Madras High Court warns police against bail loopholes in arrest procedures

The Madras High Court has ordered Tamil Nadu's Director General of Police and the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police to ensure investigating officers furnish grounds of arrest to suspects at least two hours before remand proceedings, warning that failure to do so allows even those accused in heinous offences to secure bail on technical grounds.

Justice N. Ramesh issued the directive while granting bail to two accused, M. Akash Hussain of Tripura, booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act by the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing at St. Thomas Mount Police Station, and Ankur Kumar Jain, booked by the Economic Offences Wing in Chennai, both of whom had not been served with the grounds of arrest.

One in four cases lacks mandatory document

A report filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, St. Thomas Mount, revealed that grounds of arrest had not been served in one out of every four criminal cases, which could allow suspects to escape prosecution on the technicality of not receiving the mandatory document.

Justice Ramesh clarified that the arrest memo or intimation to family members cannot substitute for the grounds of arrest, which must be a separate document explaining the reasons for the arrest. He ordered that an acknowledgement of having furnished the grounds of arrest must be produced before the magistrate during remand proceedings.

Supreme Court mandate remains unfulfilled

The judge recalled that the Supreme Court in Mihir Rajesh Shah versus State of Maharashtra ruled that the constitutional mandate of informing the arrestee of the grounds of arrest was mandatory in all criminal offences and must be communicated in writing in a language the arrestee understands.

The Supreme Court had also ordered that the grounds of arrest must be communicated within a reasonable time and in any case at least two hours prior to production for remand proceedings, and that non-compliance could render the arrest and subsequent remand illegal and result in the suspect being set free.

"Despite such categorical directions of the Supreme Court, it is a sad state of affairs that numerous bail petitions are being filed before this court even in heinous criminal cases complaining that the grounds of arrest were not served on them," Justice Ramesh told a government counsel while issuing directions to the DGP and the GCCP to ensure all investigating officers follow the top court's dictum in letter and spirit.

Source: The Hindu