An arrested person in India has rights that operate immediately: to be told the grounds of arrest, to inform a relative or friend, to consult a lawyer of their choice, to be medically examined, and to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. These rights do not enforce themselves — in practice they work when the family knows them by name and asks for them by name at the station. Handcuffing, custodial violence and detention beyond 24 hours without production are all impermissible.
Scope and jurisdiction at a glance
- Right to know the grounds
- An arrested person must be informed of the grounds of arrest. This flows from Article 22(1) of the Constitution and is reflected in the BNSS, and the grounds must be communicated in a manner the person actually understands.
- Right to inform someone
- The arrested person is entitled to have a relative, friend or nominated person informed of the arrest and of the place of detention. The police are obliged to inform that person and to record having done so.
- Right to a lawyer
- Article 22(1) guarantees the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of one's choice. The right attaches from the time of arrest, not from the first court appearance, and includes the right to have the lawyer present during interrogation for at least part of it.
- Production within 24 hours
- Article 22(2) requires an arrested person to be produced before the nearest Magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest, excluding the time necessary for the journey. Detention beyond that period without the authority of a Magistrate is unlawful.
- Medical examination
- The arrested person is entitled to be examined by a medical officer, and to have injuries recorded. A request for an examination should be made on the record at the first opportunity, as this is the principal safeguard against custodial violence.
- Notice instead of arrest
- Where the offence is punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years, Section 35(3) of the BNSS — the successor to Section 41A of the CrPC — requires the police to issue a notice of appearance rather than arrest, unless arrest is necessary for reasons recorded in writing. The Supreme Court laid down the governing directions in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014).
- Free legal aid
- Where the accused cannot afford a lawyer, legal aid at State expense is a right under Article 39A and the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, and the Magistrate is obliged to inform the accused of it.
- If a right was violated
- Record what happened contemporaneously, raise it before the Magistrate at the first production, and where appropriate move a habeas corpus petition or a complaint to the State Human Rights Commission. In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997) the Supreme Court laid down binding requirements for arrest and detention, breach of which sounds in departmental action and compensation.
When the police arrest someone, they exercise power the Constitution deliberately hedged with rights. Those rights don't enforce themselves — they work when the family knows them by name and asks for them by name. Here is the complete list.
The police MUST
- Tell him, and you, why. Grounds of arrest must be communicated to the arrested person (BNSS s.47; Art. 22(1)); in statutes covered by the Pankaj Bansal / Prabir Purkayastha line, grounds must be given in writing.
- Prepare an arrest memo — time, date, place, witness attestation (BNSS s.43; D.K. Basu).
- Inform a relative or friend of the arrest and where he is held (BNSS s.48).
- Produce him before a magistrate within 24 hours, journey time excluded (BNSS s.58; Art. 22(2)). Detention beyond that without a magistrate's order is illegal custody.
- Get him medically examined, with injuries recorded (BNSS ss.51–53).
- Allow him to consult a lawyer of his choice, including during (not throughout) interrogation (BNSS s.38; Art. 22(1)).
- Provide free legal aid if he cannot afford counsel — at the remand stage itself, through DLSA (BNSS s.341 / Legal Services Authorities Act route; Khatri and Suk Das line).
- Record reasons before arresting in offences punishable up to 7 years, where arrest is not to be routine (BNSS s.35 thresholds; Arnesh Kumar guidelines and their current enforcement, incl. contempt exposure for breach).
- Release him on station bail in bailable offences on furnishing bond (BNSS s.478).
- Special protections for women: arrest by/in presence of woman officer; after-sunset arrest only exceptionally with prior permission (BNSS s.43(5)); questioning of women at their residence (BNSS s.179(1) proviso).
- Special protections for minors: a child in conflict with law goes through the JJ Act route — apprehension, Juvenile Justice Board, not regular remand (JJ Act, 2015 ss.10–12).
The police CANNOT
- Torture, slap, or "soften up". Custodial violence is a crime; every injury must appear in the medical record. Note injuries at every mulaqat.
- Keep him in unrecorded custody — every movement runs through the station diary and case diary.
- Handcuff routinely. Handcuffing is the exception, requiring recorded justification (BNSS s.43(3) categories; Prem Shankar Shukla line).
- Compel him to confess. Article 20(3): no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. Confessions to police are inadmissible (BSA equivalents of Evidence Act ss.25–26).
- Deny production within 24 hours or obtain "consent" to skip it.
- Seize the family's phones/property without procedure — seizure memos, witnessed (BNSS seizure provisions and current position on device seizure).
- Summon women or children to the station for questioning where the law requires questioning at residence (BNSS s.179 proviso scope).
Detained at a protest? What changes — and what doesn't
During protests in Delhi, most people taken away in police buses are not arrested at all — they are detained under preventive provisions (BNSS s. 170, the provision earlier known as s. 151 CrPC) or removed from the area of a prohibitory order (BNSS s. 163, the old "Section 144"). The difference decides everything that follows:
- Ask the one question, on the spot: "Am I arrested — in which FIR, under which sections — or detained?" Make the officer answer it; note the answer and the time.
- Preventive detention is short by design. A person detained preventively cannot lawfully be held beyond 24 hours unless formally arrested in a registered case; in protest situations release commonly happens the same day. Detainees are often taken to a police station far from the protest site — families should ask which station, then use the station-to-court lookup if a case is actually registered.
- If an FIR is registered, the usual protest-related offences — unlawful assembly, disobedience of a prohibitory order — are ordinarily bailable: station bail on a personal bond is the right, and should be asked for by name at the station itself.
- Every right in this guide applies unchanged to a protest pickup: identification of officers, information to family, medical examination if there was force, no compelled statements, and production within 24 hours if the detention converts into an arrest.
- What not to do: sign unread papers, hand over a phone unlocked "voluntarily" (device seizure has its own procedure), or scuffle at the station — the offence added for that will not be bailable-by-right.
Rights that continue in custody
- Meeting his lawyer; family mulaqat per jail rules (Tihar/Rohini/Mandoli — e-mulaqat booking).
- Medical treatment, including referral for serious conditions.
- Default bail if the chargesheet isn't filed in 60/90 days (BNSS s.187(3)) — an indefeasible right if claimed before the chargesheet lands. Count the days.
- Undertrial release protections after substantial custody (BNSS s.479 incl. first-offender one-third rule and SC's retrospective-application orders).
- Speedy trial as a facet of Article 21.
If a right was violated
Document it (dates, names, injuries, witnesses), tell the magistrate at the next hearing — remand hearings exist partly for this — and preserve the medical records. Remedies range from bail arguments to compensation writs. What you do not do: argue inside the station, or sign statements you haven't read.
FAQ (for schema markup)
Can police question someone without arresting him?
Yes — by written notice of appearance (BNSS s.35(3)). Attending questioning is not arrest, and arrest during such appearance has its own conditions.
Can we meet him at the police station?
The nominated relative must be told where he is; meeting practice varies — his lawyer can always meet him.
Is bail possible on the very first day?
In bailable offences, yes — at the station or at first production. In non-bailable offences, a bail application follows; interim protections depend on the case.
Does he have to answer every question?
He must not be compelled to incriminate himself (Art. 20(3)); he should not lie; the line between the two is precisely what a lawyer is for.
What if the family can't afford a lawyer?
DLSA legal-aid counsel at the remand court — free, by right. Ask the court staff.
Can the family meet him at the police station?
The nominated relative must be informed where he is held; meeting practice varies, but his lawyer can always meet him.
Someone in your family has been arrested?
The first 24 hours follow a strict legal clock — production, remand, bail. Get clear guidance before the production hearing.