Karnataka HC clarifies arrest information requirements, says written grounds not a must in all cases

John Moses argued in the court that the police had violated conditions laid down by the Supreme Court in the Prevention of Money Laundering cases against Arvind Kejriwal, Prabir Puryakastha and Pankaj Bansal that the detailed grounds of arrest must be provided to a person who is being placed under arrest.

The high court, however, ruled that information as mandated under section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code would suffice in cases involving KCOCA offences or Indian Penal Code offences and that written grounds of arrest would be necessary in terrorism, money laundering and preventive detention cases.

“In my considered view, the information of grounds of arrest as is indicated to the petitioner in the case at hand would suffice and it would not vitiate the arrest and result in enlargement on grant of bail or interim bail,” the high court ruled on November 28.

“The Apex Court holds it mandatory in the aforesaid three cases owing to the fact that enlargement of an accused for the offences under the UAPA and PMLA on grant of bail is extremely limited. The burden to prove that he is not guilty begins at the threshold. It is in fact a reverse burden on the accused. It is, therefore, in such cases the grounds of arrest should be informed to the accused,” the high court observed.

“If what is held by the Apex Court in the aforementioned judgment is considered qua the facts obtaining in the case at hand, what would unmistakably emerge is what is ingrained in the CrPC, qua Section 50, should necessarily be followed and the information of grounds of arrest in the manner in which the Apex Court has held in Pankaj Bansal, Prabir Puryakashta or even Arvind Kejriwal would not become applicable to the offences under the KCOCA or the IPC or any arrest under any penal law except in cases of preventive detention,” the high court ruled.

The high court, however, added that everyone being arrested without a warrant must be informed of the grounds of arrest as mandated by section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code. “However, it is made clear that Section 50 of the CrPC must necessarily be followed and information or grounds of arrest as is done in the case at hand must necessarily be indicated to every accused who is to be arrested under the general law,” the court observed.

“If the arrest is under PMLA or UAPA, what the Apex Court in the afore-quoted Judgments laid down would straight away become applicable and non-divulgence would vitiate the arrest,” the court ruled.

John Moses is accused of being leading a gang that obtained “fake decrees” from small-causes courts to illegally grab properties for several years before the gang was busted in 2020 on the intervention of the high court. The gang created fictitious rental disputes between a “fake owner” and a “fake tenant” and filed fake suits in courts to obtain fake decrees for land ownership without the original owners being parties to the fake suits or even being aware of the cases.

The CID invoked the KCOCA against John Moses and his accomplices in July and stated that the gang had been “siphoning off the properties of innocent people in Bangalore city and surrounding areas by creating fake documents and filing cases in courts using fictitious persons”.

“The case was handed over to the CID for further investigation and during the course of investigation many similar crimes were uncovered and more than 100 cases were registered. In all these cases, the activities of John Moses and his accomplices have been revealed,” the CID said in a statement in July.

Curated For You

Dhurandhar Worldwide Box Office Collection Day 7 Update: Ranveer Singh starrer set to cross Rs 230 crore mark in India

India vs UAE U19 Asia Cup 2025 Highlights: India beat UAE by 234 runs

Akhanda 2 Movie Review, Collection LIVE Updates: Nandamuri Balakrishna film set to cross Rs 20 cr mark in 2 days