Dr. A.S. Anand and K.T. Thomas, JJ.
ORDER
1. On 18-12-1996 in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal [(1997) 1 SCC 416] this Court laid
down certain basic “requirements” to be followed in all cases of arrest or detention till legal
provisions are made in that behalf as a measure to prevent custodial violence. The requirements
read as follows:
1. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee
should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations.
The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must
be recorded in a register.
2. That the police officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee 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.
3. A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police
station or interrogation centre or other lock-up, shall be entitled to have one friend or
relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as
soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place,
unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of
the arrestee.
4. 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 Organisation in the district and the police station of the area
concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.
5. The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his
arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.
6. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the
person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been
informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody
the arrestee is.
7. 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.
8. 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 Director, Health Services of the State or Union Territory concerned. Director,
Health Services should prepare such a panel for all tehsils and districts as well.
9. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be
sent to the Illaqa Magistrate for his record.
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10. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not
throughout the interrogation.
11. A police control room should be provided at all district and State headquarters, where
information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be
communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and
at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.”
2. This Court also opined that failure to comply with the above requirements, apart from
rendering the official concerned liable for departmental action, would also render him liable to
be punished for contempt of court and the proceedings for contempt of court could be instituted
in any High Court of the country, having territorial jurisdiction over the matter. This Court
further observed:
39. The requirements mentioned above shall be forwarded to the Director General of Police
and the Home Secretary of every State/Union Territory and it shall be their obligation to
circulate the same to every police station under their charge and get the same notified at
every police station at a conspicuous place. It would also be useful and serve larger interest
to broadcast the requirements on All India Radio besides being shown on the National
Network of Doordarshan and by publishing and distributing pamphlets in the local
language containing these requirements for information of the general public. Creating
awareness about the rights of the arrestee would in our opinion be a step in the right
direction to combat the evil of custodial crime and bring in transparency and accountability.
It is hoped that these requirements would help to curb, if not totally eliminate, the use of
questionable methods during interrogation and investigation leading to custodial
commission of crimes.
3. More than seven months have elapsed since the directions were issued. Through these
petitions, Dr Singhvi, the learned amicus curiae, who had assisted the Court in the main
petition, seeks a direction, calling upon the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary
of every State/Union Territory to report to this Court compliance of the above directions and
the steps taken by All India Radio and the National Network of Doordarshan for broadcasting
the requirements.
4. We direct the Registry to send a copy of this application, together with a copy of this
order to Respondents 1 to 31 to have the report/reports from the Director General of Police and
the Home Secretary of the State/Union Territory concerned, sent to this Court regarding the
compliance of the above directions concerning arrestees. The report shall indicate, in a tabular
form, as to which of the “requirements” have been carried out and in what manner, as also,
which are the “requirements” which still remain to be carried out and the steps being taken for
carrying out those.
5. Report shall also be obtained from the Directors of All India Radio and Doordarshan
regarding broadcasts made.
6. The notice on Respondents 1 to 31, in addition, may also be served through the standing
counsel of the respective States/Union Territories in the Supreme Court. After the reports are
received, copies of the same shall be furnished to the Advocate-on-Record for Dr Singhvi, Ms.
Suruchi Aggrawal, Advocates.
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7. The reports shall be submitted to this Court in the terms, indicated above, within six
weeks from today. The matters shall be put up on board for monitoring, after seven weeks
