The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the constitutional 24-hour deadline for producing an arrested person before a magistrate must be calculated from the time the person is first detained, and not from the time the police formally records the arrest.
A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar held that there can be no artificial distinction between 'arrest' and 'detention' while interpreting Article 22(2) of the Constitution. It said any interpretation that allows the police to exclude the period of detention preceding formal arrest would defeat the constitutional safeguard.
"The view that 24 hours begin only from the formal arrest is contrary to the constitutional mandate of Article 22(2) and Section 56 of the BNSS," the bench observed.
The court clarified that the only period that can be excluded while calculating the 24-hour limit is the time reasonably required to travel from the place of arrest to the magistrate's court.
Time spent on inquiry, investigation, search or seizure before the formal arrest cannot be excluded, it said.
Article 22(2) of the Constitution mandates that every person arrested and detained in custody must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of arrest, excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court.
Disapproving of contrary interpretations by the Orissa High Court in the Aryaman Pattanaik case, the Madras High Court in the Kannan case and the Kerala High Court in the Arun K Thomas case, the bench said the period of detention before formal arrest cannot be excluded while computing the constitutional deadline.
The Supreme Court further held that a person detained beyond the permissible 24-hour period without being produced before a magistrate must be released forthwith.
It also stressed that detaining authorities must ensure that the period of detention remains reasonable, even within the constitutionally permitted 24-hour limit.
The bench said judicial magistrates must record the actual date and time of detention and independently verify whether the constitutional requirement has been complied with. They must also examine whether the duration of detention is reasonable in the circumstances and can decline remand if the detention is found to be excessive.
The detailed judgment is awaited.
(With inputs from PTI)
