Police Need Not Re-Supply Grounds Of Arrest Upon Second Arrest In Same FIR: Punjab & Haryana High Court
Saksham Vaishya
20 April 2026 4:10 PM IST
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that re-supplying of grounds of arrest is not mandatory upon a second arrest in the same FIR where such grounds have already been furnished earlier. The Court observed that once the requirement of supplying grounds of arrest is complied with, there is no legal mandate to repeat the same exercise on subsequent arrest in the same case.
Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi was hearing a criminal writ petition seeking issuance of a writ of habeas corpus to declare the re-arrest of the petitioners as illegal and for their release from custody.
The case arose from an FIR registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Arms Act. The petitioners were initially arrested on the date of occurrence and produced before the Magistrate on 04.02.2026, where their arrest was declared illegal on account of non-compliance with the requirement of supplying grounds of arrest.
They were thereafter released and subsequently re-arrested on the same day after permission was sought, following which they were again produced before the Magistrate. The petitioners contended that their re-arrest was illegal as the grounds of arrest were not supplied afresh prior to the second remand.
The Court examined the timeline of events and noted that the grounds of arrest had been supplied to the petitioners during the hearing of the first remand application between 03:20 p.m. and 03:35 p.m., when the initial arrest was declared illegal. It further noted that the re-arrest took place at about 06:20 p.m. and the petitioners were produced before the Magistrate between 08:00 p.m. and 08:15 p.m.
The Court reiterated that grounds of arrest must be supplied in writing at least two hours prior to production before the Magistrate. It held that in the present case, the requirement stood satisfied as the grounds had been furnished well before the second production for remand.
The Court held that there is no requirement that grounds of arrest must be re-supplied upon every arrest in the same FIR, and once the grounds have been communicated, the purpose of enabling the accused to understand the basis of arrest stands fulfilled.
“… there is no requirement in law that the grounds of arrest must be supplied prior to each arrest in the same FIR… When they were subsequently arrested at 06:20 p.m. and produced for police remand later that evening there was no requirement of the resupply of the grounds of arrest,” the Court observed.
On facts, the Court noted that the allegations against the petitioners were serious, involving firing within court premises, and that some of the petitioners had multiple criminal antecedents.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the writ petition seeking a declaration of re-arrest as illegal and release from custody.
Case Title: Vinod alias Binnu & Ors. vs. State of Haryana & Ors. [CRWP-1543-2026 (O&M)]