Arrest is not always a ‘must’, says Supreme Court

‘If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person...’

The Supreme Court has held that merely because law allows arrest does not mean the State can use the power indiscriminately to crush personal liberty. “We may note that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made,” a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it, it noted.