National Human Rights Commission Guidelines for Arrests

Guidelines for arrests are rarely followed in most countries. The horrifying accounts of how brutally arrested persons are treated by the police once they are in their custody is common knowledge in India. We know that being arrested is equivalent to being tortured and forced to admit to crimes that we may not even have dreamed of. For the same reasons, it is essential to understand the guidelines for arrests.

An arrest results in restriction of liberty, and therefore, infringes one's basic human rights. To provide some relief to the wrong-doer, the Constitution of India, in consonance  with the international human rights laws, requires the law enforcers to ensure a just, fair and reasonable process while conducting arrests.

A basic rule is to minimize the use of force or manhandling when arresting an individual. Only when a criminal resorts to forcible resistance to the arrest should the police use force but even then, the police must ensure that the arrested person is not  injured.  

Guidelines for Arrests: Safeguarding Basic Human Rights of the Criminal 

Even if an individual has commented a grave offence, the Constitution of India ensures that their basic human rights are revoked to the least possible extent. The National Human Rights Association (NHRC) established the following guidelines for arrests:

• The criminal’s dignity is protected, and parading or public display of the person arrested is avoided at all costs.
• The criminal is searched with dignity, without aggression, and women offenders are frisked by women officials.
• The use of handcuffs and leg chains is avoided, unless the criminal is at serious flight-risk.
• Where the criminal is a juvenile or minor, force or beatings must be avoided at all cost.
• If the arrest is without a warrant, the wrong-doer must be notified about the grounds of arrest in an understandable manner.
• The arrested person is permitted to inform a friend or relative of his/her arrest and place of detention. The police must make a written record of the person so informed.
• When an arrest is made on a bailable offence, the criminal must be informed about his/her entitlement to be released on bail, so that s/he may arrange for sureties.

As soon as the criminal is arrested, the concerned police officer must make note of all existing injuries on the person, including a full description about the nature and cause of the injury. This note must be duly signed by the arrestee and the concerned police officer. This is done to ensure that the criminal does not wrongfully accuse the police of torture and physical abuse.