Reports of illegal arrests must reach State Police Chief
Every Magistrate and Sessions judge are directed by the Supreme Court (SC) to inform the Principal District Judge about any form of non-compliance in following the arrest guidelines by the police laid down in Satender Kumar Antil v Central Burea of Investigation & Another [ (2022) 10 SCC 51 ], within one week of recording such non-compliance.
The reports regarding the non-compliance guidelines in regard to arrest should ultimately be forwarded to the Head of Police through the Registrar General of the High Court. The Head of the Police should then take action against erring officials, as per the direction of the SC.
State Police Chief must take action on illegal arrest
Such reports regarding the non-compliance should be forwarded to the Registrar General of the High Court who in turn would forward them to the State Police Chief. The State Police Chief should take disciplinary action on the erring officials in regard to arrest.
SC issued guidelines in Satender Kumar Anil case
In the Satender Kumar Anil case, the SC had issued a slew of directions on July 11, 2022, to prevent arbitrary arrest and to streamline the process of granting bail, upholding the cardinal principle ‘bail is the norm, jail is an exception’.
Court must satisfy themselves on compliance of guidelines
The Magistrate courts will have to satisfy themselves on the compliance of Section 41 and 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or BNSS. Any non-compliance would entitle the accused for grant of bail.
The investigating agencies and their officers are duty-bound to comply with the mandate of Section 41 and 41A of the CrPC/BNSS and the directions issued in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar [ (2014) 8 SCC 273].
Any dereliction on their part has to be brought to the notice of the higher authorities by the criminal courts followed by appropriate action.
State Governments and the Union Territories to facilitate standing orders for the procedure to be followed under Section 41 and 41A of the CrPC.
