The Allahabad High Court has directed the registration of a criminal case against a police investigating officer accused of inserting reasons for arrest into official records after the arrest, allegedly to prevent the accused from securing release.
Taking a stern view of the alleged manipulation, the Court observed that the officer’s conduct appeared to involve offences concerning false evidence and interference with the administration of justice.
A Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev, hearing the habeas corpus petition in Mohd. Yaseen v. State of UP and 3 Others, found that the grounds of arrest had not been communicated to the petitioner when he was taken into custody. Instead, the investigating officer allegedly added the missing particulars to documents subsequently placed before the remand magistrate and the trial court.
The Bench strongly criticised the police action, observing that evidence appeared to have been fabricated to justify an arrest memo that had never been furnished to the accused, thereby denying him relief during remand and bail proceedings.
The Court directed the Farrukhabad Superintendent of Police to ensure that an FIR was registered against the investigating officer without delay. A compliance report must be submitted within seven days.
Arrest Declared Illegal Over Non-Communication of Grounds
The case arose after Mohd. Yaseen was arrested on September 14. He had visited the police station a day earlier to participate in an investigation into a suicide case.
Yaseen approached the High Court, contending that the police had failed to provide him with the reasons for his arrest, as required under law.
Examining the arrest memo, the Bench found that the document supplied to him mentioned only Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with abetment of suicide.
The allegations that a case had been registered and that evidence indicated the deceased had taken her own life due to harassment allegedly inflicted by Yaseen were missing from the copy provided to him.
The Court noted that these crucial particulars were subsequently reflected in the records submitted before the judicial authorities, raising serious concerns about the manner in which the arrest documentation had been prepared.
Holding that the arrest violated the legal requirements governing communication of the grounds of arrest, the Bench declared it illegal and directed Yaseen’s release.
Police Officer’s Conduct Under Scrutiny
The High Court made it clear that the alleged retrospective insertion of arrest grounds could not be treated as a mere procedural lapse.
The Bench said the apparent fabrication of evidence to justify the arrest and influence remand and bail proceedings warranted criminal action.
The Farrukhabad SP has been directed to register the FIR and submit the required compliance report within seven days.