The Supreme Court on 5 November 2026 ordered bail for Sujit Das, Suman Das and Rupak Sarkar after their detention exceeded Article 22(2)’s twenty-four-hour limit.
Judge / Bench — Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar, JJ.; judgment by Ujjal Bhuyan, J.
In appeals arising from SLP(Crl.) 12451–12453/2026 (2026 INSC 1195), the Court held that time runs when liberty is actually curtailed, rather than from recorded formal arrest. Only necessary travel to the magistrate is excluded; search and seizure formalities create no additional exemption. Magistrates must record actual detention time and also assess whether custody within twenty-four hours was unreasonably prolonged. The appellants must be produced before the Special Court within seven days and released on appropriate bail conditions.
Advocates appearing — Appellants: Rouf Rahim, Senior Counsel; respondent Union: Raghavendra P. Shankar, Additional Solicitor General of India.