Section 54: Modifications as per SC directive, says law minister

Law Minister Anisul Huq today said modifications will be made to Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), if needed, as per the directives of the Supreme Court.

The minister said this while talking to reporters at his secretariat office after the apex court upheld a High Court directive on making arbitrary arrests on suspicion.

In its ruling today, the SC upheld the HC directive with some modifications and guidelines to stop police force from making arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing arrestees on remand.

The court also ruled that sections 54 and 167 of CrPC dealing with the arrest on suspicion and subsequent remand respectively were not consistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Terming Section 54 as an emergency provision, Huq said its merits and demerits depend on how it is applied.

The Section should be applied only when the law enforcers are convinced that the person they are going to arrest pose a threat to commit a crime, he added.