“The wrongful use of arrest powers is one of the chief sources of corruption in the
Police department.â€
“The quality of a nation’s civilization can be largely measured by the methods it uses in the enforcement of criminal law.â€
Such a ruling by a three member judicial bench led by the then Chief Justice MN Venkatachalaiah, 15 years ago itself, seems to have not come to the notice of our police department. The SC bench in its ruling had said so-“The police cannot arrest anyone merely on the grounds of suspicion. The powers to arrest should not be misused.â€
Following are the highlights of the Supreme Court judgement delivered on 25-4-1994 in the Joginder Kumar v/s Uttar Pradesh Government case.
*No arrest can be made because it is lawful for the police officer to do so. The existence of the power to arrest is one thing. The justification for the exercise of it is quite another. The police officer must be able to justify the arrest apart from his power to do so. Arrest and detention in police lock-up of a person can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person.
* No arrest can be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offence made against a person. If police officers do not wish to face legal or disciplinary action, they should see that arrests are made only after reaching a .reasonable satisfaction about the complaint being true and the case being bonafide.
* The officer making the arrest must be able to justify its necessity on the basis of some preliminary investigation.
* Denying a person of his right merely because he is an accused, is a serious matter. Let the officials first go through the proceedings conducted by the National Police Commission regarding arrests. The arresting officer is committed to explain that the arrest was inevitable and should be able to justify the same. Excluding accused in heinous crimes like murder, looting, rape and destruction of property, it would be better against resorting to arrest in other cases. It would be better to serve a notice to the accused to come to the station and cooperate in the investigation and also to advice against going out of town without permission of the investigation officer.
The other observations passed by the Judicial Bench on the protection of one’s fundamental rights are as follows.
• An arrested person should be allowed to inform a friend or relative about the
arrest and where s/he is being held.
* The arresting officer must inform the arrested person when s/he is brought to the police station of this right and is required to make an entry in the diary as to who was informed.
* It is the duty of the magistrate before whom the arrested person is produced to
satisfy her/himself that the above requirements have been complied with. This rule has to be adhered with in cases of all arrests.
It does not mean that this rule is universal. DGPs of all states must issue a circular to their sub-ordinate officials and give detailed instructions on abiding by the ‘arrest guidelines†laid down by the SC Bench. The DGPs must also instruct all station officers to register the arrests in the Station House Directory and give reasons for the same to their higher officials.
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