Blitz Bureau
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has held that it is the fundamental right of every person arrested to be informed of the grounds of arrest as soon as possible. Failure by the investigating officer to do the same will amount to a violation of Article 22(1) of the Constitution thereby, rendering the arrest invalid.
“The requirement of informing a person arrested of grounds of arrest is a mandatory requirement of Article 22(1). Therefore, non-compliance with the requirements of Article 22(1) vitiates the arrest of the accused. Hence, further orders passed by a criminal court of remand are also vitiated,” the court’s February 7 ruling said.
Such violation will entitle the accused to bail despite any statutory restrictions, the court underscored. “When a violation of Article 22(1) is established, it is the duty of the court to forthwith order the release of the accused. That will be a ground to grant bail even if statutory restrictions on the grant of bail exist. Statutory restrictions do not affect the power of the court to grant bail when the violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution is established.”
The Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotishwar Singh added that when an arrested person is produced before a judicial magistrate for remand, it is the duty of the magistrate to ascertain whether compliance with Article 22(1) has been made.
If there is non-compliance with Article 22(1), the arrest would be illegal and the person cannot be remanded, the court said. However, even if such arrest is illegal, it will not vitiate the investigation, chargesheet and trial, the Bench clarified.
“Filing a charge sheet and order of cognizance will not validate an arrest which is per se unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution of India. We cannot tinker with the most important safeguards provided under Article 22,” said the apex court.
