce an
arrested person before a Judicial Magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest be scrupulously
observed. This healthy provision enables the magistrate to keep check over the police
investigation and it is necessary that the magistrates should try to enforce this requirement and
where it is found disobeyed, come heavily upon the police.
If police officer fails to produce an arrested person before a magistrate within 24 hours of the
arrest, he shall be held guilty of wrongful detention.
In a case of Poovan v. Sub- Inspector of Police it was said that whenever a complaint is received
by a magistrate that a person is arrested within his jurisdiction but has not been produced before
him within 24 hours or a complaint has made to him that a person is being detained within his
jurisdiction beyond 24 hours of his arrest, he can and should call upon the police officer
concerned; to state whether the allegations are true and if so; on what and under whose custody;
he is being so helped. If officer denies the arrest, the magistrate can make an inquiry into the
issue and pass appropriate orders.
Right To Be Examined By A Medical Practitioner
Section 54 now renumbered as Section 54(1) provides:
54. Examination of arrested person by medical practitioner at the request of the arrested person
When a person who is arrested, whether on a charge or otherwise, alleges, at the time when he is
produced before a Magistrate or at any time during the period of his detention in custody that the
examination of his body will afford evidence which will disprove the commission by him of any
offence or which will establish the commission by any other person of any offence against his
body, the Magistrate shall, if requested by the arrested person so to do direct the examination of
the body of such person by a registered medical practitioner unless the Magistrate considers that
the request is made for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice.

Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest

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Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest

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Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest

Information Regarding The Right To Be Released On Bail

Right To Be Taken Before A Magistrate Without Delay

Right To Be Examined By A Medical Practitioner

Section 54 now renumbered as Section 54(1) provides:

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