Police’s Power of Preventive Detention
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Chapter XI of Code of Criminal Procedure deals with Preventive Actions of the Police which allows police to prevent commitment of cognizable offences in future and preventive power to protect public property from any type of injury. Here, power to prevent commission of cognizable offence includes detention of a person and seizure of property on grounds of suspicion of future commitment of crime. The power to detain allows police to detain a person illegally for their personal and immoral gains.
Since past decades there has been a rise in cases of illegal detention in India and Uttar Pradesh is the state with most cases of illegal detention.
Illegal detention on the said ground of preventive measure is a crucial threat to fundamental rights and harm to the democracy, as it completely violates Article 19 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India which allows ‘Freedom of Speech and Expression’ and ‘Right to Life and personal Liberty’ which ensures that a person can go anywhere without any boundation.
Illegal detention or Illegal custody also attracts to custodial death, in 2019 alone, National Campaign for Torture alone reported 125 deaths in police custody mostly which were cases of illegal detention. Also, the NCRB reported 1725 deaths in Judicial custody till mid-August, 2019. Apart from custodial deaths there is innumerable reports of enforced disappearance of persons detained by police and were not presented in the court within 24 hours of arrest, which is against laws in itself. The CHRI reported that 48% of detained persons are victim of inhumane cruelty of police.
One of the major Loop holes of the chapter is that it allows police to arrest a person without any warrant and requirement of any judicial order which makes detaining a person easier in the absence of any perquisite procedure.
Thus, detaining a person merely on the grounds of suspicion should not be allowed and legislation prohibiting illegal detention and leniency in remand should be passed.
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