AIR 1997 SC 610
Criminal Procedure Code
Certain letters received about the cases of custodial violence and custodial deaths by police in West Bengal. Letters treated as writ petitions in public interest by the Supreme Court.
Issue
1. Can policemen act arbitrarily while arresting a person?
2. Are there any guidelines for the same?
Analysis
· The Court opined that Custodial Violence, including Torture and Death in Lock Ups, strikes a blow at the Rule of Law.
· The Court observed that despite the presence of several Constitutional and Statutory provisions aimed at safeguarding the personal liberty and life of a citizen, there had been several instances of torture and deaths in police custody which was a disturbing factor.
· The Court severely criticised the existence of Custodial Death and regarded it to be one of the Worst Crimes in a civilised Society to be governed by the Rule of Law.
· A Reference was made to the case of Neelabati Bahera v. State of Orissa (1993) in which the Supreme Court had held that prisoners and detenues are not denuded of their Fundamental Rights under Article 21 and only such restriction as permitted by law could be imposed on the enjoyment of the Fundamental Rights of the prisoners and detenues.
Held
The Court issued a list of 11 guidelines in addition to the Constitutional and Statutory Safeguards which were to be followed in all cases of arrest and detention. The guidelines are as follows: –
(i) 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 personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.
(ii) That the Police Officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of the 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.
(iii) 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 the arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee.
(iv) 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 Aid Organisation in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.
(v) The person arrested must be made aware of his right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon he is put under arrest or is detained.
(vi) An entry must be made in the Case Diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars if the police official in whose custody the arrestee is.
(vii) The Arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time. The “Inspection Memo” must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.
(viii) The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by the Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory.
(ix) Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest should be sent to the Magistrate for his record.
(x) The Arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
(xi) 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 Board, it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board\
Judgement Summary
1. Arrested person has the right to meet with his lawyer
2. Right to medical examination every 48 hours
3. Right to inform relatives after arrest
4. To be produced infront of the magistrate in 24 hours
5. The arresting officer has to prepare a memo and has to be attested by atleast one witness
6. An entry has to be made regarding the arrest in the diary
7. A police control room shall be set up in all districts and information regarding the arrest shall be made to all districts
8. All the documents including the memo has to be sent to the magistrate
9. Arresting officer shall have clear identification of his name and designation
10. The time, place, arrest and place of custody has to be notified to the interested person
11. Person arrested has to be made aware of his right to have notified someone on his behalf
This article was authored by Aviral Jain, a third-year B.Com.LLB. student at Jindal Global Law School
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