What are the rights of a person arrested by the police? I have heard that in case of a bailable offence a person can be released on bail from the police station itself? Is this correct?

Accused has the right to bail in case of a bailable offence

Q: What are the rights of a person arrested by the police? I have heard that in case of a bailable offence a person can be released on bail from the police station itself? Is this correct? —Rajdeep Goel A: Yes, as laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, bail can be claimed as a matter of right by an accused in bailable offences. Section 436 of the Criminal Procedure Code (‘Code’) imposes a statutory duty both upon a police officer and a court to release a person arrested for a bailable offence on bail as soon as he is prepared to offer bail. It is held that for every bailable offence, bail is a right and not a favour and in demanding bail from accused, the learned magistrate should bear in mind the social status of the accused and fix the amount of bail accordingly, taking care that the amount fixed is not excessive. In the case of bailable offence to which section 436 applies, the court or the police officer has no discretion at all to refuse to release the accused on bail, so long as he is prepared to furnish bail. ‘Arrest’ means apprehension of a person by a legal authority resulting in deprivation of his liberty. In every case of arrest with or without a warrant, the Code mandates that the person arresting shall communicate to the arrested person, without delay, the grounds for his arrest. This precious right of the arrested person has been recognized by the Constitution as one of the fundamental rights. Further every police officer arresting any person other than a person accused of a non-bailable offence, is required to inform the person arrested that he is entitled to be released on bail and that he may arrange for sureties on his behalf. The Code further provides that except in exceptional circumstances, no woman shall be arrested after sunset and before sunrise. Wherever such exceptional circumstances exist, a woman police officer shall before effecting the arrest, by making report, obtain the prior permission of the Magistrate. In case of every arrest, the person making the arrest is required to produce the arrested person without unnecessary delay before the magistrate and it has been categorically provided that such a delay in no case shall exceed 24 hours exclusive of the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the magistrate’s court. This right is also recognized in the Constitution as one of the fundamental rights. Both the Constitution and the Code recognises the right of every arrested person to consult a legal practitioner of his choice. This right begins from the moment of arrest. As also the arrested person must be informed by the magistrate about his right to be medically examined by a medical practitioner. Further the arrested person being held in custody is entitled to have one friend , relative or other person who is known to him or likely to take an interest in his welfare, informed about the factum of his arrest. Apart from the rights mentioned above, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has in the landmark judgment of DK Basu V/s State of West Bengal inter-alia issued the following requirements to be followed in case of arrests. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee shall bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designation. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register. Further the police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may either be a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be countersigned by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest. The Court further instructs that the time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the Police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aid Organization in the district and the police station of the area concerned within 8 to 12 hours after the arrest. The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time. The ‘Inspection Memo” must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee. The court further mandates that the arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest referred to above should be sent to the magistrate for his record. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout interrogation. Further the court orders that the failure to comply with the requirements hereinabove mentioned shall apart from rendering the official concerned liable for departmental action, also render him liable to be punished for contempt of court and the proceedings for contempt of court may be instituted in the high court having territorial jurisdiction over the matter.