A PROJECT

ON

CLASSIFICATION OF PRISONERS

[submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirement for B.A.L.L.B- 5-year integrated course]

Session:2022-23

Submitted on: 25 Jan, 2023

Submitted by: Supervised by:

Ashwina Yadav Ms. Pooja Saxena

Roll no-13 Faculty

Semester – X A

UNIVERSITY FIVE YEAR LAW COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF RAJASTHAN

JAIPUR

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 DECLARATION
 
I, Ashwina Yadav, hereby declare that this project titled “Classification of
Prisoners” is based on the original research work carried out by me under the
guidance and supervision of Ms. Pooja Saxena.

The interpretations put forth are based on my reading and understanding of

original texts. The books, articles, websites etc. which have been relied upon by
me have been duly acknowledged at the respective places in the text.

For the present project which I am submitting to the university, no degree or

diploma has been conferred on me before, either in this or any other university.

Date: 25 Jan, 2023

                                                                                    Ashwina Yadav

                                                                        Roll No: 13

                                                                        Semester: X A

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 
In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people have best
owned upon me their blessings and heart pledged support, this time I am
utilizing to thank all people concerned with this project.

First of all, I would like to thank our Director Dr. Akhil Kumar for giving me
this opportunity. I would like to thank our supervisor Ms. Pooja Saxena whose
valuable guidance and suggestions helped me complete this project on time.

I would like to thank the librarian and library staff who have been great support
throughout.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents and friends for their
valuable suggestions which helped me in completing this project successfully.

  

Ashwina Yadav 
 

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 CERTIFICATE
 

Ms. Pooja Saxena                                                  Date: 25 Jan, 2023

Faculty

University Five Year Law College

University of Rajasthan, Jaipur

This is to certify that Ms. Ashwina Yadav of X Semester, Section A of

University Five Year Law College, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur has carried
out the project entitled ‘Classification of Prisoners’ under my supervision and
guidance. It is an investigation report of a minor project. The student has
completed research work in my stipulated time and according to the norms
prescribed for the purpose.

Supervi
sor

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Declaration 2
 Acknowledgement 3
 Certificate 4
 Abstract 6
 Introduction 7
 Research Methodology 8
 Chapter 1: Constitutional Rights to Arrested Persons 9-12
 Chapter 2: Statutory Rights to Arrested Persons. 13-15
 Conclusion 16
 Bibliography 17

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 ABSTRACT

“Every right is a moral as well as legal entitlement to have or do something”

Every human is born with certain basic rights that he is entitled to for instance, right to live
and right to freedom etc. Similarly, every citizen of every country is presented with certain
rights that are absolutely fair, without any prejudice, in the spirit of common brotherhood and
conscience, like the right to life, right to equality, right to freedom, right to education, right to
equality, right to freedom of religion and many more. However, the same rights of a person
can be surrendered if the person gets detained/ arrested for committing a crime. Although an
arrested person too has certain rights that explained below.

The legal system in India is established on the platform of “innocent till proven guilty”. An
unlawful arrest of an individual can be a violation of Article- 21 of the Indian
Constitution that states, “no human shall be denied of his right to life and personal liberty
except if established by law”, which means that the process must be fair, clear and not
arbitrarily or oppressive.

In this article, we will understand the numerous rights that an arrested person has under the
Constitution of India

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 INTRODUCTION

We all are born with numerous rights, such as the Right to speak, the Right to religion, etc.
Human rights are enacted under the Constitution of India and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. A person cannot repulse their rights just because they have been arrested. In a
general sense, a person who voids the law is arrested. So, what does an arrest mean?
Generally, 'arrest' means police officers take a suspect into jail. Once the arrest is complete,
the suspect is no longer free to walk away from the arresting police officer, this often comes
before the suspect arrives at jail. They are put under restraint.

The CrPC of 1973 deals with the aspects of arrests but has not defined 'Arrest'. When a
person is detained or arrested, then the arrested person is taken into custody by an authority
authorized by the law to detain the person. The person is then questioned to answer the
charges against them, and they are confined so that no further crime is committed.

Sometimes, there is opposition by the legal authority, but at times, the person all by oneself
submits to the charge of the person making the arrest.

