The Allahabad High Court has expressed concern over what it described as a growing and routine practice of police authorities failing to provide accused persons with the grounds of their arrest.

Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal made the observation while granting bail to Sandeep Baisoya, who has been in judicial custody since January 13 in a murder case.

The court noted that Baisoya had alleged that he was neither informed of the reasons for his arrest nor provided with a disclosure memo before being taken to recover an alleged country-made pistol.

The judgement referred to a November Supreme Court ruling which clarified that supplying the grounds of arrest is a mandatory constitutional requirement for all offences, including those under the Indian Penal Code and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.The Supreme Court had emphasised that this safeguard is not a procedural formality but an essential protection of individual liberty.During the proceedings, the Uttar Pradesh government did not dispute the claim that the accused had not been furnished with the grounds of arrest.The state also failed to indicate whether a disclosure memo had been prepared in accordance with Supreme Court directions.

Taking note of these omissions, the High Court observed that judicial magistrates have a duty to verify whether arrests comply with Article 22(1) of the Constitution before authorising remand.

The court held that the failure to examine compliance with these constitutional safeguards reflected a lack of judicial application of mind and amounted to a violation of Supreme Court directives.

Consequently, the judge instructed the judicial magistrate concerned to exercise greater caution in future and directed the Ghaziabad Police Commissioner to issue appropriate instructions to subordinate officers.Bail was granted after considering the procedural lapses, the facts of the case and the release of a co-accused on bail.