When the police arrest someone, they must follow strict rules laid down by the Constitution and the courts. What happens when the police themselves break the law and alter official records to hide their mistakes? In a dramatic case, the Allahabad High Court caught police officers doing exactly that and ordered a criminal investigation against them.
A Case of Irony: Forgery to Justify a Forgery Arrest
The incident arose from an arrest made by the Aligarh police in Uttar Pradesh. A man named Junaid was arrested on August 6 on allegations of forgery. However, after his detention, Junaid filed a habeas corpus petition before the Allahabad High Court.
A habeas corpus petition is a constitutional safeguard. It translates roughly from Latin as “bring the body.” Citizens file it when they believe someone is being held in illegal custody. Junaid argued that the police had not provided him with the clear grounds for his arrest at the time he was taken into custody. Under Indian law, failing to provide the exact reasons for detention makes the entire arrest unlawful.
The Tale of Two Different Arrest Memos
When the High Court began hearing the petition, the police filed an arrest memo to prove that they had followed all legal procedures. They claimed that the reasons for Junaid’s arrest were properly entered into the paperwork.
However, Junaid’s lawyers presented a certified copy of the original arrest memo that the police had submitted earlier before the remand magistrate. A remand magistrate is the local judge who decides whether an arrested person should be sent to police custody or jail.
When the division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev compared the two records side by side, they discovered a shocking mismatch. The document produced before the magistrate had incomplete and superficial entries. Meanwhile, the document filed before the High Court suddenly contained detailed grounds of arrest in Item Numbers 12 and 13 on the second page.
High Court Calls Out Police Fabrication
The High Court found that the police had made additions to the arrest memo only after the remand proceedings were over. The judges observed that the police likely tampered with the document after Junaid filed his habeas corpus petition to make their illegal arrest appear lawful.
The bench observed that the original document presented before the local magistrate was unfabricated, showing that the investigating officer later added entries to “perfect” the paperwork. By submitting this altered document to the High Court under an official affidavit, the police attempted to mislead the judiciary.
Taking a grave view of the situation, the High Court held that Junaid’s arrest was illegal due to the lack of proper grounds. The court ordered his immediate release from custody.
What The Law Says: Perjury and Document Tampering
Fabricating evidence or lying to a court is known as perjury. Because the legal system depends entirely on honesty and genuine documents, cheating a court is treated as a serious crime.
Under the new criminal procedure law, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), specific sections deal with offences against public justice:
- Section 379 of BNSS (formerly Section 340 of the CrPC): This section lays down the procedure a court must follow when somebody commits perjury or submits fake documents during a court proceeding. A court can direct a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a crime was committed against the administration of justice.
- Section 215 of BNSS (formerly Section 195 of the CrPC): This rule states that ordinary citizens cannot file private police complaints for perjury in judicial matters. Instead, a competent court itself must initiate the complaint through its authorized officer.
- Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India: Every arrested person has a fundamental right to know the precise grounds of their arrest as soon as possible. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that vague or missing grounds invalidate the arrest entirely.
High Court Orders Perjury Probe
Rather than letting the officers off with a warning, the Allahabad High Court initiated formal legal action. The bench directed its Registrar General to initiate proceedings under Section 379 of the BNSS for the offences mentioned under Section 215 of the BNSS.
The Registrar General will examine the original and modified records. If the inquiry shows that police personnel fabricated documents and committed perjury before the High Court, the Registrar General has been directed to file a formal criminal complaint before a competent court against all responsible officers.
Why This Matters For You
This ruling sets a powerful precedent for accountability in police administration. Often, ordinary citizens feel powerless when dealing with police procedures. Many people sign arrest paperwork without knowing what has been written on it.
This case establishes three vital protections for ordinary citizens:
- Grounds of arrest must be given: The police cannot merely inform an accused of the legal sections. They must give written, clear grounds at the time of arrest.
- Courts scrutinize police records: Tampering with records to cover procedural failures will not stand up against certified copies from lower courts.
- No one is above the law: Police officers who lie under oath or forge documents face criminal prosecution just like any other citizen.
By ordering Junaid’s release and launching a perjury inquiry, the Allahabad High Court reaffirmed that procedural safeguards exist to protect individual liberty and cannot be bypassed through forged paperwork.
Story reported by Barandbench. This article is BareLaw’s independent explanation and analysis.
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