Lok Satta

· Any person arrested by police for any reason with or without warrant has constitutional and legal rights.
· While arrest of certain persons is necessary to safeguard the public, they can be tried and if convicted, sentenced only by a court of law.
· In all this, due procedure must be followed, and human rights or dignity of any individual cannot be violated by any person or policeman.
· All persons arrested must be either released on bail or produced before the court within 24 hours. Police cannot detain a person without a valid court order.
· The following are the safeguards that must be observed by the police at the time of the arrest or while in custody:

The Police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designation. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.

. The Police officer shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality. It shall also be counter -signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.

. A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police station or interrogation center or other lock-up shall be entitled to have one friend or relative being informed of the arrest.

. If Such a friend or relative lives in another town, he must be informed by phone or telegram within 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.

. The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.

. An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention giving details of the arrest, the name of the friend who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.

. If the arrestee requests, he should be examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his / her body must be recorded at that time. The "Inspection Memo" must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.

. The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody. This doctor must be chosen from a panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services of the concerned State or Union Territory.

. Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest referred to above , should be sent to the local Magistrate for his record.

. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, throughout the interrogation.

. The details of arrest and place of custody shall be informed by the arresting police officer to the district and state police control room within 12 hours. The control room should display this information on a conspicuous notice board.

Arrest of Women

· While arresting or detaining a woman, the following additional precautions should be scrupulously observed by the police.

. It is illegal to manhandle a woman at the time of arrest.
. A male policeman cannot touch the body of a women
. Only a female police officer can search another female. Even so, the search must be carried out in a decent manner.
. A women can insist on being put in a female lock-up. If the police station has no female lock-up, she can ask for a transfer to another police station, which has female lock up.
· A female and males below 15 years of age can be questioned only at their residence and nowhere else. They can refuse to go to the police station for being questioned.
· Knowledge of the legal safeguards and procedures is important to protect yourself and the community.
· Our society can be orderly and free only if effective and timely action is taken against criminals, and at the same time basic human rights and legal procedures are respected and scrupulously observed.
· If you have any problem at any time, or if your near and dear ones are arrested or detained by anybody without valid authorization or following proper procedure, please contact the next higher officials for help immediately
· Please verify facts before making a complaint against the police or anyone else. If the complaint is proved to be false or without any basis, your credibility will be eroded; and public interest will suffer as all complaints will be treated as frivolous.
· If you need any assistance, please contact your local Lok Satta unit or district branch or apex unit

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