KNOW UR RIGHTS - When cops come calling

 

When cops come calling

 

It's the knock at the door that nobody wants to hear. But when the police come calling to effect an arrest it might be useful to bear in mind the following points. Criminals or suspects getting arrested is a daily phenomenon. But even the accused have rights, said the Supreme Court of India when it laid down the guidelines in December 1996 in the landmark case of DK Basu versus State of West Bengal.

 

What the SC says:

Police carrying out arrests should have visible, clear name tags with their designations. Particulars of all such policemen should be recorded in a register as well. An arrest memo must be prepared and attested by at least one witness, who should be either a member of family or a respectable person from the locality. The memo should be countersigned by the arrested person.

 

The friend or relative of the arrested should be informed about the time and place of arrest and the location of the police station through the legal aid organisation of the district via telegram, within 12 hours of arrest, if friend of the arrested person lives outside the town.

The arrested person may be examined for any injuries if he requests and a signed memo maintained. The arrested should be taken for medical examination every 48 hours. He or she should be permitted to have their lawyer present for a while during police interrogation. The police control room should be provided information regarding the arrest and the names of the arrested persons be displayed outside the control rooms. The SC guidelines are sometimes seen displayed at police stations even though implementation is often left wanting, say lawyers.

 

The Rule Book Says:

Even the c r i m i n a l procedure code, the rule book that binds police action, makes clear provisions to ensure that grounds for arrest and full particulars of offence must be given to the arrested person. Advocate Shrikant Bhat notes that if the Customs and Excise officers can issue a memo after an arrest it is time the city police too should do so for arrests made under the penal code.
  
An arrested person should know that he or she needs to be taken to a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest.

 

Handcuffs:

The court in 1980 said that handcuffs should be used only in exceptional cases and a diary entry be made that the accused is a dangerous criminal or is prone to violence or a maniac.

 

Right to a counsel:

 

The arrested person should know that he has a right to be represented by a lawyer. The state has to

 

> provide for legal aid if needed. Indigence should never be a ground for denying fair trial or equal justice, the SC said. The US Apex Court pointed out in 1962, the correlation between the standards of criminal law enforcement and level of civilisation thus: "The methods we employ in the enforcement of our criminal law have been aptly called the measures by which the quality of our civilisation maybe judged."

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