Non-communication of contraband quantity in arrest grounds violates Article 22(1), rendering NDPS arrest illegal, entitling bail.

ORDER :

KAUSER EDAPPAGATH, J.

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking regular bail.

2. The applicants are the accused Nos.1 and 2 in Crime No.64/2026 of Railway Police Station, Kollam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(B) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that on 18.02.2026 at 23.55 hours, while the police were conducting patrol duty on the platform of Kollam Railway Station, the applicants were found in possession of 17.110 kilograms of ganja in the shoulder bags they were carrying and thus the applicants committed the aforesaid offences.

4. I have heard Sri.P.Mohamed Sabah, the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri.K.A.Noushad, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel appearing for the applicants submitted that the requirement of informing the arrested person of the grounds of arrest is mandatory under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 47 of the BNSS and inasmuch as the applicants were not furnished with the grounds of arrest, their arrest was illegal and they are liable to be released on bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that all legal formalities were complied with in accordance with Chapter V of the at the time of the arrest of the applicants. It is further submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicants and hence they are not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicants were arrested on 19.02.2026 and since then they are in judicial custody.

7. Though prima facie there are materials on record to connect the applicants with the crime, since the applicants have raised a question of absence of communication of the grounds of their arrest, let me consider the same.

8. Chapter V of BNSS, 2023 deals with the arrest of persons. Sub-section (1) of Section 35 of lists cases when police may arrest a person without a warrant.Section 47 of clearly states that every police officer or other person arresting any person without a warrant shall forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest. Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India provides that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest. Thus, the requirement of informing the person arrested of the grounds of arrest is not a formality but a mandatory statutory and constitutional requirement. Noncompliance with Article 22(1) of the Constitution will be a violation of the fundamental right of the accused guaranteed by the said Article. It will also amount to a violation of the right to personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. 9. The question whether failure to communicate written grounds of arrest would render the arrest illegal, necessitating the release of the accused, is no longer res integra. The Supreme Court inPankaj Bansal v. Union of India and Others[ (2024) 7 SCC 576 ], while dealing with Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, has held that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest. It was further held that a copy of written grounds of arrest should be furnished to the arrested person as a matter of course and without