ED must give grounds of arrest in writing to accused: SC

Source: The post is based on the article “ED must give grounds of arrest in writing to accused: SC” published in “Indian Express” on 4th October 2023

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has held that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should furnish the grounds of arrest to the accused in writing at the time of arrest.

What did the Supreme Court rule on Enforcement Directorate(ED) powers to arrest?

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must provide a copy of the grounds of arrest to accused in money laundering cases instead of just verbal information.

The court held that it is the constitutional right of a person under Article 22(1) to be informed of the grounds of arrest and that this right can be effectively realized only when the grounds are supplied in a written form.

– Article 22(1) of the Constitution says, “No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice”.

The court also said that ED mandated with investigation of the offense of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws should not be vindictive in its approach while conducting an investigation.

Significance of this judgement: This judgment of the Supreme Court is in contrast to a previous SC judgment in 2022 that had held that informing an accused about the grounds of arrest is “sufficient compliance” of the mandate of Article 22(1) of the Constitution.