A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday reminded the State government that the power to arrest an individual vested in the State and exercised through its police officers at various stages of the criminal justice process cannot be used as a punitive tool or a measure of harassment, unmindful of the State’s duty to take into account the safeguards provided under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) before the arrest of a citizen.
The Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. made the observation while disposing of the contempt of court case against the Inspector of the Wadakkanchery police station.
Directives violated
According to petitioner Mohammed Rafi, he was arrested in total violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar and another, which required issuance of notice under Section 41 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, before arresting a person. The police had also violated the High Court directive to issue notice to the petitioner under Section 41 A of Cr.PC if the presence of the petitioner was required for any legal necessity in the cheating case.
The court also reminded the authorities concerned that any attempt to circumvent the orders of the court was “derogatory to the very dignity of the court and administration of justice. The directions issued by the courts, particularly, by the Supreme Court have to be complied as such without any exception or justification. The directions so issued are binding and must be obeyed by the parties and all concerned in the strictest sense.”
The court also directed the State Police Chief to take steps to see that the police were directed to scrupulously follow the directions in the judgments of the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar as well as in the Satender Kumar Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation and another on the procedure to be followed during the arrest.
The court dropped the contempt of court proceeding in view of the unconditional apology tendered by Satheesh Kumar M.V. , Inspector of the Wadakkanchery station.
