AN ARREST CAN BE MADE MERELY BECAUSE IT IS LAWFUL DOES NOT MANDATE THAT ARREST MUST BE MADE - SC

The Supreme Court bench of Justice Sanjay Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy ruled that Section 170 of the CrPC does not impose an obligation on the investigation officer or officer in charge to arrest every accused at the time of filing of Chargesheet. "Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made."

The Bench was hearing an appeal against the judgment passed by the Allahabad High Court whereby the HC rejected anticipatory bail of the accused. A First Information Report was filed against the appellant long with 83 other private persons seven years ago. The appellant submitted that he is already a part of the investigation and has joined the investigation. The Chargesheet is also ready to be filed. 

The SC bench observed that the trial court took the view that a charge sheet will not be taken on record unless the person is taken into custody as per Section 170 of the Criminal Procedure Code. 

"Personal liberty is an important feature of our constitution. The arrest of an accused during investigation arises when there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses, or the accused may abscond." "If an arrest is made routine, it can cause unforeseeable harm to the reputation of a person. If the IO has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey and in fact cooperated with the investigation, we fail to understand why there should be a necessity on the officer to arrest the accused."

Author: Papiha Ghoshal