Report No. 64

5.57. Effect of illegal confinement-General principle.-

It is well-established that confinement under legal authority must conform to the terms of that authority, and cannot exceed those terms, whether in respect of place, duration, manner or otherwise, except in the case of mistake of fact in good faith, dealt with in sections 76 and 79 of the Penal Code 1-2-3 or other specific exceptions created by statute. Thus, it has been held4 that police officer is not justified in detaining a person for one single hour, except upon some reasonable ground justified by the circumstances.

1. Rom Singh v. Emperor, AIR 1923 All 34.

2. Queen v. Behari Singh, 1867 Sutherland WR Cr 26 (Cal)

3. Dinanath (in re:), AIR 1940 Nag 186 (190).

4. Queen v. Suprasonna Ghosal, 8 Suth WR (Cr) 88-89 (Kemp & Markby, B.).