The Indian legal system depends on the concept of “innocent till proven guilty.” The arrest of
a person can violate Article 21 of the Constitution, which states, “no person shall need his
right to life and personal liberty except a procedure established by law.” The procedure must
be fair, transparent, and not casually or repressive.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology for this project is doctrinal. The student has relied on secondary
sources of data. For obtaining necessary information, various books, journals as well as
websites have been explored by the researcher which has been mentioned in the reference
section.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

This project aims to study the provisions regarding the rights or safeguards available to the
arrested persons under the constitution as well as under the statutes i.e., Criminal Procedure
Code,1973 with reference to the landmark cases.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the study is-

1. To know about the various Constitutional Safeguards to arrested persons.

2. To know about the different Statutory Safeguards for arrested persons.

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 CHAPTER 1: CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO ARRESTED PERSONS

There are different sets of laws that provide different sets of rights to a person accused of an
offense. The need for these rights comes along with the progress of the stages of a criminal
matter, being the pre-trial stage rights, trial stage, and post-trial stage rights. In general, the
Constitutional Rights of an accused person whether at pre-trial, trial, or post-trial stage are as
follows. 

1. Right to know the grounds of arrest

Article- 22(1) of the Indian Constitution stipulates that no police officer can arrest any
individual without informing the accused of the reason/ ground of his detainment/ arrest.

Section- 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) says that every police officer with the
authority to arrest someone without a warrant must inform the person getting arrested about
the crime for which he is arrested and other relevant grounds for the arrest. This is the duty of
the police officers which he cannot refuse.

2. Right to be produced before the Magistrate without unnecessary delay

Article- 22(2) of the Indian Constitution stipulates that the police officer making an arrest
must produce the arrested person before the Magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest and
failing to do so would make him liable for wrongful detention.

Section- 55 of the CrPC states that in case a police official is making an arrest without a
warrant, then he must produce the person arrested without any unnecessary delay before the
Magistrate within the jurisdiction or before a police officer in charge of the police station,
depending upon the conditions of the arrest.

Section- 76 of the CrPC states that the arrested person must be produced in court within 24
hours of his arrest, the same can must exclude the time duration which is required for the
journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate Court.

3. Right to a fair and just trial

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The legal provision regarding the right to a fair and just trial can be extracted from the Indian
Constitution as well as a lot of Supreme court and High court judgments since no specified
law has been stipulated in this regard.

Article- 14 of the Indian Constitution states that “every individual is equal before the law”
which means that all the sides in a legal dispute must be treated equally. The principle of
natural justice must be considered with respect to both parties. Similarly, a right to a speedy
trial has also been upheld in “Huissainara Khatoon v/s Home Secretary, State of
Bihar1” where the court observed that, “the trial must be disposed of as diligently as
possible”.

4. Right to consult a Lawyer

Article- 22 (1) of the Indian Constitution provides that every arrested person has the right to
choose and elect his own lawyer to defend him in a court of law for whatever crime he may/
may not have committed.

Section- 303 of the CrPC allows every alleged convict/ criminal the right to be defended by a
lawyer of his choice even if the criminal proceedings against him have already begun.

5. Right to free legal aid

Article- 39A The government, in an effort towards securing justice, instituted Article- 39A to

provide free legal aid to people in need. The same right was reaffirmed in the dispute
of Khatri v. Bihar2, where the court held that, “the state must provide free legal aid to the
poverty-stricken accused person”.  The same right to free legal aid is provided at the first
instance of production of the accused before the Magistrate in the court. Moreover, this right
to free legal aid for the accused cannot be refused even when the accused fails to ask for it
himself. Now, a key note to remember is that if the government is unable to provide free legal
aid to the poverty- stricken accused person, then the entire trial will stand void. The same was
firmly established in Sukh Das v. Arunachal Pradesh3 where the Court held that “the right of
a poverty- stricken accused person cannot be refused even when the accused fails to apply
for the same”.

1
1981 2 SCR (408).
2
1986 SCR (1) 590.
3
1978 SCR (3) 608.

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Section- 304 of the CrPC provides a very significant right to every accused who is set to
appear before a Sessions Court for the appointment of a lawyer (totally free of cost) at the
expense of the State. The court may appoint him a representing lawyer if the accused has no
sufficient means to appoint himself a lawyer for his case.

6. Right to keep quiet

The right to keep quiet does not have any mention in any Indian law, however, its authority
can be derived from the Constitution’s right against self-incrimination.

