Arrested At 1AM In Violation Of CrPC Safeguards, Gauhati High Court Grants Bail To Woman After 2.5 Years In Custody

The Gauhati High Court recently granted bail to a woman doctor, booked for ill-treating her foster child, after finding that she had been arrested at night without prior permission of the Judicial Magistrate of the first class, in violation of the mandatory safeguards prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure.Dr. Sangeeta Dutta was arrested in 2023 along with her husband Dr. Walliul Islam and three others.Justice Anjan Moni Kalita granted her relief stating,"The mandate of Section 46(4) of Cr.PC is that if a woman is to be arrested after sunset or before sunrise, then save in exceptional circumstances, where such exceptional circumstance exits, the woman police officer shall by making a written report, should obtain prior permission of the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class within whose local jurisdiction the offence is committed or the arrest is to be made. As stated before, neither any such prior permission from the Judicial Magistrate First Class was found in the records nor any such permission was submitted before this Court during the hearing. In absence of such permission from the Judicial Magistrate First Class, the arrest becomes illegal."The Court further found that she was not informed the grounds of arrest soon after arrest, in violation of Article 21 and 22 (1) of the Constitution.Section 41B(b)(i) of the CrPC prescribes that the memorandum of arrest shall be attested by at least one witness, who may either be a family member of the arrested person or a respectable member of the locality where the arrest is made.It was alleged that the minor girl child was 'badly tortured by her foster parents', she was tied on a terrace under direct sunlight without food or water, leading to registration of offences under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 read with other provisions of the IPC and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.Examining the arrest procedure, the Court found that no proper grounds of arrest were communicated to the accused, observing, “From the said notice, it is found that no substantial grounds of arrest, as such, have been mentioned and it clearly shows that no grounds of arrest were substantively provided to the accused applicant.” On the failure to inform relatives or nominated persons, the Court said that it did not find any such notice on records which was issued to any of the accused applicant's friends, relatives or any other person as may be disclosed or nominated by the accused applicant.The Court concluded that the cumulative non-compliance with Sections 50, 50A, 41B(b)(i) and 46(4) CrPC rendered the arrest unlawful and unsustainable in law, and held that a case for grant of bail had been made out. Accordingly, Dr. Sangeeta Dutta was directed to be released on bail subject to conditions imposed by the trial court. Case Number: Bail Application No. 2805/2025 Case Title: Dr. Sangeeta Dutta v. State of AssamCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Gau) 57Click here to read the judgment

Arrested At 1AM In Violation Of CrPC Safeguards, Gauhati High Court Grants Bail To Woman After 2.5 Years In Custody

Bhavya Singh

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