Provide ‘grounds of arrest’ in Renukaswamy case, HC tells state govt

NT Correspondent

Belagavi

The Karnataka High Court (HC) on Friday ordered the State government to make clear the grounds for arrest for actor and accused Darshan in the Renukaswamy murder case. Justice S Vishwajith Shetty said that the arrest memo forms should be updated to reflect the grounds of arrest issued to the accused. He pointed out that serving of grounds of arrest was made mandatory by the order of the Supreme Court (SC) and held good for cases from October 3, 2023 onwards.

He issued the order on the same day he granted conditional bail to two accused persons in the case namely Darshan and friend Pavithra Gowda due to absence of grounds of arrest. “Therefore, there is an urgent need to update the arrest memo forms to ensure effective compliance of Section 50(1) of Cr.PC (corresponding provision under Section 47 of BNSS, 2023) and Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India,” Justice Shetty said.

“The Director General of Police, State of Karnataka, shall therefore take necessary steps forthwith prescribing a uniform format for communicating grounds of arrest in writing to the person arrested, which shall include all basic facts of the case leading to the arrest, and the copy of such memo of grounds of arrest as communicated to the arrested person shall be enclosed along with the remand report when filed before the Magistrate seeking remand.

The Magistrates and Judges in the District of the requirement mandated under Section 50(1) of Cr PC (Corresponding provision under Section 47 of BNSS, 2023) and Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India without fail,” he added.