Noting that informing an arrested individual of the grounds for their arrest is a fundamental right under Article 22(1) of the Constitution, the Supreme Court today (February 7) stressed that this information must be conveyed clearly and effectively. The Court also emphasized the magistrate's duty to ensure compliance with Article 22(1) during remand, noting that any violation could warrant the person's release or justify the granting of bail, even in cases with statutory restrictions.

“Even if statutory restrictions on grant of bail exist, the statutory restrictions do not affect the power of the court to grant bail when violation of Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution is established.”, the Court observed.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh delivered separate but concurring judgments discussing the mandatory nature of informing an arrested person of the grounds for their arrest, as guaranteed by Article 22(1) of the Indian Constitution.

Some of the relevant observations made by Justice Oka are:

“The information on grounds of arrest must be provided to the arrested person in such a manner that sufficient knowledge of the basic facts constituting the grounds is imparted and communicated to the arrested person effectively in the language which he understands the mode and method of communication must be such that object of the constitutional safeguard is achieved."

Some of the relevant observations made by Justice Oka are:

“The information on grounds of arrest must be provided to the arrested person in such a manner that sufficient knowledge of the basic facts constituting the grounds is imparted and communicated to the arrested person effectively in the language which he understands the mode and method of communication must be such that object of the constitutional safeguard is achieved."