Supreme Court Mandates Every Accused Under Any Law Be Given Written Grounds Of Arrest

Last Updated:November 06, 2025, 23:30 IST

Supreme Court held that every arrested person must be furnished with the grounds of arrest in writing and in a language they understand.

The Supreme Court of India. (File)

In a landmark development, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that police and investigating agencies must provide grounds of arrest to every arrested person in writing and in a language they understand, regardless of the offence or statute under which the arrest is made.

In the judgment with a bearing on personal liberty, the top court said that in certain exceptional situations, when it is not possible to supply written grounds immediately, the grounds should be conveyed orally to the accused.

It further observed that such arrest would not be vitiated if the same is “supplied in writing within a reasonable time and in any case two hours prior to the production of the arrestee before the magistrate for remand proceedings", news agency PTI reported.

A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih, while delivering the judgment in the Mihir Rajesh Shah vs State of Maharashtra case, arising from the high-profile Mumbai BMW hit-and-run incident of July 2024, said, “The constitutional mandate of informing the arrestee the grounds of arrest is mandatory in all offences under all statutes including offences under IPC 1860 (now BNS 2023)."

Justice Masih, writing a 52-page judgment for the bench, ruled that the constitutional mandate under Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees that an arrested person must be informed “as soon as may be" of the grounds of arrest, is not a procedural formality but a fundamental safeguard of personal liberty.

“This court is of the opinion that to achieve the intended objective of the constitutional mandate of Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, the grounds of arrest must be informed to the arrested person in each and every case without exception and the mode of the communication of such grounds must be in writing in the language he understands," the verdict said.

“The grounds of arrest must be communicated in writing to the arrestee in the language he/she understands and in case(s) where, the arresting officer/person is unable to communicate the grounds of arrest in writing on or soon after arrest, it be so done orally. The said grounds be communicated in writing within a reasonable time and in any case at least two hours prior to production of the arrestee for remand proceedings before the magistrate," it directed.

In case of non-compliance, the arrest and subsequent remand would be rendered illegal and the person will be at liberty to be set free, it said.

The top court noted that written communication is important not only to protect the rights of the arrested person but also to help investigating agencies prove that proper procedure was followed if challenged later.

The top court directed its registry to send a copy of the judgment to all the registrars general of the high courts and the chief secretaries of all the states and Union territories.

Citing earlier rulings, the bench observed that merely communicating the reasons in a language not understood by the accused does not meet the constitutional standard, and doing so “renders the safeguards under Articles 21 and 22 illusory."

The case stemmed from appeals filed by Mihir Rajesh Shah, accused in the 2024 Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case, who had challenged the legality of his arrest on the ground that he was not provided written reasons as required by law. Although the Bombay High Court acknowledged a procedural lapse, it upheld his arrest citing the gravity of the offence.

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...

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