On 18th December, 1996 the Hon’ble Supreme Court has set out a charter of rights of the arrested person to safeguard the interest of the arrestee in the case of D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal and A.K. Jauhari(AIR 1997 SC 610(623)). This list of guidelines was set out keeping intact the principles of Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Indian Constitution and has directed for its adherence.
The police personnel carrying the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate clear identification name tags with their designation and the details and particulars of such a policeman should be recorded in the register. A memo of arrest, is to be prepared by the police officer, which shall be attested by a witness who may be a family member or any respectable person from the area of arrest. This memo has to be countersigned by the arrestee with date and time mentioned in it. The arrestee may also be examined of any major or minor injuries on his body and in doing so the police officer may prepare an inspection memo and is to be signed by both the arrestee and the police officer and a copy of same is to be provided to the arrestee.
The arrestee has the right to have one friend, relative or a known person to be with him at the time of interrogation or detention in the police custody.
The details such as the time, venue of custody and the place of arrest should be notified by the police to a friend or a relative of the arrestee within a period of 8 to 12 hours of the arrest. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the place of detention of the arrestee, who has been informed of the arrest and the particulars of the officials in whose custody the arrestee is.
The arrestee must be informed of his right to representation by a legal expert and to inform his kith and kin of his arrest.
Further for the well being of the arrestee it was stated that 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 the Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory. This panel is prepared by the Director, Health Services for all Tehsils and Districts.
It is the right of the arrestee to meet his Lawyer during interrogation
The guidelines set are in addition to the Constitutional and Statutory safeguards and do not detract from the other directions given by the courts from time to time in safeguarding the dignity of the arrestee. These safeguards are however not available to an alien enemy or to a person detained under a law providing for the preventive detention.
Further, to ensure the strict compliance of such guidelines the Supreme Court stated that the non compliance of the guidelines would attract departmental action against the official responsible for the non compliance and he shall also be punished for the contempt of court.
