New Delhi: Noting that there is no distinction between arrest and detention, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the 24-hour deadline for producing a person before magistrate begins from moment s/he is detained.
The apex court ruled that a person detained beyond the permissible 24-hour window without being produced before a magistrate must be released forthwith.
"The view that 24 hours begin only from the formal arrest is contrary to the constitutional mandate of Article 22(2) and 56 of BNSS," the bench ruled.
Emphasizing that the calculation of the 24-hours should start from the moment a person is detained and thereby his/her liberty stands curtailed, the Supreme Court also ruled only the time necessary for journey from the place of arrest to the magistrate's court can be excluded.
The time spent on inquiry, investigation, search or seizure before formal arrest cannot be excluded, it added.
Article 22(2) provides that every person, who is arrested and detained in custody must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of arrest.
The detaining authority must ensure that detention does not exceed a reasonable period, even within the constitutional 24-hour limit, it added.
The judicial magistrates must record the actual date and time of detention and independently examine compliance with the constitutional deadline, the verdict said.
The magistrates must also assess whether the duration of detention is reasonable in the circumstances and may decline remand if it is excessive, the bench said.
The top court disapproved of the views taken by the Orissa High Court in the Aryaman Pattanaik case, the Madras High Court in the Kannan case and the Kerala High Court in the Arun K Thomas case, which had permitted the period of detention before formal arrest to be excluded while calculating the 24-hour deadline.
The detailed judgment is awaited.