The right to stay silent is principally related to the statement and confession made by the
accused person in the court. In addition to this, it is the responsibility of the magistrate to
perceive if any statement or confession made by the accused person was voluntarily or was
after the use of force and manipulation. Therefore, the police or any other authority for that
matter is not allowed to compel an accused person to speak anything in court.

Article- 20(2) Additionally, reiterates that no person whether accused or not cannot be

compelled to be a witness against himself. This act of exposing oneself is the principle of
self-incrimination. This principle was affirmed in the case of Nandini Satpathy v/s P.L.
Dani4, where the court observed that, “No person can force any other person to furnish any
statement or compel to answer any question because the accused person has a right to keep
quiet during his interrogation”.

The Court in Yoginder Singh v/s State of Punjab observed that for the execution of Article-
21 as well as Article- 22(1) it is imperative that:

1. The arrested person has the right to inform his friend, relative or any other person in his
interest about his arrest.
2. The police official must inform the arrested person all his rights right after detainment/
arrest of the accused person.
3. The entry of the arrest with complete details must be made in a diary which must include
the name of the person who has been informed about the arrest.

4
1987 SCR (1) 680.

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In another landmark case titled, Prem Shukla v/s Delhi Administration5, the court observed
that “the prisoners/ arrested persons have a right to not be handcuffed in shackles unless and
until some extraordinary circumstances arise during the arrest or when in custody”.

The Supreme Courtin case of Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P.6 observed that, in order to have
transparency in the accused-police relations the Supreme Court held that the right of the
arrested person upon request, to have someone informed about his arrest and right to consult
privately with lawyers are inherent in Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution. The Supreme
Court observed that no arrest can be made because it is lawful for the Police officer to do so.
The existence of the power to arrest is one thing. The justification for the exercise of it is
quite another. The Police Officer must be able to justify the arrest apart from his power to do
so. Arrest and detention in police lock-up of a person can cause incalculable harm to the
reputation and self-esteem of a person. No arrest should be made by Police Officer without a
reasonable satisfaction reached after some investigation as to the genuineness and bona fides
of a complaint and a reasonable belief both as to the person’s complicity and even so as to the
need to effect the arrest.

5
AIR 1980 SC 1535.
6
AIR 1994 SC 1349.

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CHAPTER 2: STATUTORY RIGHTS TO ARRESTED PERSON UNDER
Cr.P.C.

Right to be released on bail: Section- 50 (2) of CrPC provides that the arrested person has
the right to get released on bail by making arrangements for the sureties and informing
him of his right when arrested without a warrant for an offense other than a non-
cognizable offense.
Right to be examined by a Doctor: Section- 54 of CrPC asserts that if an arrested person
claims that medical examination of his body would lead to a detail which would dismiss
the fact of commission of the crime by him, or some detail that might lead to evidence
towards the commission of the crime by some other person against his body, the court has
complete discretion to order for a medical examination of an accused person at his request
and the same is granted by the court when satisfied that the request is not made to delay
or defeat justice.
Section- 55A of the CrPC asserts that maintaining reasonable health care and safety of
every arrested person will be the sole responsibility of the person (police official) who has
custody of the accused. This principle was established to protect the arrested person from
cruel and inhuman treatment in prison.
Section- 50A of the CrPC makes it compulsory for the person/ police official arresting a
person to inform of the arrest to any of his relatives or even friends, who may have an
interest in the same.
Section- 75of the CrPC states that the police official executing the warrant must notify the
substance to arrested person and furnish the warrant of the arrest when required.
Section- 358 of the CrPC is another ground breaking effort towards the principle of
natural justice where the arrested person is provided with compensation when arrested
unreasonably.
Section- 41A of the CrPC asserts that the police officer must furnish notice to the person
who has supposedly committed a cognizable offense to appear before him at a specified
time, date, and location.
Section- 46 of the CrPC stipulates the mode of the arrest of an accused person which
includes submission to the custody by the accused, physically touching the body, or to a
body. The police officer must not cause the death of the accused person while trying to
arrest the person, except when the person to be arrested is accused of an offence, which is

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 punishable with death or life imprisonment or when the accused person is trying to
unnecessarily resist his arrest by turning violent and aggressive or when the accused is
trying to escape.
Section- 49 of the CrPC asserts that the police official must not restrain or detain the
accused without a legal arrest.

