Report No. 200

Our Conclusion

It is, therefore, permissible to amend the Explanation in Section 3 of the 1971 Act in such a way that prejudicial publications made even after arrest are brought within the fold of contempt law. It is sufficient, if upon arrest, the person comes within the protection that the Constitution and the laws give him, that he must be produced in a Court within 24 hours. Here, we have considered cases of bailable offences, where the police have to and may themselves grant bail within 24 hours of arrest, without producing the person in Court.

But even so there can be cases where a person is not able to satisfy the conditions imposed by the police and then he may have to be produced in court within 24 hours. As stated earlier, according to the judgment in Hall, decided by the Scotland Court in 1978 referred to above, the test is whether a person has come within the fold of protection of the Court and not whether, if the offence is bailable, he is able to satisfy the conditions and get released within 24 hours by the police. The moment an arrest is made, the person comes within the protection of Court and that is sufficient to state that Court proceedings are imminent, for the person has to be produced in Court within 24 hours.