BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court rejected a petition filed by an accused to release him on the ground that the police produced him before the magistrate 25 minutes late, beyond the 24-hour after his arrest.
The petitioner, Shivaraj S from Vidyanagar in Shivamogga district, is accused of taking supari from a woman, who too is accused, to kill her husband. Shivaraj moved the high court seeking directions for his release in the case, registered by the NR Pura police in Chikkamagaluru district in May 2025 after the sessions court rejected his regular bail application on December 11, 2025. He was officially arrested as per the panchanama at 5 pm on May 25, 2025 and was produced before the magistrate the next day at 5.25 pm.
Rejecting the petition, Justice M Nagaprasanna said it is evident from the judgments of the apex court and Bombay High Court that the 25-minute delay in producing the petitioner before the magistrate is not fatal in the case as it is adequately explained by the prosecution.
The high court noted that the apex court has held that the accused cannot be detained for more than 24 hours as per Article 22(2) of the Constitution. However, the time necessary for going from the place of arrest to the magistrate’s court is to be excluded from the 24-hour deadline. The Bombay High Court too had ruled similarly.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel contended that the delay is violative of the right under Article 22 (2) of the Constitution.
Additional State Public Prosecutor BN Jagadeesha contended that the regular jurisdictional magistrate was on leave and because of that, the accused had to be presented before the in-charge magistrate. In the process, there was a certain delay which has to be condoned since travel time is to be excluded, he argued.