The failure to communicate the grounds of arrest to the accused constitutes a violation of constitutional rights, rendering the arrest and subsequent remand illegal.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Sri Anoop Trivedi, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Utkarsh Malviya, Sri Varad Nath and Sri Vikash Walia, learned counsel for the petitioner; Sri Manish Goyal, learned Additional Advocate General assisted by Sri Rupak Chaubey, Sri J.K. Upadhyay and Sri Vikas Sahay, learned counsel appeared for the State.

2. This writ petition has been filed with a prayer to declare the arrest of the petitioner as illegal vide the first information report dated 30.07.2023 which had given rise to Case Crime No. 196 of 2023. A further relief has been prayed for and that is to declare illegal all the successive remand orders passed subsequent to the arrest of the petitioner.

3. The petitioner namely Anwar Dhebar in the instant case was arrested with regard to a case which was registered by way of an Enforcement Case Information Report (hereinafter referred to as the “ECIR”) No. ECIR/RPZO/11/2022. This matter was being contested by the petitioner alongwith the other co-accused and the ECIR therein was challenged. However on 17.01.2024, an F.I.R. which gave rise to Case Crime No. 4 of 2024 was lodged by the Anti Corruption Bureau, Chhattisgarh under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of I.P.C. read with section 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and therein the petitioner was arrested on 04.04.2024. When the petitioner was so arrested, the High Court of Chhattisgarh granted him bail on 14.06.2024. Simultaneously, with regard to the events which happened in the same sequence of event, in the State of Uttar Pradesh, a first information report was lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Police on 30.07.2023 under Sections 420, 468, 471, 473, 484 and 120-B of I.P.C. and that had given rise to Case Crime No. 196 of 2023. When the petitioner, in Case Crime No. 4 of 2024 by the High Court of Chhattisgarh, was released on bail by an order dated 18.06.2024 at 09:20 PM the Uttar Pradesh Police thereafter arrested him on the very same date i.e. on 18.06.2024 at 09:40 PM at Raipur itself. The Investigating Officer of the State of Uttar Pradesh, Sri A.C. Srivastava applied under Section 167 of the Cr.P.C. for a transit remand from the Magistrate at Raipur which was granted for 48 hours. On 21.06.2024, the Special Judge, Prevention of Corruption Act, Meerut took the petitioner into judicial custody till 01.07.2024 despite the fact that the petitioner had categorically applied before the Special Judge, Prevention of Corruption Act, Meerut that his arrest was in violation of Article 19(1) and 22(1) of the Constitution of India. He had also stated that the arrest was in violation of the provisions of Section 50 of the Cr.P.C. At the time when the petitioner had got arrested at Raipur by the Uttar Pradesh Police on 18.06.2024, there was a memo of arrest. The information regarding the arrest was also sent to his son on the very same date i.e. on 18.06.2024. The information which was given to the son of the petitioner is being reproduced here as under:

The memo of arrest is also being reproduced hereas under:

4. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that as per Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, no person could be arrested or detained in custody without him being informed as soon as may be of the ground for such arrest. He also stated that he shall also not be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. Since, the learned counsel for the