The Constitution of India which came into effect in 1950, incorporated "Fundamental
Rights" of the citizens.
In India, the protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 defines Human
Rights as the rights relating to liberty, equality, and dignity of the
individual guaranteed by the Indian Constitution as embodied in the
Fundamental Rights and the International Covenants'.
The Scope of the concept of Human Rights is expanding
day by day. Human rights fall under the following broad categories:
Persons, who are arrested, have certain rights - both at the time of arrest and immediately
thereafter which are inherent in Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has observed in several decisions that these rights
are to be recognised and scrupulously protected. These
rights are:
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Police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation
of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification
and name tags with their designations. The particulars of all
such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must
be recorded in a register. |
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That the police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a
memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested
by at least one witness, who may either be a member of the family of
the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the
arrest is made. It shall also be countersigned by the arrestee
and shall contain the time and date of arrest. |
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A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in
custody in a police station or interrogation centre or other lock-up,
shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known
to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as
practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the
particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest
is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee. |
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The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must
be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee
lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aid Organisation
in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically
within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest. |
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The person arrested must be made aware of his right to have someone
informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest
or is detained. |
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As entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding
the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next
friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names
and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee
is. |
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The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the
time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present of his/her
body, must be recorded at that time. The "Inspection Memo"
must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting
the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee. |
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The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained
doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on
the panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services
should prepare such a panel for all Tahsils and districts as well. |
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Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred
to above, should be sent to the jurisdictional Magistrate for his record. |
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The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation,
though not throughout the interrogation. |
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A police control room should be provided at all district and State
headquarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of
custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing
the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and the police control
room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board. |
