New Supreme Court Rules On Communication Of Arrest Grounds Apply Prospectively: HP High Court Dismisses Pleas Challenging Arrest
The Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed 29 petitions which challenged the legality of arrests on the ground that the police did not furnish written grounds of arrest.
The Court remarked that the Supreme Court's directions mandating written communication of grounds of arrest in the judgement of Mihir Rajesh Shah v/s State of Maharashtra apply prospectively and does not invalidate arrests made prior to the judgment.
Justice Ajay Mohan Goel observed that: “…this procedure… shall govern arrests henceforth… this means that the Hon'ble Supreme Court has… made directions… prospective… the present petitioners cannot assail their arrest… because [the judgment] is prospective in nature.”
The petitioners approached the High Court contending that the grounds of arrest were not conveyed to them and, therefore, their arrests were illegal and in contravention to Article 22 of the Constitition of India, and that they should be released.
In response, the State contended that the Supreme Court's rulings in Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra, which held that written communication of grounds of arrest is mandatory for all offences.
The Court noted that the Supreme Court's rulings apply prospectively and petitioners were arrested before the Judgement; thus, they could not challenge their arrests.
Therefore, the High Court dismissed the petitions and clarified that it did not examine whether each petitioner's indvidual arrest violated Article 22 of the constitution of India; the dismissal was entirely on the ground of prospective application of the judgement.
Case Name: Kabir khan & others v/s State of H.P. and another
Case No.: CWP No.12201 of 2025 and others
Date of Decision: 18.11.2025
For the Petitioner: Mr. Kulwant Singh Gill and Mr. George, Advocates, for the petitioner(s), in respective petitions.
For the Respondent: Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate General, with Mr. Rajpal Thakur, Additional Advocate General, for respondents-State, in all the petitions.
Mr. Vijay Kumar Arora, Senior Advocate, with M/s Godawari, Gaurav Kumar, Hitansh Raj and Aastha Kohli, Advocates, for respondent No.3,