High Courts cannot decide when investigative agencies should arrest an accused, the Supreme Court said in an order, adding that it is entirely the call of the probe officers.
A Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V. Ramasubramanian said it was beyond the jurisdiction of a High Court to direct the police to take someone into custody.
“It is for the investigative agency to whom the investigation has been entrusted to take a call as to when the petitioner is to be arrested,” the Supreme Court noted.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a man accused in a rape case. The Karnataka High Court quashed a trial court order of May 24, granting him anticipatory bail in the case.
The High Court transferred the case to the Corps of Detectives and ordered the outfit to submit a final report in the case within four months.
However, the High Court also went on to direct the probe officer to take the accused into custody and produce him before the local magistrate.
“We find that such direction to take the accused into custody is beyond the jurisdiction of the High Court. Whether an accused is liable to be arrested is based upon the decision of the investigating officer depending upon the material collected during the investigation, which may be conducted in a particular crime,” the apex court said.
The Bench left it entirely to the investigator’s discretion whether or not to arrest the accused.