HC declares Singapore resident’s arrest illegal, orders immediate release

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has ordered the release of a Singapore national terming his detention by the Azad Maidan Police Station as illegal. The petitioner, Hem Prabhakar Shah, faced allegations of cheating Sharadkumar Kejariwal, a city-based businessman, to the tune of ₹3.5 crore.
A FIR to the effect was registered by the Azad Maidan Police Station in 2019, and Shah was subsequently declared an absconder and a look-out circular (LOC) was issued against his name. Based on this LOC, Shah was detained by immigration officers on August 13, 2024, when he landed in Ahmedabad on a Singapore flight.
The immigration authorities then transferred him to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Police Station in Ahmedabad. Subsequently, the Azad Maidan Police Station was informed and a team went to Ahmedabad the next day and brought Shah to Mumbai by air. He was formally placed under arrest in the cheating case August 14, 2024, and was produced before a magistrate court on August 15.
Shah claimed in his petition before the high court that he was a resident of Singapore and was not aware that an FIR had been registered against him. He also claimed that though the FIR was registered four years ago, the police made no efforts to contact him at any time before his detention at the airport.
A bench presided over by justice Bharati Dangre and justice Manjusha Deshpande declared the arrest illegal for flagrant violation of Section 50 (informing person to be arrested about grounds of arrest) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Article 22 (1) (Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases) of the Constitution.
“By not producing the petitioner before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest, his (Shah’s) right guaranteed under Article 22(2) of the Constitution, is violated,” stated advocate Aabad Ponda, who represented Shah. Ponda also argued that the arrest was illegal since the grounds of arrest were not communicated to Shah.
The court declared the production of the petitioner (Shah) before the magistrate after 24 hours a violation of Section 57 (person arrested not to be detained more than twenty-four hours) of Code of Criminal Procedure, “which clearly amounts to violation of the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed under clause (2) of Article 22 of the Constitution.” It then ordered the Singapore resident to be released immediately from jail. However, the court refused to stay the investigation of the case.