The Allahabad high court has held that a subsequent formal arrest and remand cannot legitimise an earlier illegal detention, applying the US legal doctrine of “fruit of the poisonous tree” to constitutional safeguards under Articles 21 and 22.
It directed that he be released forthwith if he was not wanted in any other case. A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev passed the order while allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by Chaurasiya. The court also directed the Prayagraj commissioner to conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility for the illegal detention. The high court had called for CCTV footage from the police station. However, it noted that the counter-affidavit filed by the station house officer and investigating officer itself admitted that Chaurasiya had been in police custody. The SHO attributed the failure to record his presence in the general diary to an inadvertent mistake. The court rejected the explanation, observing that an experienced police officer could not have failed to make a general diary entry recording that Chaurasiya had been brought to the police station and lodged in the lock-up. The court, however, clarified that police could re-arrest Chaurasiya in accordance with law and the safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court.
The court ordered the release of Prayagraj resident Ravi Chaurasiya, who was kept in police custody for nearly 31 hours before being formally arrested, and awarded him ₹ 30,000 compensation to be recovered from those responsible for his illegal detention. Chaurasiya was taken into police custody from Ayodhya on September 14 and brought to Soraon police station, but his arrest was not recorded at the time, according to the case. His mother visited the police station on September 15 to ascertain his whereabouts, following which she approached the high court with a habeas corpus petition alleging illegal detention. The court noted that the formal arrest was made on September 16 after police became aware of the habeas corpus petition filed the previous day. It concluded that Chaurasiya had remained in police custody for more than 24 hours without being produced before a magistrate for remand.
