Supreme Court bars arrests without written notice, orders police inquiries and re-arrest safeguards

In a Monday decision, Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar declared that detaining a person without supplying written grounds infringes Article 22(1) of the constitution. The court instructed that any police officer who neglects this duty be subject to departmental inquiry, with the adverse finding recorded in their service record. It also prescribed strict safeguards for re-arrest: the investigating agency must first provide the written grounds, obtain a magistrate’s order within a week, and the request must be signed by the officer’s immediate superior.

The ruling stemmed from the case of Shiromani Akali Dal politician Jaskaranjit Singh, whose arrest for alleged sexual assault of a minor was deemed illegal. The judgment emphasized that a subsequent chargesheet cannot cure the initial violation and that the requirement applies to all offences. Copies of the order will be sent to all state and union-territory directors general of police.