Article 22 states that there are certain procedural requirements which are necessary to be adopted in all the procedures which are executed by the legislature. If the legislature fails to comply with them, it is considered to be a deprivation of personal liberty.
Article 22 deals with two distinct matters:
- People arrested under ordinary law of crimes
- People that have been detained under the law of preventive detention
This article contains seven clauses. Where clauses one and two deal with detention as per Rights of arrested persons under criminal law, clauses three to seven deal with rights of persons who are detained under law of preventive detention.
Four rights are guaranteed to an individual by Article 22 who has been arrested for an offence under any ordinary law:
- The right to be informed of the ground of arrest
- The right to consult and the right to be represented by a lawyer of his own choice
- The right to be produced before a Magistrate within twenty four hours of arrest
- The right of freedom from detention which is beyond the said period except by the order of the Magistrate
The above mentioned rights are available to both citizens as well as non-citizens. However, these rights are not available to the individuals who have been arrested and detained under the law of preventive detention.
In the case of Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P., (1994) 4 SCC 260, the Apex Court laid down the guidelines which regulate the arrest of an individual in an investigation. It has been held by the Court that it is unlawful for an individual to be arrested merely on the suspicion of being complicit in an offense. The presence of a reasonable justification on the part of the police officer is necessary to make sure a balance is maintained between the protection of human rights and the needs of the police. This is done to make sure that no human faces oppression and injustice at the hands of law enforcing agencies.
The exceptions to Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 22 are provided by Clause 3 of Article 22. It clearly specifies that the rights guaranteed to arrested individuals are not provided to the following persons:
- An enemy alien
- An individual arrested and detained under a Preventive Detention Law
An enemy alien is however permitted to seek protection under Clauses (4) and (5) of Article 22 if he has been arrested under a law of Preventive Detention but it is subjected to the law passed by the Parliament.
Article 22 clauses (4) to (7), detail the procedure to be followed if the arrest has been made under law of preventive detention. Even though no definition of preventive detention has been provided under the Indian Law, it refers to the detention of an individual carried out without a trial where the circumstances are such that the proofs gathered are sufficient to justify his detention for India’s security and also in the interest of defence, foreign affairs or public order. The act is a preventive measure.
Even though the act was repealed by the Parliament in 1950 but the emergence and revival of anarchist forces led to the Parliament enacting a new preventive detention act. It was revived in the form of Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 which continued to be in operation until the year 1977. There have been other preventive detention acts which have been passed by the Parliament like NSA, COFEPOSA, TADA, POTA, UAPA etc.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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