In the order dated 24th September 2020, the High Court of Allahabad disposed of a writ petition seeking the quashing of FIR stating that a police officer is not always required to take compliance of Section 41-A of CrPC during the time of the arrest.
Facts of the Case
The petition seeks issuance of a Writ of Certiorari quashing First Information Report dated 24th July 2020. the FIR was filed under Sections 323 (Punishment for Voluntarily getting hurt), 504), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (Punishment for Criminal Intimidation), 452 (House Trespass after Preparation for Hurt) and 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC in the Police Station (PS) of Tarun at the district of Ayodhya.
Submissions before the Court
The present case was heard by the Court via Video-conferencing. The Counsel for the Applicant and Counsel for the State had gone through the FIR filed. The Petitioner(s) are said to benefit under Section 41-A of CrPC. Section 41-A relates to the Notice of appearance before the Police Officer. The Counsel for the State referred to Arnesh Kumar V. State of Bihar (2014) 8 SCC 273, wherein the Supreme Court of India had said that if the offence(s) allegedly committed entail a sentence up to seven years, then the investigating officer shall ensure compliance of the provisions, 41 and 41-A of CrPC.
Court’s Observations
Given the above submissions, the Bench of Justice Saurabh Lavania laid down their observations regarding Arnesh Kumar‘s case. The Supreme Court had held that a Police officer is not required to take compliance of the Section 41-A during all times of arrest. Additionally, the police officer is required to issue notice directing the accused to appear before him at a specified place and time. Law obliges such an accused to appear before the police officer and it further mandates that if such an accused complies with the terms of notice he shall not be arrested, unless, for reasons to be recorded, the police officer believes that the arrest is necessary.
Court’s Decision
Thus, the Court ordered the disposal of the present case taking into the account, the provisions under Section 41-A of CrPc. and the law laid down in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.
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