Gauhati HC grants bail in heroin case: arrest vitiated as accused was produced before Magistrate beyond 24 hours
The question: Does production before the Remand Magistrate beyond 24 hours of arrest violate Article 22(2) and vitiate the arrest?
The Gauhati High Court has granted regular bail to an accused in an NDPS case on the ground that his arrest was vitiated by a violation of Article 22(2) of the Constitution, because he was produced before the Remand Magistrate about an hour beyond the 24-hour limit. Justice Pranjal Das accepted the subsequent bail petition filed under Section 483 BNSS on this new ground, applying parity with a co-accused who had already been granted bail on the same ground, and noted the Additional Public Prosecutor's fair concession that the 24 hours had been exceeded. The petitioner, Elias Ahmed @ Ilias Ahmed, was arrested on 18 June 2026 in Nagaon PS Case No. 470/2026 under Sections 21(c), 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act. The prosecution alleged that, on source information, a vehicle travelling from Silchar towards Guwahati was stopped at a naka on the Kathiathali-Borghat bypass road after the driver tried to flee, and that about 750.42 grams of suspected heroin, excluding soap boxes, was seized along with electronic items, with three persons apprehended. An earlier bail petition, BA 1906 of 2026, had been rejected on 26 August 2026.