Section 57: Person arrested to be taken before magistrate or officer in charge of police station
Section 57 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lays down vital procedural requirements on arrests without warrant for law enforcing agencies. This provision seeks to ascertain that the legal and personal rights of an individual are protected during the detention and presented before the proper judicial authority within the minimum possible time.
A police officer making an arrest without warrant shall forthwith, and without undue delay, take or cause to be taken or produced before a judicial magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or before the officer in charge of a police station. The expression without undue delay implies a clear directive to expedite the production of the arrested person.
The section further demands that handling of the arrested person be carried out in terms of applicable provisions on bail. This further confirms the need for judicial scrutiny when determining whether to grant bail or not to an arrested individual as part of the larger process after the arrest.
The main aim of Section 57, therefore, is to obviate unjust detention by ensuring that one is not detained in custody for an extended period without judicial scrutiny. This section falls in line with the constitutional protection provided under Article 22(2) of the Indian Constitution, which states that a person arrested should be produced before the magistrate within 24 hours of arrest. This constitutional provision serves as a protection against arbitrary detention and ensures that the rights of due process for the arrested person are protected.
