The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has cautioned police authorities and judicial officers against a “careless or callous approach” in matters of arrest and remand where the offence carries a maximum punishment of up to seven years.
The court also noted that another juvenile was involved in the case and questioned why the police had not ascertained the petitioner’s age when the other person’s juvenility had been established. The habeas corpus petition was accordingly disposed of finally. The court added that it expects the investigation against the petitioner to be completed and the police report, if any, to be filed strictly in accordance with law.
The court had referred to the Supreme Court’s directions in the Satender Antil case, wherein it was held that an accused must be served with a Section 35(3) Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita notice rather than be arrested in cases involving offences punishable with less than seven years’ imprisonment.
The court observed that had the magistrate verified the petitioner’s age, “the minor could have not been sent for judicial custody” by allowing the remand application.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court reiterated that arrest is an exception, not the rule, in offences punishable up to seven years.
The court’s observation was in relation to a habeas corpus petition concerning a Lucknow juvenile who was repeatedly sent to judicial custody in a case where the maximum punishment was three years and, after the addition of another provision, five years. “Lastly, the factum of illegal confinement, if it is established, may be taken seriously and erring official/officers may not be spared. So, all the concerning official/officers shall not take up aforesaid issue lightly,” the court observed.
The court disposed of the plea, where it had earlier found the juvenile’s detention prima facie illegal and directed his release from jail forthwith.
