Supreme Court Sets 24-Hour Deadline for Arrested Person's Production Before Magistrate

The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared a 24-hour deadline for a person to be produced before a magistrate after being taken into custody. The court said that the 24-hour deadline for a person to be produced before a magistrate will start as soon as he is taken into custody. This time will not be counted from the time of formal arrest. Investigating agencies cannot take the route of detaining a person first and recording his arrest later. The Supreme Court's decision relates to a petition by four arrested Tripura men, who allege that there was a 21-hour gap between the detention and the recording of the arrest. The matter was heard by a bench of Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S. Chandrakur. What happens so far? The police detain and interrogate the suspect as long as they wish. The police produce the suspect in court within 24 hours based on the time recorded in the FIR. What happens now?