Law of arrest and rights of arrested person- a critique in light of judicial pronouncements

Abstract

The project revolves around the vital and fundamental rule for safeguarding personal liberty in all legal systems where the rule of law prevails. Arrest in criminal jurisprudence means the confinement of a man under the power of law regarding an asserted or expected infringement of the law. Police officers are endowed with wide powers of arrest under various circumstances, so are a few different classes of officers who are depended with the implementation of penal enactments. Judges have powers of arrest in specific circumstances and even private persons have the ability to arrest in exceptional circumstances. In any case, the ability to arrest must be practiced with astute attentiveness and alert. The primary responsibility of the State is to maintain law and order so that citizens can enjoy peace and security. Life and personal liberty being very precious rights, their protection is guaranteed to the citizens as a fundamental right under Article 21 of our constitution. Personal liberty is invaded by arrest and continues to be restrained during a period a person is on bail and it matters not whether there is or is not a possibility of imprisonment. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. Practically speaking, there exists a conflict between societal interest in effecting such crime detection and constitutional rights which are made available to the accused individual. Depending on the circumstances, emphasis may shift on either side in balancing these interests. The law of arrest is one of balancing individual rights on one side, and individual duties and responsibilities on the other; of simply deciding which comes first the law violator or the law abider - the criminal or society. Since, denying a person of his liberty is a serious matter, it is the State’s eternal problem to strike the balance between the needs of law enforcement on the one hand and the protection of the citizen from oppression and injustice at the hands of the law-enforcement machinery on the other.