“Sordid state of affairs”, Madras HC on the continuance of illegal arrests and mechanical remand

The efforts of the Madras High Court to ensure that arrest and remand are only resorted to, if necessary under law, appears to be slow in taking effect if a recent case involving the arrest of an engineering student is any indication..In the bail plea before Justice Anand Venkatesh, the petitioner claimed that he was never informed of the reasons for his arrest and judicial remand. The facts of the case also lead Justice Venkatesh to remark,.“An illegal arrest is the worst form of violation of the liberty of a person. That is why the Courts are repeatedly striving to sensitise the Police to be doubly careful whenever the Police resorts to an arrest.”.The case has also prompted the Court to issue a warning to errant police officers and Magistrates who make illegal arrests or allow judicial remand mechanically. The order states,.“This Court has already given a very long rope and has attempted to sensitise and educate Police and Magistrates regarding arrest and remand. It is now time for action. .This case must send clear indications to the Police as well as the Judicial Magistrates that this Court will not hesitate to give directions to take disciplinary action against Police for illegal arrest and against Magistrates for mechanical remand, in violation of law and the guidelines given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and this Court in the decision referred supra.“.Accordingly, the Metropolitan Magistrate concerned has been directed to furnish an explanation as to why remand was allowed by February 28, Thursday. The Court has also called for the initiation of disciplinary action against the errant officer in the case..The petitioner was one among five accused of having smuggled red sanders wood, which is prohibited under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882. The police claimed that a random inspection of the petitioner’s vehicle had led to the discovery of the red sanders wood in the possession of the petitioner and the co-accused..As per the police version of events, the accused and the vehicle were then taken to the police station. Following this, the District Forest Officer was informed. The arrest memo prepared by the Forest Ranger Officer also stated that four accused persons were found to be in possession of the wood. The accused were produced before an Egmore Magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody. The fifth accused in the case is absconding..However, the version of events presented by the petitioner sharply contradicted the account narrated by the police. The petitioner told the Court he was an engineering student and a state-level billiards player. The petitioner also happened to be a student of one of the co-accused..As per the petitioner’s versions, he had agreed to drop off his coach after training one day. On the way, the coach had requested that the petitioner to halt near Thambu Chetty Street. The coach then requested the petitioner to wait, while he struck up a conversation with another person over the phone. .At this point, the police from Muthaiaplpet Police Station arrived and took away both the coach and the petitioner, without giving any reason for the arrest. A forest ranger was then called. Afterward, both the coach and the petitioner were produced before the Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate who allowed the judicial remand. .Importantly, throughout the course of these events, the petitioner submitted that he was not informed why he was being arrested in the case. Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sarath Chandran pointed out that the arrest and remand were in complete violation of the Court’s earlier guidelines in the Nakeeran Gopal case. .It was also highlighted that the Tamil Nadu Forest Act only allows for arrest where an accused refuses to give information or gives information believed to be false. No such circumstance had arisen in this case. Taking serious note of the apparent violations, Justice Venkatesh observed,.“This is yet another case which brings to focus the sordid state of affairs prevailing in this State with regard to arrest and remand of accused persons. .The respondent, contrary to what is found in the records, has gone to the extent of recording in the arrest memo as if all the four accused persons were arrested in the scene of occurrence, where the vehicle was intercepted and red sanders was seized. The respondent did not even bother to prima facie satisfy himself as to whether this petitioner had anything to do with the alleged offence. The respondent also did not satisfy the requirements of Section 51 of the Forest Act referred supra.“.The Court went on to conclude that the arrest and remand, in this case, was in violation of the guidelines which were expected to be followed..“In the considered view of this Court, the arrest and remand of this petitioner is in direct violation of the guidelines given by this Court in State .Vs. Nakeeran Gopal referred supra. It is really unfortunate that the in charge Magistrate has also acted mechanically in remanding this petitioner to Judicial Custody. “.In view of these observations, the bail plea was allowed subject to the cooperation of the petitioner in the case investigation. Notably, bail was allowed even though there was no intervening bail process before the Magistrate or Sessions Court..All the same, the Court opted to entertain the plea directly given the extraordinary circumstances in the case. However, it was emphasised that this case cannot be relied upon as a precedent. The order states,.“Under normal circumstances, bail petition should be moved only before the concerned Magistrate Court or the Sessions Court, as the case may be and only thereafter it can be filed before this Court. However, considering the enormity of the situation and blatant violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India which was brought to the notice of this Court, as an extraordinary case, this Court thought it fit to directly entertain the bail petition in the High Court….The High Court must show faith and respect for the lower Court. However, when it comes to matters of personal liberty, these procedures cannot come in the way of this Court in entertaining bail petitions directly. It is made clear this bail petition is entertained by this Court, taking into consideration the extraordinary circumstances and this case cannot be cited as a precedent in all cases to justify filing a bail petition directly before this Court.”