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No arrests should be made unless they are unavoidable, Kerala HC directs police in the scenario of National lockdown

Team SoOLEGAL 26 Mar 2020 2:16pm

No arrests should be made unless they are unavoidable, Kerala HC directs police in the scenario of National lockdown

The Kerala High Court ruled that the police should not make arrests, except where they areunavoidable. Simultaneously, the Court said that the police would be free to act with regard to egregious and serious offences.

The directive was given in a suo moto case by a bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar, Justices C K Abdul Rehim and C T Ravikumar.  Advertising the condition of overcrowding of jails, the bench further observed that once the accused are brought in, the magistrates / judges will determine if judicial custody or police custody is appropriate.

"In the event of any arrest, the Constitutional obligation under Article 20(2) shall be followed in letter and spirit. Over-crowding in prisons is one of the issues taken up by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No.1/2020. Therefore, learned Magistrates/Judges before whom the accused is produced, depending upon the nature of offence, shall consider as to whether judicial/police custody is required or not. Needless to state that, bail is the rule and jail is an exception", it stated.

The Apex court further observed, “We make it clear that, the above said directions stand excluded to subjects relating public order/law and order and any action taken by the State Government to combat the outbreak of COVID-19 and actions taken thereof".

The Bench took  suomoto argument in the wake of the 21-day national lockout that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Tuesday evening.

After hearing Renjith Thampan(Additional Advocate General), Human Chakravarthy (Senior Public Prosecutor), P Vijayakumar (Assistant Solicitor General), V Manu (Senior Government Pleader) and Lakshmi Narayan (President, Kerala High Court Advocates Association), the Court agreed to pass general directions in such a case.

This direction was given taking into account the effect of the national lockout on the operations of lawyers, government law officers and their  offices and  support staff.



Tagged: Kerala HC   National lockdown   Chief Justice S Manikumar   Justice C K Abdul Rehim   Justice C T Ravikumar   Prime Minister Narendra Modi   Advocate General  
Did you find this write up useful? YES 4 NO 0
Shivashankarappa   10 May 2020 3:52pm
Meaningful social order
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Shivashankarappa   10 May 2020 3:51pm
Meaningful social order
Reply
Shivashankarappa   10 May 2020 3:51pm
Meaningful social order
Reply
Shivashankarappa   10 May 2020 3:50pm
Meaningful social order
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