Giving Arrest Memo Not Same As Supplying Grounds Of Arrest : Supreme Court Sets Aside Arrest & Remand

The Supreme Court recently set aside the arrest and remand for an appellant in the light of the decision in Prabir Purkayastha v. State (2024), which held that supplying grounds of arrest in writing as prescribed under Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires mandatory compliance, lest the arrest and remand will stands vitiated in the eyes of the law. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal held that what was furnished to the arrestee was an arrest memo, which did not contain any worthwhile particulars, such as the charges framed against him. It only contained the name of the accused and the place of arrest and stated that he was arrested based on the statement of the co-accused. "We are in agreement with the submission made by the learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant that the said arrest memo cannot be construed as grounds of arrest, as no other worthwhile particulars have been furnished to him. This, being a clear non-compliance of the mandate under Section 50 of the Code which has been introduced to give effect to Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, 1950 we are inclined to set aside the impugned judgment, particularly, in light of the judgment rendered by this Court reported as Prabir Purkayastha v. State (NCT of Delhi) - (2024) 8 SCC 254."In this case, the accused was arrested last December in connection with a first information report registered under Sections 384, 420, 468, 471, 509 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. He was remanded to police custody for 3 days. He challenged his arrest and remand before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which refused to entertain it. Against the January 30 order of the High Court, an appeal was filed. He challenged his arrest and remand on three grounds: non-compliance with Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the opportunity of being heard at the time of remand and the non-furnishing of the grounds of arrest.The Supreme Court considered his criminal appeal only in terms of the last ground.Case Details: ASHISH KAKKAR v. UT OF CHANDIGARH|CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1518 /2025Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 367Appearances: Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal for petitioner and Advocate Bhuvan Kapoor for RespondentClick Here To Read Order

Giving Arrest Memo Not Same As Supplying Grounds Of Arrest : Supreme Court Sets Aside Arrest & Remand

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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