Jagisha Arora v. State of Uttar Pradesh
 (2019)  6 SCC 619
In the Supreme Court of India
W.P.(Crl.) 164/2019
Before Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Ajay Rastogi
Decided on June 11, 2019

Relevancy of the case: Writ petition under Article 32 against police custody for publishing certain tweets/posts

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Sections 500, 505)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 167)
• The Constitution of India, 1950 (Articles 19, 21, 32, 142)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner’s husband had proceedings initiated against him under the relevant sections for some posts/tweets.
• The Judicial Magistrate passed an order of remand against him where he would be in police custody for at least 13/14 days.
• The petitioner directly approached the Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, 1950 challenging the arrest and incarceration of her husband.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The respondent’s counsel submitted that a similar issue was decided by the court in State of Maharashtra v. Tasneem Rizwan Siddique, hence this application is not maintainable. Further, it is argued by the learned counsel that, remand should be challenged under provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and that the petitioner should have approached the High Court first.

Opinion of the Bench

• The Court was of the view that Article 32 of the Constitution of India, 1950 cannot be rendered inconsequential in a glaring case of deprivation of personal liberty. The court can render relief under Article 142 for complete justice and was not inclined to sit back on technical grounds.
• The Court further observed that the petitioner’s husband shall immediately be released on bail in view of the excessive action taken by the Judicial Magistrate and that the order of bail should not be taken as an approval of the tweets/posts.

Final Decision

• Petition disposed of.