The landmark case of D.K. Basu v/s West Bengal and Ors 7. concentrates on “the rights of an
arrested person which further compels the police officer to act in a certain way”. The court
further observed that if the police official is unable to perform his duty properly, then he will
be accountable for contempt of court and also for a departmental inquiry. Such dispute can be
initiated in any High Court that has jurisdiction over the said case. Regardless of numerous
efforts to safeguard an accused person from unnecessary torture and inhuman conduct, a
number of custodial deaths and police atrocities are still common. Therefore, to overcome
this, the Indian Apex court circulated nine significant guidelines to protect an accused person,
which also included amendment to numerous sections of the CrPC which are as follows:

Section- 41B Every police official authorised to conduct the investigation/ arrest must
supply clear, visible and valid badge where the name and designation of the police
official is clearly mentioned. Besides this, the police official authorised to make an arrest
must prepare a cash memo with complete details of the arrest like the date and time. The
same document must have signatures of at least one family member or any one
honourable person of the locality of the accused. The arrested person has to countersign
the cash memo.
Section 41D entitles an arrested person to a right to have one friend or relative or any
other person who he wants by his side during his arrest.

The police must inform the person arrested about his right to inform someone immediately
when the person is detained or put under custody. Appropriate entry must be made in the
diary and be maintained by the police which must furnish all the important information
related to the arrest of the person, which must further include the details of the person
accompanying the arrested person and also the details of the person to whom information
regarding the arrest has been made. The official diary must also include the name and
additional particulars of the police officials under whose custody the arrested person is.
Moreover, a medical examination has to be conducted but after the request of the arrested
7
AIR 1997 (1) SCC 416.

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person, to put on record any minor or major injuries suffered by the arrested person. This
inspection memo is supposed to be signed by both the police officials as well as the arrested
person. The arrested person has the right to meet his lawyer while in prison and during
interrogation. In addition to these, all the copies of the entire documentation must be sent
across to the Magistrate for his record which must also include the arrest memo.

Section- 41C Every arrest made by any police official must be informed to the District
and the State headquarters within 12 hours of any arrest which also needs to be displayed
on the conspicuous board.

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 CONCLUSION

Modern constitutional law has come a long way in terms of protecting and safeguarding the
rights of persons guilty of crimes. Patrol officers are especially prone to making mistakes
since they serve under public scrutiny and are expected to achieve speedy results. India has a
significant problem with illegal arrests and custodial deaths, primarily caused by unlawful
arrests. According to India's legal system, which supports the concept of "Innocent until
proven guilty," an accused person has certain rights as an arrested person that are untouched
whenever a police officer knocks on his door to make an arrest. The Supreme Court of India
in D.K. Basu vs. West Bengal8 is not being effectively implemented. There should be proper
execution of provisions and guidelines stated in this case to ultimately assist in decreasing the
proportion of illegal arrests and resulting custodial deaths.

8
AIR 1997 (1) SCC 416

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOK REFERENCES

 The Constitution of India, 1950, Bare Act (Universal Law Publishing- Lexis Nexis,
2021).
 The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, Bare Act (Universal Law Publishing- Lexis Nexis,
2021).
 J.N. Pandey, Constitution of India, (Central Law Publications, 57th Ed., 2020).

WEB REFERENCES

 https://restthecase.com/knowledge-bank/legal-rights-of-arrested-people-in-
india#:~:text=Article%2022(2)%20of%20the%20Constitution%20states%2C
%20%22A,lawyer)%3B%20of%20their%20choice.%22.
 https://www.helplinelaw.com/employment-criminal-and-labour/RAPI/rights-of-an-
arrested-person-in-india.html.
 https://blog.ipleaders.in/rights-of-an-arrested-person/.
 https://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1635/Rights-of-Arrested-Person.html.
 https://www.writinglaw.com/rights-of-arrested-accused-person-in-india/.
 https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-7839-rights-of-arrested-person.html.
 https://www.mondaq.com/india/crime/1207678/rights-of-accused-before-and-after-arrest-
in-india.
 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/your-life-your-decisions/what-are-the-
rights-of-the-accused-person-in-india-37467/.
 https://blog.finology.in/criminal-law/rights-of-arrested-person.

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