The Allahabad High Court has held that after the lodging of an FIR, the arrest can be made by the police at will and that there is no definite period fixed for the police to arrest an accused against whom an FIR has been lodged.
The single-judge bench of Justice Siddharth passed this order while hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Sachin Saini.
The bail application has been filed on behalf Saini with a prayer to
release him on bail under Sections 452, 323, 504, 506 IPC, Police Station Khurja Nagar, District Bulandshahar, during the pendency of the trial.
The counsel for the applicant submitted that earlier the father of the applicant had lodged an first information report against the son of the informant on August 24, 2020 under Sections 147, 148, 323, 504, 506 IPC. It was contended that by way of counter blast, the FIR in the instant matter had been lodged on September 20, 2020 implicating the applicant in the case falsely.
The counsel for the applicant submitted that the allegations are absolutely incorrect. No injury was suffered. Applicant has been falsely implicated. He has no criminal history against his name. The applicant has definite apprehension that he maybe arrested any time.
The Courts have repeatedly held that arrest should be the last option for the police and it should be restricted to those exceptional cases where arresting the accused is imperative or his custodial interrogation is required. Irrational and
indiscriminate arrests are a gross violation of human rights.
The Court directed the applicant involved in the instant crime be released on anticipatory bail on furnishing a personal bond with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.
After considering the submissions, the Court concluded that there was a case registered/about to be registered against the applicant.
“In the case of Joginder Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh AIR 1994 SC 1349, the Apex Court has referred to the third report of National Police Commission wherein it is mentioned that arrests by the police in India are one of the chief sources of corruption in the police,” the bench said.
The bench further said, “The report suggested that, by and large, nearly 60 per cent of the arrests were either unnecessary or unjustified and that such unjustified police action accounted for 43.2 per cent of the expenditure of the jails. 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 particular case, the arrest of an accused should be made.”
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