Bombay HC’s larger bench to clear ‘total confusion’ on arrest procedure issues, need for communicating grounds in writing

It said that determination was a ‘total confusion’ and ‘lack of clarity’ successful the minds of the investigating bureau connected the issue, arsenic arrested accused are approaching assorted courts seeking merchandise connected bail citing that grounds of apprehension were not conveyed to them successful penning and different apprehension procedures were not complied with.

A part seat of Justices Sarang V Kotwal and Shriram M Modak passed a verdict connected a clutch of petitions seeking merchandise of the accused persons alleging usurpation of provisions of Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking merchandise owed to ‘illegal arrest.’

“There is simply a deficiency of clarity adjacent successful respect of the forums, which tin assistance specified a relief. In immoderate cases, this has fixed emergence to unhealthy practices of choosing a forum for the aforesaid relief. The aforesaid issues, simultaneously, are being contested earlier the antithetic forums and, therefore, determination is simply a superior anticipation of struggle of decisions by antithetic courts crossed the state,” the tribunal noted.

The seat said determination is simply a “serious possibility” of struggle of decisions by antithetic courts crossed the state.
“In immoderate of the cases, owed to deficiency of consciousness connected the portion of the investigating agencies, the accused are claiming benefits adjacent successful the astir superior oregon heinous crimes like, rape, execution on with offences nether the POCSO Act, MCOC Act and NDPS Act,” said the bench.

Therefore, Justice Kotwal said, determination was a “need to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt the rights of the victims and those of accused” and the issues framed by it required ‘serious consideration’ by a larger bench.

The tribunal besides referred to an contented of whether the grounds of apprehension beryllium furnished to an idiosyncratic astatine the clip of apprehension oregon immoderate clip earlier considering the archetypal remand exertion filed by the probing agency.

The different issues see whether the tribunal volition person discretion, depending connected the gravity of the offence oregon circumstances successful which the accused is arrested. The larger seat volition besides determine earlier which forum the arrested idiosyncratic tin rise his/her grievance and question merchandise for non-compliance by the probing agency.

Another contented referred is whether successful each cases, the announcement of quality nether Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure is required to beryllium issued by the investigating serviceman earlier apprehension and if the aforesaid was required erstwhile the offence was punishable for upto 7 years of imprisonment.

The tribunal opined that isolated from the issues related to connection of grounds of arrest, “some wide and definite guidelines are required to the magistrates and investigating agencies to travel procedures of giving remand reports to the arrested idiosyncratic sufficiently successful advance.”

The tribunal asked its registry to spot the substance earlier the Chief Justice to represent a larger seat astatine earliest arsenic the contented progressive a ample fig of arrested persons.

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