New SC arrest safeguards won’t apply to past cases: Cal HC

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has held that new arrest safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court (SC) in November 2025 apply only to future cases and cannot be used to seek automatic bail in arrests made earlier.

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh dismissed a bail application filed by a man arrested on June 24, 2025, in connection with a police case from Kandi, Murshidabad. The petitioner was arrested under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kandi, who remanded him to custody.

The challenge before the High Court was that the police failed to supply the petitioner with the grounds of arrest at the time of arrest or within a reasonable period thereafter, violating Article 22 of the Constitution and Section 47 of the BNSS, 2023, and rendering the arrest and remand illegal, entitling him to immediate release without examining the merits.

The prosecution pointed out that the records reflected the reasons for arrest and referred to the alleged recovery of counterfeit currency notes from the petitioner. It was further argued that the SC’s clarification on the manner of communicating arrest grounds operates prospectively and does not apply to arrests made earlier.

The High Court referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra, which held that arrest grounds must be clearly communicated—normally in writing, in a language understood by the accused, and within a reasonable time.

If initially conveyed orally, they must be provided in writing before remand, failing which the arrest and remand would be illegal. Justice Ghosh noted that the Supreme Court had clearly said the clarified procedure would apply “henceforth”, meaning in the future, and held that it could not be retrospectively used to invalidate arrests made before the ruling.