Vihaan Kumar Vs State Of Haryana 2025 INSC 162 - Art. 22 Constitution - Requirement Of Informing Grounds Of Arrest

Constitution of India - Article 21,22 - a) The requirement of informing a person arrested of grounds of arrest is a mandatory requirement of Article 22(1); b) The information of the grounds of arrest must be provided to the arrested person in such a manner that sufficient knowledge of the basic facts constituting the grounds is imparted and communicated to the arrested person effectively in the language which he understands. The mode and method of communication must be such that the object of the constitutional safeguard is achieved; c) When arrested accused alleges non-compliance with the requirements of Article 22(1), the burden will always be on the Investigating Officer/Agency to prove compliance with the requirements of Article 22(1); d) Non-compliance with Article 22(1) will be a violation of the fundamental rights of the accused guaranteed by the said Article. Moreover, it will amount to a violation of the right to personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. Therefore, non-compliance with the requirements of Article 22(1) vitiates the arrest of the accused. Hence, further orders passed by a criminal court of remand are also vitiated. Needless to add that it will not vitiate the investigation, charge sheet and trial. But, at the same time, filing of chargesheet will not validate a breach of constitutional mandate under Article 22(1); e) When an arrested person is produced before a Judicial Magistrate for remand, it is the duty of the Magistrate to ascertain whether compliance with Article 22(1) and other mandatory safeguards has been made; and f) When a violation of Article 22(1) is established, it is the duty of the court to forthwith order the release of the accused. That will be a ground to grant bail even if statutory restrictions on the grant of bail exist. The statutory restrictions do not affect the power of the court to grant bail when the violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution is established.

Constitution of India - Article 21 - In this case, accused was taken to a hospital while he was handcuffed and he was chained to the hospital bed - SC held: This itself is a violation of the fundamental right of the appellant under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The right to live with dignity is a part of the rights guaranteed under Article 21. : The State of Haryana directed to issue guidelines/departmental instructions to the police to ensure that the act of handcuffing an accused while he is on a hospital bed and tying him to the hospital bed is not committed again. (Para 29,33)

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 41 - BNSS - Section 35 -Police officer cannot casually arrest a person against whom the commission of an offence punishable with imprisonment for more than seven years is alleged. He can arrest provided twin conditions in clause (ba) are satisfied. The emphasis is on “credible information”. He cannot arrest a person under clause (ba) unless credible information is received.: a) Credible information has been received against the person that he has committed a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for more than seven years and b) The police officer has reason to believe on the basis of the information received that such a person has committed the offence. (Para 8)