Rights Of Arrested Persons And Misuse Of Powers By Police: An Analysis Of The Indian Legal Framework

Divnoor Samra, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

ABSTRACT

The Indian legal framework encompasses a complex assortment of constitutional and statutory provisions alongside various judicial precedents that are aimed at protecting and guaranteeing rights of the arrested individuals. Arrests are essentially a police activity. However, despite the said provisions, the continued misuse of powers by police justifies the significant concerns regarding fairness, accountability and human rights violations. The question at hand is not why the arrests are made by the police but rather about the lack of safeguards checking the misuse of the power to arrest. The arguments in favour of arrest do not justify the current arrest practices. This paper shall delve into various aspects related to rights of the arrested individuals, misuse of power by police and reflect on an urgent need to lay down safeguards while listing down probably recommendations.

Keywords: Rights of arrested individuals; Principles of Fair Trial; Police powers; Accountability; Constitutional provisions; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023