Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has directed Assam Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to ensure that law enforcement agencies properly follow laws while arresting someone without a warrant.
The high court emphasised that, under Section 47 of the BNSS, 2023 and special laws like as Section 52(1) of the NDPS Act, 1985, police and other enforcement agencies must issue a proper notice at the time of arrest of a person.
The court said the notice should include the full details of the offence, the nature of the crime, and the facts justifying the arrest.
Failure to comply with the orders, it would render the arrest invalid, as it would violate constitutional mandates, the high court order said.
A copy of the order has been sent to the Chief Secretary, DGP, and the Director of the Judicial Academy, Assam, to raise awareness of the legal requirements.
The issue came during the hearing of a bail petition filed by Sakib Choudhury, who was represented by advocates Bijon Kumar Mahajan and Arshad Choudhury in the Gauhati High Court.
Sakib Choudhury was arrested from a hotel in Mangaldai in January, and has been accused of operating multiple accounts under the names of various firms, companies, and NGOs.
The accused, along with four others, wes accused of committing bank fraud by transferring money from their target accounts to their own receiver accounts.
Sakib Choudhury has been accused of using hackers who could clone the target accounts to facilitate the fraud.
The defence lawyers, Bijon Kumar Mahajan and Arshad Choudhury, said it is the constitutional duty of the police to inform the accused about the grounds of arrest, which include full particulars of the offence.
Mahajan and Choudhury claimed their client was never informed about the reasons for the arrest, which violated his constitutional rights under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, as well as his statutory rights under Section 47 of the BNSS, 2023.
RR Kaushik, the Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the bail, arguing that there is sufficient incriminating evidence against Sakib Choudhury in the case diary.
Later, the high court granted bail to Sakib Choudhury on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Darrang.
