Arrests should be last option for police: HC

Holding that indiscriminate arrests are a gross violation of human rights, the Allahabad high court has held that arrest should be the last option for the police, and it should be restricted to those exceptional cases where it is imperative or custodial interrogation is required.

While granting anticipatory bail to one Jugendra Singh, a police constable, on May 28, Justice Siddharth cited a 1994 case — Joginder Kumar vs State of Uttar Pradesh — in which the Supreme Court had referred to a National Police Commission report that said arrest is a chief source of corruption in the police.

“Personal liberty is a very precious Fundamental Right and it should be curtailed only when it becomes imperative. According to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the arrest of an accused should be made,” the apex court had said in the 1994 case.

Singh was arrested on charges of taking bribe. His counsel submitted that there was no forensic report establishing this, nor was any money seized from him. Investigation is still underway, and the applicant apprehends that he may be arrested, Singh’s counsel said.

But the state’s counsel said the allegations being serious, Singh shouldn’t get anticipatory bail. “The apprehension of the applicant is not founded on any material on record. Only on the basis of imaginary fear, anticipatory bail cannot be granted,” the state counsel added.

However, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and considering the nature of accusation and applicant’s antecedents, and also the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the court accepted that Singh was entitled to anticipatory bail.