Under Article 22(2), every person who is arrested and detained in custody must be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of:

Article 22(2) requires that every person who is arrested and detained in custody must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest. The time needed for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate is excluded from this period.

Purpose of the rule:

• It prevents illegal detention by the police.
• It ensures that a judicial officer quickly examines whether the arrest is lawful.
• No person can be kept in custody beyond this period without the authority of a magistrate.

Other safeguards in Article 22(1):

• The arrested person must be told the grounds of arrest as soon as possible.
• He has the right to consult and be defended by a lawyer of his choice.

Same rule in ordinary law:

The criminal procedure law also requires an arrested person to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.

Important judgments:

In the D.K. Basu case (1997), the Supreme Court laid down guidelines for arrest and detention, such as preparing an arrest memo and informing a relative or friend.

Exceptions to Article 22(1) and (2):

• These safeguards do not apply to an enemy alien.
• They do not apply to a person arrested or detained under a law providing for preventive detention.

Preventive detention:

• Preventive detention means detaining a person without trial to prevent him from doing something harmful in the future.
• Article 22 provides separate safeguards for such persons, such as review by an advisory board.

Why not the other options?

• ✗12 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours are not the periods laid down in Article 22(2).