Non Supply Of 'Grounds Of Arrest' Either In Arrest Memo Or Separately To Accused Illegal: Delhi High Court In Abetment Of Suicide Case

The Delhi High Court declared the arrest of a man as illegal, in an abetment of suicide case, after noting that neither “grounds of arrest” column was there in the arrest memo nor the grounds were separately served upon him at the time of his arrest.Justice Vikas Mahajan said that the arrest stood vitiated as the grounds of arrest in terms of Section 50 of CrPC read with Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India were not supplied to the accused. “Now coming to the facts of the present case, a perusal of the arrest memo shows that though there is column providing for 'reasons of arrest' against which it is stated 'for the purpose of fair investigation' but neither there is column for 'grounds of arrest' in the arrest memo nor it is the case of the prosecution that the 'grounds of arrest' were separately served upon the present petitioner at the time of his arrest,” the Court said. It noted: “Rather, the learned APP has fairly stated that the petitioner was not served with grounds of arrest.”Justice Mahajan ordered release of accused Gagan in an FIR registered last year for the offences under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code, 1860.The case was registered on the complaint of a man who had recorded a video of his cousin deceased wherein he was saying that he had consumed poison due to teasing by Gagan and other accused persons. Declaring his arrest illegal, the Court referred to various judgments on the subject and said that the I.O is required to serve in writing the grounds of arrest upon the arrested person simultaneously at the time of arrest or simultaneously with the issuance of the arrest memo.“The petitioner is in custody since 08.08.2024 and the charge sheet has already been filed, therefore, his custody otherwise is not required for any purpose. Further, there is no minimum punishment prescribed for the alleged offence. Even the antecedents of the petitioner are clean. All these factors would have also enured to the benefit of the petitioner,” the Court said.Title: GAGAN v. STATE (NCT OF DELHI)Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 272click here to read order

Non Supply Of 'Grounds Of Arrest' Either In Arrest Memo Or Separately To Accused Illegal: Delhi High Court In Abetment Of Suicide Case

Nupur Thapliyal

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