No Jail if punishment is up to 7 years.

‘Arnesh Kumar’ Guidelines For Arrest Applicable To Offences Punishable With Less Than 7 Yrs Imprisonment: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed that directions passed by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar with respect to procedure for arrest shall be applicable to offences punishable with less than or up to seven years of imprisonment.

The bench comprising Justice Anoop Chitkara while dealing with an anticipatory bail plea in an FIR registered under Sections 406 and 420 IPC, observed, “Thus, directions passed in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, (2014) 8 SCC 273, (Para 13), apply to this petition, wherein Hon’ble Supreme Court directed all the State Governments to instruct its police officers not to arrest the accused automatically when the offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may be less than seven years or which may extend to seven years; whether with or without fine.”

After relying on the judgement of Sushila Aggarwal, (2020) 5 SCC 1, Para 92, and Sumit Mehta v. State of N.C.T. of Delhi, (2013)15 SCC 570, Para 11 the court said it can impose conditions to ensure an uninterrupted and unhampered investigation.

The observations were made by the Hon’ble Court in Case Title : Rajeev Kumar v. State of Haryana