Taking steps to ensure those summoned aren’t detained overnight, High Court told

The central government has informed the Bombay High Court that it was taking appropriate steps to ensure that persons summoned by them are not detained overnight for the purpose of questioning.
Advocates Jitendra Mishra and Satyaprakash Sharma, appearing for the government, the Central Goods and Service Tax department of Mumbai Zone and an Inspector of CGST and Central Excise Mumbai West Commissionerate, said that appropriate guidelines would be issued by the concerned ministry or department.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan directed the government to place those guidelines, if issued, before them by December 3.
The submission was made when the bench was hearing a petition filed by a Mumbai resident, Mahesh Gala, who had approached the court seeking that his arrest be declared illegal and he be released from custody.
Gala’s case stems from the investigation being carried out by CGST related to a 2021 case, in which summons were issued to a company called Om Sai Nityanand Management Pvt. Ltd.
Gala, on behalf of the company, arrived at the CGST office at 1:30 pm on March 13, 2024, was kept overnight and arrested the next day – March 14 at 7:30 pm. Thereafter, the petitioner was detained at the Santacruz Police Station in Mumbai and was produced before the magistrate on March 15 at 3:30 pm.
Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Gala, had submitted that his arrest smacks of arbitariness and high-handedness.
The bench had observed that the petitioner had been detained for more than 24 hours.
“We deprecate the practice of keeping a person overnight under the guise of recording his statement, irrespective of whether the person volunteered or not,” the bench had said while granting interim relief to Gala in May this year.
The bench had also said that “arrest is a serious matter and cannot be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offence, in as much as, an arrest can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person.”
Now, the court made its interim order absolute and said, “We confirm the interim bail order dated May 10, 2024” and disposed of the petition. However, for the limited reason of placing the guidelines before the bench which the government said it would be issuing, the bench will take up the issue in December this year.