To deny citizens their rights guaranteed by the constitution is to disrespect the country's independence and what it stands for, the Supreme Court has said and issued a 19-point guideline for police, magistrates and judges to stop arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing arrestees on remand.
The SC came up with the guidelines and some observations in its full verdict yesterday on the arbitrary use of powers by law enforcement agencies using section 54 and several others of the CrPC.
Section 54, seen as a nefarious provision, empowers police to arrest anyone on mere suspicion. Under several other sections of the criminal law, arrestees are placed on remand and detained in violation of their fundamental rights to protection of life and liberty.
The SC ordered police to use this power judiciously, curtailing police's authority to arrest anyone applying this section for the purpose of detaining him under the Special Powers Act.