Arrest is not compulsory in cognizable offences: SC

New Delhi, March 24: The Supreme Court has held that it is not mandatory for arresting a person involved even in cognizable offences as it can cause "irreparable" damage to a person's reputation. The apex court also said that in Uttar Pradesh since no provision is provided for anticipatory bail, courts should in "appropriate cases" provide interim bail to accused persons. Cognizable offences are those crimes in which a police officer can arrest a person without a warrant from the court. "In appropriate cases, interim bail should be granted pending disposal of the final bail application, since arrest and detention of a person can cause irreparable loss to a person's reputation, as held by this court in Joginder Kumar's case. "Also, arrest is not a must in all cases of cognizable offences and in deciding whether to arrest or not the police officer must be guided and act according to the principles laid down in Joginder Kumar's case," a bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and V S Sirpurkar observed. In the Joginder Kumar's case in 1994, the apex court had set parameters for making the arrest of a person and held that arrest is not a must whenever a FIR or cognizable offence is lodged. The bench passed the direction while dealing with the criminal appeal filed by Lal Kamlendra Pratap Singh seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him in connection with cheating and other offences.

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