Protection against arrest and detention
Also called: Article 22 · Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Rights in the Indian Constitution"
Meaning
Article 22 gives safeguards to anyone who is arrested. Under clauses (1) and (2), the arrested person must be told the grounds of arrest. They may consult and be defended by a lawyer of their choice. They must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours, leaving out travel time. Under Article 22(3), these safeguards do not apply to enemy aliens (citizens of a country at war with India) or to people held in preventive detention. Preventive detainees get separate protections instead, such as review by an advisory board.
Example
If the police arrest someone on Monday morning, they must produce that person before a magistrate by Tuesday morning. They cannot keep the person in a police lock-up for days without a magistrate's order.
Don't confuse with
- Article 20: protects a person at the stage of being convicted and punished. It bars retrospective punishment, double jeopardy and forced self-incrimination. Article 22 protects a person at the stage of arrest and detention.
Related concepts
- Protection in respect of conviction for offences
- Ex post facto law
- Double jeopardy
- Right against self-incrimination
- Narco-analysis test
- Right to speedy trial
- D.K. Basu guidelines
- Preventive detention
- Advisory board
- National Security Act 1980