Informing Grounds of Arrest to Arrestee is Mandatory in all Offences: SC

It is definitely worth paying attention that in a major development, we see that the Supreme Court in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Mihir Rajesh Shah vs State of Maharashtra and Another in Criminal Appeal No. 2195 of 2025 With Criminal Appeal No.2189, 2190 of 2025 and SLP (Crl) No. 8704 of 2025 and cited in Neutral Citation No.: 2025 INSC 1288 that was pronounced as recently as on November 6, 2025 has minced absolutely just no words to hold in no uncertain terms that informing the grounds of arrest to the arrestee is mandatory in all offences including the ones under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)/Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and adding more clarity also added that the said grounds shall be communicated in writing at least two hours prior to the production of the arrestee before the Magistrate.

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It also must be borne in mind that the primary legal issue that arose in this leading case was the alleged violation of Article 22(1) of the Constitution and Section 50 of the CrPC, 1973 (now Section 47 of BNSS, 2023), due to the failure of authorities to provide the grounds of arrest in writing. Most crucially, the Apex Court Bench comprising of CJI Hon'ble Mr Justice BR Gavai and Hon'ble Mr Justice Augustine George Masih explicitly held that, "Mere communication of the grounds in a language not understood by the person arrested does not fulfill the Constitutional mandate under Article 22 of the Constitution of India. The failure to supply such grounds in a language understood by the arrestee renders the Constitutional safeguards illusory and infringes the personal liberty of the person as guaranteed under Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution." No denying it!

Gavai and himself sets the ball in motion by first and foremost putting forth in para 1 that, "These Appeals being Criminal Appeal No.2195 of 2025, Criminal Appeal No.2189 of 2025 and Criminal Appeal No.2190 of 2025 were originally filed as Special Leave Petitions where leave was granted vide Order dated 22.04.2025. Since, in all these Appeals similar questions of law are involved, they are being decided by this common judgment. Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No.8704 of 2025 was tagged with the above-mentioned matters vide Order dated 02.06.2025."

As we see, the Bench while dwelling on purpose of the appeal lays bare in para 2 stating that, "The main issue as raised by the Appellants in these Appeals is the violation of the Appellants' right under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ("CrPC 1973") now Section 47 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 ("BNSS 2023") as the appellants assert that they were not informed of grounds of their arrest in writing."