Like every person, an arrested person has also some rights reserved for him/her. In this article we will be discussing the same. The rights of an arrested person are mainly guaranteed under two laws and they are

• Constitution of India,1950
• Criminal Procedure Code,1973
• Right to silence.

The ‘right to silence’ has been derived from common law principles. It means that normally courts or tribunals should not conclude that the person is guilty of any conduct merely because he has not responded to questions which were asked by the police or by the court.[1]

The Constitution of India provides with a number of fundamental rights to its citizens under the Part III. One such right is also reserved for an arrested person. Under Article 20(3) of Constitution of India guarantees every person has been given a right against self-incrimination, it states that any person who has been accused of any offence, shall not be compelled to be a witness against himself. The same was again reiterated by a decision of Supreme Court in the case of Nandini Sathpathy v. P.L.Dani; wherein it was held that no one can forcibly extract statements from the accused and that the accused has the right to keep silent during the course of interrogation (investigation). The Supreme Court again in the year 2010, held that narco-analysis, brain mapping and lie detector test are in violation of Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India.[2]

• Right to know the ground of arrest:

According to Section 50(1) Cr.P.C. “every police officer or other person arresting any person without warrant shall forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest.”

Further, when a subordinate officer is deputed by a senior police officer to arrest a person under Section 55 Cr.P.C., such subordinate officer shall, before making the arrest, notify to the person to be arrested the substance of the written order given by the senior police officer specifying the offence or other cause for which the arrest is to be made. Non- compliance with this provision will render the arrest illegal.

In case of arrest to be made under a warrant, Section 75 Cr.P.C. provides that “the police officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall notify the substance thereof to the person to be arrested, and if so required, shall show him the warrant.” If the substance of the warrant is not notified, the arrest would be unlawful.

Additionally, Article 22(2) of the constitution provides that “no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed as soon as may be, of the grounds of such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.”

• Information regarding right to be released on bail:

Section 50(2) Cr.P.C. provides that “where a police officer arrests without warrant any person other than a person accused of a non- bailable offence, he shall inform the person arrested that he is entitled to be released in bail that he may arrange for sureties on his.” 

• Right to Be Taken Before a Magistrate Without Delay:

Whether the arrest is made without warrant by a police officer, or whether the arrest is made under a warrant by any person, the person making the arrest must bring the arrested person before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay. It is also provided that the arrested person should not be confined in any place other than a police station before he is taken to the magistrate. These matters have been provided in Cr.P.C. under section 56 and 76.

•  Right Of Not Being Detained For More Than 24 Hours Without Judicial Scrutiny:

Under Section 57 of the CrPC it is provided that any person arrested not to be detained more than twenty-four hours- No police officer shall detain in custody a person arrested without warrant for a longer period than under all the circumstances of the case is reasonable, and such period shall not, in the absence of a special order of a Magistrate under section 167, exceed twenty-four hours exclusive of the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate’s Court.

Additionally, under Article 22(2) of the Constitution proves that “Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate.” In case of arrest under a warrant the proviso to Section 76 provides a similar rule in substance.

• Right to a fair trial:

i. Right To A Fair Trial-

The Constitution under Article 14 guarantees the right to equality before the law. The Code of Criminal Procedure also provides that for a trial to be fair, it must be an open court trial. This provision is designed to ensure that convictions are not obtained in secret. In some exceptional cases the trial may be held in camera. Every accused is entitled to be informed by the court before taking the evidence that he is entitled to have his case tried by another court and if the accused subsequently moves such application for transfer of his case to another court the same must be transferred. However, the accused has no right to select or determine by which other court the case is to be tried.

ii. Right To A Speedy Trial-

The Constitution provides an accused the right to a speedy trial. Although this right is not explicitly stated in the constitution, it has been interpreted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the judgment of Hussainara Khatoon. This judgment mandates that an investigation in trial should be held “as expeditiously as possible”. In all summons trials (cases where the maximum punishment is two years imprisonment) once the accused has been arrested, the investigation for the trial must be completed within six months or stopped on an order of the Magistrate, unless the Magistrate receives and accepts, with his reasons in writing, that there is cause to extend the investigation

• Right to consult a legal practitioner

 Article 22(1) of the Constitution provides that no person who is arrested shall be denied the right to consult a legal practitioner of his choice. Further, as has been held by the Supreme Court that state is under a constitutional mandate (implicit in article 21) to provide free legal aid to an indigent accused person, and the constitutional obligation to provide free legal aid does not arise only when the trial commences but also attaches when the accused is for the first time produced before the magistrate, as also when remanded from time to time.

[1] What Are The Rights Of An Arrested Person, Blogipleaders, (April,7,2016), https://blog.ipleaders.in/rights-arrested-person/

[2] Ibid

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