Question

Which of these rights is/are provided to a person arrested by the government or police?
A) To be informed of the reasons of his arrest.
B) To be produced before a magistrate within 24 hrs of his arrest.
C) To engage a lawyer for his defence.
D) All of these

Answer 1

Hint: The benefit of the presumption of innocence of the accused until he is proved guilty after a trial based on legal evidence is one of the fundamental pillars of our legal system. Even the rights of the accused are protected in a democratic society; he does not become a non-person just because he has been accused of an offence.

Complete answer:
In India, the accused have several rights, the most basic of which are enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The basic premise behind these rights is that the government has vast resources at its disposal for prosecuting individuals, and as a result, individuals are entitled to some protection from the government's abuse of those resources. During any investigation, inquiry, or trial into an offence with which he is charged, an accused has certain rights, and he should be safeguarded from arbitrary or illegal arrest.

A person who has been arrested has four fundamental rights under Article 22 (1) and (2):
- The right to be informed of the reasons for the arrest as quickly as possible.
- He has the right to confer with and be represented by an attorney of his choice.
- The right to appear before the nearest magistrate within twenty-four hours of his detention, excluding the time required to travel from the place of arrest to the Magistrate's Court.
- The right not to be held in custody for more than twenty-four hours without the permission of the Magistrate.

Therefore the correct option is option ‘D’.

Note: An arbitrary or oppressive arrest can be a breach of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which provides that no human being can be deprived his right to life or personal liberty unless the process is fair, clear, and not arbitrarily or oppressively applied.