Supreme Court bats for rights of arrested persons

EVERY now and then, the Supreme Court has to remind law enforcement agencies that they are not a law unto themselves — they must adhere strictly to the due process of law. On Thursday, it ruled that the requirement of furnishing grounds of arrest of an accused would also apply to cases registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, not just to offences under special laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The order aims to protect the personal liberty of the arrested persons. They must be informed about the grounds in writing and in a language they understand.

This vital exercise has to be completed within a reasonable time frame — before/at the time of arrest or “in any case two hours prior to the production of the arrested person before the magistrate for remand proceedings”. The court has also drawn the attention of the agencies concerned to Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees that an accused must be informed “as soon as may be” of the grounds of his/her arrest. Overlooking this constitutional safeguard amounts to violation of a person’s fundamental right to life and liberty, rendering the arrest illegal.

It’s critical for the Supreme Court and other courts to be on the same page over this matter. The latest SC verdict has come on an appeal in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case of July 2024. An accused had challenged his arrest, arguing that the reasons were not given to him in writing. Although the Bombay High Court acknowledged the procedural lapse, it upheld the arrest, citing the gravity of the offence. Now, he has been granted bail by the SC, which decided not to go into the merits of the case but only to examine the “questions of law”. The ruling is expected to deter the police and other agencies from making arbitrary arrests and riding roughshod over the rights of suspects. A procedure grounded in transparency and fairness augurs well for the delivery of justice.