Time of arrest not criterion; accused persons must be produced within 24 hours of 'denial of movement'

KOCHI: The High Court has said that the stand of the investigating officers that the person being detained maybe produced before the magistrate within 24 hours from the time of arrest is illegal. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas clarified that he should be produced within 24 hours from the time of the person being taken into custody. The clarification is in the order granting bail to the accused arrested in the cannabis case for not being produced in court within 24 hours of detention.

The Constitution states that an arrested person should be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. The only exemption is in terms of the travel time to get there. This means that a person should not be detained for more than 24 hours without the permission of the magistrate. A person is arrested in principle when freedom of movement is denied.

The single bench made this clarification, citing the orders of the Supreme Court. Law students Nikhina Thomas and Neha Babu were appointed as amicus curiae to examine the matter.

Biswajit Mandal, a native of Bengal, was granted bail in a drug case. The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested him from Ernakulam South Railway Station at 3 pm on January 25. However, his arrest was recorded only at 2 pm on January 26, and he was produced before the magistrate at 8 pm that night.
The petitioner argued that this was a violation of the law.
The court rejected the prosecution's argument that the ganja was seized at 7 pm on the 25th.