In legal or law terms, the police hold the authority to arrest an accused in a criminal matter, but only if such arrest is legally valid or justified. The fundamental basis as per law for such an arrest can be a warrant issued by a court, or under specific sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that allow for warrantless arrests by police officers. The Section 41 of the CrPC outlines the minimum requirements that must be fulfilled for the exercise of police powers during such arrests.
The magistrates have authorities to issue arrest warrant to apprehend individuals responsible for crimes committed within their jurisdictions. These warrants can be executed anywhere in India. Magistrates have also the authority to issue arrest warrants for individuals who have committed crimes in other jurisdictions, as long as they are located within their own jurisdiction. They also have the power to execute arrest warrants issued by judges from other jurisdictions.
Introduction to Remand & its Types
The term ‘remand’ is referred to as detention after arrest. When it comes the types of remand, they are of three types; police remand, judicial remand, and transit remand. Within the first 24 hours after an individual is arrested, the police may detain them without producing them before a magistrate or judge. If the police fail to produce the arrested individual before a magistrate within 24 hours, they must be released immediately. If the arrested person is produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, the magistrate must decide whether to commit them to remand and, if so, which form of remand to impose.
Section 57 of the Indian Law clearly mandates that an arrested person must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, subject to two provisos. However, the maximum time of detention before producing the arrested person may vary depending on the circumstances of the case and may be as short as a few hours. However, the provision of section 57 is usually not strictly enforced.
The first proviso allows for detention beyond 24 hours if a magistrate has issued an order under section 167 of the CrPC. The second proviso allows detention for 24 hours plus the time consumed in transporting him to reach the nearest magistrate.
It is necessary to note that the police must produce the arrested person before the nearest magistrate, regardless of the jurisdiction where the person is wanted. The police can’t delay production on the pretext of arresting a person in a distant location or jurisdiction. In case, the police wish to seek remand, they must approach the nearest magistrate, failing which the remanded person may be remanded to judicial custody.
What if the person is wanted in multiple locations?
In case, the person is wanted in multiple locations, the police from the location where the person is not in custody may seek transit remand to bring the person to their area for interrogation or collection of evidence. Transit remand may also be granted if a person is wanted by law enforcement authorities in one location but resides in another location in a different state within India. In the same manner, if a person arrives in India through an international airport or port located in one state and is arrested by the police officer of another, transit remand may be sought for transportation to the arresting state.
In the context of law, it is possible for a magistrate to conduct a remand hearing at a police station, mainly in serious cases. However, this is unlikely to occur in cases related to dowry harassment, i.e. cases falling under Section 498a of the Indian Penal Code. When it comes to the method of producing the arrestee before the magistrate, whether by the police or by the magistrate’s visit to the police station, is insignificant. The validity of the arrest and remand can be established by the magistrate’s signature on the remand order.
When a person is arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant or warrants issued by a judge, the police is not allowed to detain them for more than 24 hours without producing them before the magistrate who has jurisdiction over the place of arrest. The requirement is justified by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which recognizes the right to liberty, as well as by the judicial principle that investigations exceeding 24 hours must be evaluated by a judicial officer to find out their necessity.
When the magistrate hears the police, they may permit police custody for up to 15 days, but this can be typically only granted for one or two days in 498a cases. The police may request for an extension of police remand if needed, but second request is more likely to get refused often than the first one. It helps in preventing the country from turning into a police state. When all extensions get exhausted, the judge must send the arrestee to judicial custody within 15 days if it is deemed to prevent negative outcomes.
The maximum period of remand (including both police and judicial remand) is usually limited to 60 days, and certainly not more than 90 days for arrests made under offenses punishable by a minimum term of 10 years or more (including life imprisonment or death penalty). However, this time limit is not always considered in practice. At the end of this period, the accused person is generally released when an execution of a bail bond takes place, which is offered to the accused person by law without the need for a bail application.
It should also be taken into note that an accused person cannot be released on bail if he/she is unable or unwilling to execute a bail bond, except in cases of indigence as given by law. Additionally, it is possible for an arrested person to be subjected to police remand even after judicial remand or between episodes of judicial remand. Confessions obtained during subsequent rounds of police custody following an initial refusal to confess before a judge will not be admissible as evidence.
The justification for the 24-hour limit on police custody depends upon the possibility of torture, although this does not guarantee protection against torture within this timeframe. While such practices are less common these days, earlier they have been a major cause for concern. However, in cases of dowry-related offenses, torture is not generally a concern unless the accused person is from a marginalized or illiterate section of society. It is important not to be intimidated by vested interests and to approach the legal process with confidence.