Communication of grounds of arrest in writing in accused’s language is a must: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, in a significant verdict on Thursday, held that arrested persons must be furnished with the grounds of arrest in writing in a language they understand, irrespective of the nature of the offence or statute involved.

The Bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih held that the grounds of arrest must be “supplied in writing within a reasonable time, and in any case two hours prior to the production of the arrestee before the Magistrate for remand proceedings”.

“Mere communication of the grounds in a language not understood by the person arrested does not fulfil the Constitutional mandate under Article 22 of the Constitution of India. The failure to supply such grounds in a language understood by the arrestee renders the Constitutional safeguards illusory and infringes the personal liberty of the person as guaranteed under Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution,” the apex court observed.

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In case of non-compliance, the arrest and subsequent remand would be rendered illegal and the person would be set free, the court directed. The judgment was based on a case arising from the high-profile Mumbai hit-and-run incident of July 2024 involving a BMW vehicle.

Justice Masih, who authored the verdict for the Bench, underscored that the Constitutional mandate under Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees that an arrested person must be informed “as soon as may be” of the grounds of arrest, was not a procedural formality but a fundamental safeguard of personal liberty.

“This court is of the opinion that to achieve the intended objective of the Constitutional mandate of Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, the grounds of arrest must be informed to the arrested person in each and every case without exception and the mode of the communication of such grounds must be in writing in the language he understands,” Justice Masih wrote.

“The grounds of arrest must be communicated in writing to the arrestee in the language he/she understands and in case(s) where, the arresting officer/person is unable to communicate the grounds of arrest in writing on or soon after arrest, it be so done orally. The said grounds be communicated in writing within a reasonable time and in any case at least two hours prior to production of the arrestee for remand proceedings before the Magistrate,” the judgment directed.