Arrest without reason in writing illegal: Allahabad HC

PRAYAGRAJ: Arresting a person without informing him or her in writing the reasons for the same is illegal, Allahabad HC has ruled, directing the UP DGP to issue a circular in this regard to apprise the entire police department.

The court made the observation while setting aside the arrest memo of an individual, which did not mention the reason for his arrest, in an order issued on April 9.

A division bench of Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by one Manjeet Singh, alias Manjeet Singh Chana, against whom a case of cheating was registered in Rampur.

His counsel argued that the arrest memo did not contain any column for the grounds or reasons for the arrest. Furthermore, no opportunity for a hearing or defense was given to the petitioner.

The petitioner argued, "Immediately after the arrest, the petitioner was produced before the remand magistrate on Dec 26, 2024, and remanded in judicial custody through a printed order, which did not mention whether any opportunity of hearing was granted to the accused to contest his custodial detention."

While quashing the arrest, the court observed, "In the instant matter, admittedly, no such effort had been made by the learned magistrate to ensure adequate legal aid to the accused petitioner and appropriate opportunity of hearing at the time of judicial remand. Even the arrest memo does not contain any column regarding the grounds of arrest. This very issue is primarily the bone of contention between the parties in the matter."