Arrest, Detention, and Criminal Justice System

A Study in the Context of the Constitution of India

A just, fair, reasonable, and purposeful exercise of arrest and detention powers by the State is both in the interest of the individual and the society at large. However, very often individual rights are impinged by arbitrary and illegal exercise of State power to arrest and detain. The book studies issues pertaining to arrest and detention, comprehensively, critically, and analytically, in the light of the Indian Constitution. It points out that the arrest and detention provisions in the legal system of India, by and large, have remained the same as inherited from the imperial British era. Despite constitutional prescriptions and judicial pronouncements over several decades, there has been no noteworthy change that would bring the law in tune with the constitutional emphasis on right to life and personal liberty as well as other human rights. To capture the complexity of the issue, the volume analyses constitutional provisions, statutory law, pertinent judgments, case law, reports of various committees, and recommendations of experts in the field. Exploring lacunae in the present legal scenario, the book stresses on the need for organizational and attitudinal changes in the State instrumentalities for successfully balancing the need to maintain law and order and human rights imperatives. Emphasizing that it is the poor who often suffer the most, the author further advocates inclusion of the developments in the field of jurisprudence, behavioural sciences, technology, and management to deal with crime and criminality.