The recent arrest of Disha Ravi, a 21-year-old climate activist has sparked a debate around the ‘Transit remand order’ and ‘Norms of inter-state arrests’. Ravi’s custody is under questions as according to some legal experts the norms of inter-state arrests were not followed and also the arrest was not accompanied by a ‘transit remand order’ from Bengaluru.
After the pervasive criticism across the country, the Delhi Commission for Women is now taking the matter into their consideration. Amidst all the chaos we’ve tried to curate all the information regarding ‘Transit remand order’ and ‘Rules for inter-state arrest’ in this article.
What is a Transit Remand Order?
Practically, a transit remand order is a procedure to be followed before taking a person of a particular state in police custody to another state. It is basically an order issued by a Judicial Magistrate certifying that the police personnel of the other state have the authority to legally arrest the person.
Although the Indian Criminal Law does not mention the ‘transit remand order’ vehemently but we can find its traces in Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Inter-State Arrest Guidelines
Earlier in a 2019 case, a bench of Justices from the Delhi High Court including Dr. S Muralidhar and Talwant Singh directed the police for the implementation of rules proposed by the committee and ensuring to abide by the protocols of inter-state investigation or arrest. There are a total of 30 guidelines based on Sections 48, 77, 79, and 80 of the CrPC.
Right to legal representation
As per Article 22(1) of the Indian Constitution, an arrested person should not be deprived of his right to be consulted and defended by his/her choice of a legal practitioner. Therefore, it is necessitated by the Union of India that a person should be aware of the grounds of such arrest and should be cross-examined by the magistrate of India whether he/she requires a legal practitioner of his choice for his/her defense and consultation.