SC to review 1992 judgement barring police custody beyond 15 days

Subject: polity

Section :Judiciary

Concept:

The Supreme Court said that its existing position on whether an accused can be detained in police custody beyond a period of 15 days from the initial date of arrest needs a review.

The case:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had moved the Supreme Court seeking additional custody of an accused.
The investigative agency’s claim is that it requires fresh custody since he could not be interrogated by the CBI earlier despite police custody remand.
The accused opposed this fresh demand for police custody citing a 30-year-old precedent of the court which has ruled that police custody which shall be beyond the period of 15 days from the date of arrest is not permissible.
The Supreme Court in Central Bureau of Intelligence vs Anupam J. Kulkarni held that an accused cannot be detained in police custody after the lapse of 15 days from the date of arrest.

What does the law say about police custody?

Although magistrates mechanically grant police custody in virtually every case, the law allows police detention only in special circumstances.
Police custody is granted by a magistrate for reasons that must be recorded in the order.
Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure governs how this works.
It gives power to the Magistrate to authorise the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit, for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole.
This provision, the SC said is intended to protect the accused from the methods which may be adopted by some overzealous and unscrupulous police officers.

Why is police custody allowed only at the time of arrest?

After the 15-day police custody, further remand during the period of investigation can only be in judicial custody.
Judicial custody is in a central jail under the supervision of a magistrate, whereas police custody would be in a police station for officers to interrogate an accused.
The law is a check on the state’s power to restrict an individual’s liberty so when the police know that they only have fifteen days, it will strive to finish the investigation on time.
However, this is routinely circumvented using an exception to the 15-day rule.
The exception:
The 15-day bar does not apply if the accused is involved in a different case arising out of a separate cause of action.
Then, even if he is in judicial custody in one case, he can formally be arrested in the other case and the police can seek custody again, starting another 15-day cycle.

Judicial custody vs police custody

In police custody, the investigating authority can interrogate a person while in judicial custody, officials need the permission of the court for questioning.
In police custody, the person has the right to legal counsel, and the right to be informed of the grounds which the police have to ensure.
In judicial custody, the person is under the responsibility of the magistrate, while the Prison Manual comes into the picture for the routine conduct of the person.

What happens after the 15-day custody?

The CrPC allows an accused to be released on bail if the investigation is not completed within the prescribed number of days.
This is usually referred to as ‘default bail’ or ‘statutory bail’.
The first limit is 24 hours.
Then, this can be extended by a magistrate to a maximum of 15 days.
This cannot be further exceeded beyond 60-90 days.
In its 1975 ruling in “Matabar Parida vs. State of Orissa”, the Apex Court held that if it’s not possible to complete the investigation between the 60-90 day period, then even in “erious and ghastly types of crime the accused will be entitled to be released on bail.
The objective of this provision is to ensure the investigating agency completes its investigation expeditiously within a reasonable time.