This Blog is written by Himanshu Gupta, a Fourth-Year Law Student of CPJ College Of Higher Studies and School of Law

INTRODUCTION

Arrest is a lawful process undertaken by the concerned authorities. In arrest, a person is taken into legal custody which refrains that person from moving freely. A person can be arrested by the concerned authorities for various reasons such as he/ she got caught during the commission of a crime, a warrant issued by the court, etc.

In India, the procedure of arrest and all provisions related to arrest are governed by provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 which provides the powers, procedure, and types of arrest.

TYPES OF ARREST

1. Arrest without warrant

According, to the provisions provided under law the Police officers have the authority to take any person into their custody without a warrant if the police officers have sufficient legal grounds. This arrest is mostly done for cognizable offenses. The arrest can be done for the following reasons: -

- Caught committing a cognizable offence

- Prevent the commission of cognizable offenses

- Credible/ reasonable into that person has done a cognizable offense

2. Arrest with warrant

The Warrant is a court order issued mostly in cases where some non-cognizable offense has occurred and the police authorities cannot arrest the person committing that crime without a warrant. The warrant authorizes the police officer to arrest that person. A magistrate has the power to issue a warrant under Section 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the police officer has the duty under Section 75 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to show that warrant to the arrested person. Arrest with a warrant mostly takes place for non-cognizable offenses.

RIGHTS OF ARRESTED PERSON

An arrested person has been provided with various rights under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which that person can exercise while being in police custody. Some rights are as follows: -

1. Right against self-incrimination

Any person while in police custody has the right against self-incrimination i.e. police officer cannot force that person to give any confession/ statements that will harm that person during the trial. If anyone under police custody forces the arrested person to do so can face disciplinary actions.

2. Right to remain silent

The Arrested person has the right to remain silent during the police investigation and has the right to not answer the questions asked by the police officer. Being silent can’t be presumed to be wrong in any sense by the court or police officer.

3. Right to know the grounds of arrest

Any person arrested by the police authorities can ask them about the grounds of arrest under Article 22 (1) of the Constitution of India, 1950, and Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. It helps the arrested person to seek legal remedy accordingly.

4. Right to bail

Right to bail is a statutory right which is only available when that person has been taken into legal custody for a Bailable offence. In this situation, that person has the right to know that he/ she has the right to seek bail.

5. Right to be produced before a magistrate

The police must produce any person arrested by them before a magistrate within 24 hr of his/ her arrest without any unnecessary delay.

6. Right to a fair and speedy trial

Every arrested person has the most basic right that he/ she should get a fair and speedy trial. There should be no unnecessary delay on the part of concerned authorities in providing justice to the parties.

7. Right to legal counsel

Every arrested person during the arrest period has been given the right to choose an advocate/ legal counsel of his/ her choice to present their case in court under Article 22 (1) of the Constitution of India, 1950, and Section 57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

8. Right to legal aid

Not every arrested person needs to have the means to afford a legal counsel of his choice so in that case he will be denied justice so to prevent this injustice every arrested person has the right to free legal aid which is provided by the state.

9. Right to inform a family member

The police officer has been provided this duty under Section 50a of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to provide the information of arrest to a family member/ relative/ friend of the arrested person.

CONCLUSION

An Arrested person is seen as innocent until that person gets convicted during the trial. These are provided so that the police officer does not treat the arrested person inhumanely and misuse their powers.

Especially, in the Bailable offenses bail is treated as the right of the arrested person to seek bail, and by fulfilling the requirements that person can seek bail. Awareness of all the rights should be given to everyone as many arrested people while in police custody don’t know that they can seek bail.

REFERENCES

· Law, F. (no date) Arrested person rights in India, Free Law: Get Free Headnotes & Judgments. Available at: https://www.freelaw.in/legalarticles/Rights-of-Arrested-Person-in-India (Accessed: 05 September 2024).

· Maniyar, Z. (2022) Law on arrest and detention: Know your rights!, CJP. Available at: https://cjp.org.in/law-on-arrest-and-detention-know-your-rights/ (Accessed: 05 September 2024).

· Know your rights if you are arrested (no date) CRPC. Available at: https://www.crpc.in/know_your_rights.html (Accessed: 05 September 2024).

· Gurmeet (no date a) Rights of the arrested person, Legal Service India - Law, Lawyers and Legal Resources. Available at: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-7839-rights-of-arrested-person.html (Accessed: 05 September 2024).

· M, S. (2023) Rights of an arrested person in India, CLATalogue. Available at: https://lawctopus.com/clatalogue/clat-pg/rights-of-an-arrested-person-in-india/ (Accessed: 05 September 2024).