Rights of Arrested Person

1. Right to know the grounds of arrest.

2. Information regarding the right to be released on bail.

3. Right to be taken before a Magistrate without delay.

4. Right to consult a legal practitioner of his own choice.

5. Rights of free legal aid.

6. Right to be examined by a medical practitioner.

The Supreme Court, in the case of D.K. Basu v. State of W.B, issued some guidelines which were required to be mandatorily followed in all cases of arrest or detention. Following are some of the important ones:

The person who is going to arrest any accused should bear accurate, visible, and clear identification along with their name tags with their designation.
The police officer who is arresting the arrestee must prepare a memo of arrest, and it should be attested by at least one person who may either be a family member of the arrestee or any other respectable person in the locality. The memo must contain the date and time of arrest and must also be countersigned by the arrestee.
If the person who has signed the memo of arrest is not a family member, relative or friend of the arrestee, then the arrestee is entitled to have one friend or relative being informed about his arrest as soon as possible.
The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
Entry must be made in the 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 of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.
The police officer should, on the request of arrestee, record at the time of his arrest major and minor injuries, if any, present on arrestee’s body, after subjecting the arrestee to an examination. The “Inspection Memo” must be signed both by the arrestee and the police official making such arrest, and one copy of that memo must be provided to the arrestee.
Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to illaqa Magistrate for his record.
The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
The court also ordered that in every district and state headquarters, a police control room should be established, wherein every arrest which is being made must be reported by the police officer making such arrest within 12 hours of such arrest, and it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.
The Court also emphasized failure to fulfill the given requirements would render the concerned officer liable for contempt of court along with departmental actions, and such proceedings can be initiated in any High Court having the territorial jurisdiction over the matter.

The Supreme Court, in the case of D.K. Basu v. State of W.B, issued some guidelines which were required to be mandatorily followed in all cases of arrest or detention. Following are some of the important ones:

The person who is going to arrest any accused should bear accurate, visible, and clear identification along with their name tags with their designation.
The police officer who is arresting the arrestee must prepare a memo of arrest, and it should be attested by at least one person who may either be a family member of the arrestee or any other respectable person in the locality. The memo must contain the date and time of arrest and must also be countersigned by the arrestee.
If the person who has signed the memo of arrest is not a family member, relative or friend of the arrestee, then the arrestee is entitled to have one friend or relative being informed about his arrest as soon as possible.
The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
Entry must be made in the 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 of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.
The police officer should, on the request of arrestee, record at the time of his arrest major and minor injuries, if any, present on arrestee’s body, after subjecting the arrestee to an examination. The “Inspection Memo” must be signed both by the arrestee and the police official making such arrest, and one copy of that memo must be provided to the arrestee.
Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to illaqa Magistrate for his record.
The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.
The court also ordered that in every district and state headquarters, a police control room should be established, wherein every arrest which is being made must be reported by the police officer making such arrest within 12 hours of such arrest, and it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.
The Court also emphasized failure to fulfill the given requirements would render the concerned officer liable for contempt of court along with departmental actions, and such proceedings can be initiated in any High Court having the territorial jurisdiction over the matter.

Do You Know ?

The phenomenon of custodial crime is not new in India. Even in the Vedic age (2000-1400 .C.), the ordeals of fire, water etc were used. In the Epic period (1400-800 B.C.) torture was practiced on prisoners by the rulers. Torture in various forms was widely prevalent in age of laws and philosophy (800 B.C. -320 B.C.). Kautilya's Arthashatra speaks about various kinds of torture such as burning and cutting of limbs, tearing by wild animals, tramping to death by elephants and bulls, etc. Manu, the law giver of this age emphasized the necessity of torture to protect the society from the hands of the criminals.

The Buddhist period (B.C. 300-300 A.D) was an age of great humanitarianism and administration of justice with the humanitarian ideals. Torture in any form was strictly forbidden and special favours were shown to prisoners, who happened to be women and aged persons.

In Gupta Period (A.D. 320-500) if the facts against prisoners were not clearly established by evidence, recourse was to be held to the four kinds of ordeals, trial by ordeal fairly common. Under the Mughals, no criminal or civil code existed. Torture to extort confession was widely spread.