Class Tutorial Assignment

CrPC
Surya Srivastava LL.B Sem III
Rights of Arrested Person: Guidelines by Supreme Court on Arrest

Introduction
One of the basic tenets of our legal system is the benefit of the presumption of innocence of
the accused till he is found guilty at the end of a trial on legal evidence. In a democratic society
even the rights of the accused are sacrosanct, though accused of an offence, he does not become
a non-person. Rights of the accused include the rights of the accused at the time of arrest, at
the time of search and seizure, during the process of trial and the like.
The accused in India are afforded certain rights, the most basic of which are found in the Indian
Constitution. The general theory behind these rights is that the government has enormous
resources available to it for the prosecution of individuals, and individuals therefore are entitled
to some protection from misuse of those powers by the government. An accused has certain
rights during the course of any investigation; enquiry or trial of an offence with which he is
charged and he should be protected against arbitrary or illegal arrest. Police have a wide powers
conferred on them to arrest any person under Cognizable offence without going to magistrate,
so Court should be vigilant to see that theses powers are not abused for lightly used for personal
benefits. No arrest can be made on mere suspicion or information. Even private person cannot
follow and arrest a person on the statement of another person, however impeachable it is.
In the leading case of Kishore Singh Ravinder Dev v. State of Rajasthan, it was said that the
laws of India i.e. Constitutional, Evidentiary and procedural have made elaborate provisions
for safeguarding the rights of accused with the view to protect his (accused) dignity as a human
being and giving him benefits of a just, fair and impartial trail. However in another leading
case of Meneka Gandhi v. Union of India it was interpreted that the procedure adopted by the
state must, therefore, be just, fair and reasonable.

Why is arrest of a person necessary?

For retaking a person escaped from custody- Under Section 41(1) (e) of CrPC any Police
officer may without an order from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person has
escaped, or attempts to escape, from lawful custody.
To obtain correct name and address- when a person on being interrogated by a Police Officer
refuses to provide his name and address then under certain circumstances as specified under
Section 42 of Code of Criminal Procedure. This provision provides for arrest if in the presence
of a police officer, a person has committed or has been accused of committing a non-cognizable
offence and on being demanded refuses to give his name or address.
Obstructing a Police Officer in Execution of his duty- Whoever obstructs a Police Officer
in execution of his duty is liable to be arrested by the Police Officer immediately. This is
essential for effective discharge of duties of a police officer.
For securing attendance at trial– Trial of an accused is necessary as it will aid in determining
conviction or acquittal of the accused. Hence, the attendance of the accused at the time of trial
is a mandatory requirement. In order to secure the attendance of the accused the law provides
for arrest of the accused.
As a preventive measure– If relevant authorities apprehend that there is imminent danger of
commission of crime by a person, then it becomes necessary as a preventive measure to arrest
such person.

Rights of an arrested Person

Right to be informed of the grounds of arrest- This is a statutorily recognized right of an
arrested person to be informed about the grounds of arrest. Sections 50 and 50A of the CrPC
imposes a legal duty to communicate the arrested person grounds of his/her arrest without any
delay. Even Article 22(1) of the Constitution extends protection to arrested person and states
that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed of the
grounds for such arrest.
One of the landmark authorities which enumerates the guidelines to be followed by arresting
authorities in the event of arrest or detention is the Supreme Court’s judgement in the case of
D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal. The decisions emanating from this caser also led to the
incorporation of Section 50A of CrPC which imposes a legal obligation on the Police to give
information regarding such arrest and place where the arrested person is being held to any of
his friends, relatives or such other persons as may be nominated by the arrested person for the
purpose of giving such information.
Right of not being detained for more than 24 hours- This provides that the arresting
authority is required to produce the arrested person without unnecessary delay before the
Magistrate and in no case such delay shall be more than 24 hours. However, the stipulated
period of 24 hours excludes the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to
Magistrate’s Court. If this requirement is not followed by the arresting authority then the arrest
will be deemed to be unlawful.
Right to be produced before a Magistrate without delay- The CrPC under Sections 56 and
76 mandates that the person arrested shall be produced before the Magistrate or the Court
having jurisdiction in the case without unnecessary delay.
Right to be informed about the Right to Bail- under Section 50(2) of CrPC every Police
Officer arresting any person other than a person accused of a non-bailable offence is required
to inform the person arrested that he is entitled to be released on bail and that he may arrange
for sureties on his behalf.
Right to Consult a Lawyer– Article 22(1) of the Constitution recognizes the arrested person’s
right to consult and defended by a legal practitioner as a fundamental right. It states that no
person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be,
of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended
by, a legal practitioner of his choice. Further Section 303 of CrPC also entails this as a right of
arrested person and provides that any person accused of an offence may of right be defended
by a pleader of his choice.
Right of arrested person for free legal aid- This is not a statutorily recognized right however
in the case of Khatri v. State of Bihar the Supreme Court had categorically stated that the State
is under a constitutional mandate to provide free legal aid to an arrested indigent person and
that this constitutional mandate to provide legal aid does not arise only when the trial
commences but also when the accused is for the first time produced before the Magistrate as
also when he is remanded from time to time.
Moreover, the right to free legal aid of an arrested indigent person cannot be denied even if the
accused failed to apply for it. That unless refused, failure to provide free legal aid to an indigent
accused would vitiate the trial.
Right to be Examined by a Medical Practitioner- Section 54 of CrPC states that when an
arrested person alleges 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 direct the examination of the body of such person by a registered medical practitioner.
However, the request shall not be made for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating
the ends of justice.

Supreme Court Guidelines on Arrest

The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in D.K. Basu Vs State of West Bengal, has laid down specific
guidelines required to be followed while making arrests:
1. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the
arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their
designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of
the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with
their designation. The particular of all such personnel who handle interrogation of the
arrestee must be recorded in a register.
2. That the police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time
of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a
member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where
the arrest is made. It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the
time and date of arrest.
3. A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police
station or interrogation centre or other lock up, shall be entitled to have one friend or
relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed,
as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular
place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a
relative of the arrestee.
4. The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the
police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town
 through the Legal Aids Organization in the District and the police station of the area
concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.
5. The person arrested must be made aware of his right to have someone informed of his
arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
6. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the
person which shall also disclosed the name of the next friend of the person who has
been informed of the arrest and the names land particulars of the police officials in
whose custody the arrestee is.
7. The arrestee should, where he so request, be also examines at the time of his arrest and
major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time.
The Inspector Memo' must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer
effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.
8. The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by the trained doctor every 48
hours during his detention In custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctor
appointed by Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory,
Director, Health Services should prepare such a panel for all Tehsils and Districts as
well.
9. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be
sent to the Magistrate for his record.
10. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not
throughout the interrogation.
11. A police control room should be provided at all district and State headquarters where
information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be
communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest
and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.

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