Bombay High Court Rules Waiting at Dongri Police Station Is Not an Arrest
The Bombay High Court has ruled that simply being asked to wait at a police station while an investigating officer attends to another matter does not constitute an arrest. A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and R.R. Bhonsale dismissed a petition filed by Manohar Pathare, who sought to treat his waiting time at the Dongri police station in Mumbai as part of his custody.
Pathare was named as an accused in a First Information Report registered at Dongri police station on June 4. He arrived at the police station around 11:00 a.m. on June 10, 2026, after being summoned for inquiry. He was formally placed under arrest at 8:15 p.m. that evening.
In his plea, Pathare argued that the police exercised control over him and restricted his movement during the hours he spent at the station before the formal arrest. He claimed this constituted illegal detention and violated Article 22(2) of the Constitution.
The High Court rejected these claims in an order issued on August 21. The judges noted that police had neither picked Pathare up from elsewhere nor gone to his residence to apprehend him.
The bench stated that once a person arrives at a police station, officers are fully empowered to conduct an inquiry and effect an arrest only after determining that it is necessary. The judges observed that officers must have sufficient opportunity to assess an individual's involvement before deciding on formal custody.
The court also accepted the investigating officer's explanation for the delay in questioning Pathare. The officer had been handling another case where an accused experienced health complications and had to be transported to a hospital, a reason the bench deemed reasonable.
Phone records presented in court indicated that Pathare remained in contact with outside parties until about 7:00 p.m., showing he was not barred from reaching his relatives. Finding that the police observed proper precautions and produced Pathare before a court within 24 hours of his 8:15 p.m. arrest, the High Court held there was no illegal detention and disposed of the petition.
