Invoke NDPS to act against 'wrongful' arrests: Lawyers

After NCB’s SIT questioned the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, legal experts say it is time to invoke provisions under the NDPS Act meant to safeguard against “vexatious arrests” and punish officers who effected the arrest.

- Swati.Deshpande

Section 58 of the act says any officer, empowered for arrests, who “vexatiously and unnecessarily detains, searches or arrests any person”, can attract a jail term of up to six months or a fine of up to Rs 1,000, or with both.

Advocate Saurabh Kirpal from New Delhi told TOI, “This is one of the most underutilised and necessary provisions not only in this statute but in other criminal laws too which have similar provisions. I feel it should be invoked in this case against the NCB officers concerned as a deterrent action because malicious prosecution and wanton arrests have become a norm in the country. Traditional rule of liberty and bail, not jail, has been given a go by often. A citizen’s liberty under the Constitution has to have some method of enforcement.”