Context: Recently, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to 15 days judicial custody in Delhi Excise policy case.
Concept of Custody: The word ‘custody’ means apprehending someone for protective care. The principle behind arresting the suspect of a crime is to save other people from the accused in society.
Police Custody:
- After the receipt of an information/complaint/report by police about a crime, an officer of police arrests the suspect involved in the crime reported, to prevent him from committing the offensive acts further, such officer brings that suspect to police station, this process is called as Police Custody.
- It is the custody of a suspect with the police in a lock up at the police station, to detain the suspect. During this detention, the police officer in charge of the case may interrogate the suspect. This detention is not supposed to be longer than 24 hours.
- When Police take a person into custody, Section 57 of Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) kicks-in and police must produce the accused before a Magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest.
Judicial Custody:
- Judicial Custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate.
- In police custody, the accused is lodged in police station lockup while in case of judicial custody, it is the jail.
- When judicial custody kicks in, the accused is processed under Section 167 of Cr.P.C. and the judicial magistrate has the power to extend this period of custody from time to time.
Difference between police custody and judicial custody:
| Police custody | Judicial custody |
|---|---|
| It means that police have the physical custody of the accused. | Judicial Custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate. |
| Accused is lodged in lock up. | Accused is lodged in jail. |
| A person lodge in police custody has to appear before the concerned magistrate within 24 hours. | The person detained in judicial custody is kept in jail until Court gives bail. |
| Police custody begins when a police officer arrests a suspect upon receiving a complaint or FIR. | Judicial custody begins when the public prosecutor satisfies the court that for the purpose of the investigation, custody of such accused is necessary. |
| The maximum period of police custody is 24 hours, and which may be extended to 15 days as a whole by the appropriate magistrate | Maximum period of detention is 90 days where the investigation is related to offenses punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and 60 days where the investigation is related to offenses punishable with imprisonment for a term less than 10 years. |
