Supreme Court Mandates Written Grounds of Arrest in All Cases: A Milestone in Constitutional Safeguards
In a historic expansion of constitutional protections, the Supreme Court of India has held that every person arrested — regardless of the nature of the offence or the statute under which the arrest is made — must be furnished with written grounds of arrest . The ruling marks a critical evolution in Indian criminal jurisprudence, strengthening Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution, and preventing arbitrary and unlawful detention by law enforcement agencies. Bench and Background A division bench comprising Chief Justice of India Bhushan R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih delivered the ruling. The case arose during the hearing of a petition filed by Mihir Shah , the accused in the July 2024 Worli BMW hit-and-run case , who contended that he was not supplied with written grounds for his arrest. While the Court clarified that its ruling would not interfere with the Bombay High Court’s order upholding Shah’s arrest, it used the occasion to address a broader constitutional issue — w...