Pre Arrest

Rights Extended to the Pre-Arrested

• No person can be arrested just based on a doubt about his involvement in an offence.
• A person cannot be arrested in a regular manner just because there is an allegation of offence against him.
• Just because a police officer has the powers of law with him, he cannot arrest any person. Any arrest made by him must stand the test of reason and justice and the officer should be able to justify reasons regarding the arrest.
• Any complaint received must be investigated fairly and reasonably and only after verifying the authenticity and validity of the complaint, action should be taken. There should be ample proof and reason to indict a person’s involvement in a crime and enough valid reasons to justify his arrest.
• The officer who initiates an arrest should be able to furnish valid and justified reasons for his action. Following circumstances many considered as valid reasons when an arrest is made in cognizable cases:

• During the instance of very serious crimes such as murder, rape, theft, dacoity, etc., the arrest can be valid because it is necessary to keep the suspect under arrest because if not arrested, he may escape the clutches of law.
• If the suspect displays violent behaviour, he can be arrested because he can be a threat to others.
• An arrest of a suspect as a precautionary measure can be carried out so that tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses or destroying evidence can be avoided. The suspect may also warn other accomplices in crimes if he is not arrested.
• A suspect, if a habitual offender, can be arrested for he can commit more heinous crimes if not arrested on time.

An arrest should be made only in case of grave offences as mentioned above. For other cases, an arrest should be avoided and the police officer can call the suspect to the police station and ask him to be there unless given permission to leave.