Democratic Politics

Limitation : The Right to Freedom is not, however, absolute. In the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, public order, decency or morality, certain limitations can be imposed on the exercise of this right and sometimes a person can be detained and even arrested. Various laws passed by the Parliament like ‘MISA’ (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), ‘ESMA’ (Essential Services Maintenance Act), Preventive Detention Act, have imposed certain restrictions on the exercise of this Right to Freedom.
Protection against Arrest and Detention :
But here too, the Constitution has imposed certain restrictions upon the unabridged powers of the Government in the interest of individual liberty. Article 22 of the Constitution gives certain rights to the individuals who are arrested :
(i) A person, who is arrested under ordinary circumstances, has got the right to be informed the ground of his or her arrest.
(ii) Such an accused person shall have the right to defend himself by a lawyer of his choice.
(iii) The accused person shall be produced before a Magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest and he shall not be detained under custody without an order by the court.
(iv) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.
(v) No person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
However, a person arrested under the Prevention Detention Act, can be detained for a period - three months even without trial in a court of law. Such a thing is necessary for the security and integrity of the country. But the interests of even such a person, detained under the Preventive Detention Act, have been fully safeguarded. As soon as it may be possible, the Government must inform such a person the grounds on which he has been detained. Then he should be afforded every opportunity to make a representation against such a detention. Again, such a person cannot be detained for more than three months unless an Advisory Board comprising of persons qualified to be the Judges of the High Court advise for further detention