Last week, Delhi police detained Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), and his aides, including Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, ahead of a protest call in the national capital
Police boarded the Dipke's aircraft as it landed in the capital, ahead of a rally demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over accusations of voter list manipulation that critics say removed about 13 crore voters from a draft roll.
Dipke, and others, were later released from preventive arrest. Can a person be arrested from inside an aircraft? What does the lar say?
Who can be arrested from inside a plane?
Aviation laws in India mention offences that threaten aircraft safety. But there is no word on any list of criminal offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for arrests inside an aircraft.
Offences such as violence against people on board, damaging an aircraft, and placing dangerous devices on board come under the ambit of the Anti-Hijacking Act and the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation Act.
The Aircraft Rules, 1937, also address misconduct, including assault, intimidation, disobedience of lawful instructions from the pilot-in-command, and conduct that endangers flight safety.
General arrest laws come into play in cases of general criminal offences, subject to applicable requirements governing police entry into an aircraft. The only additional requirements are the legal compliances and the permissions required from the authorities concerned, which will enable the local police to enter the aircraft, according to Indian Express.
Can a person be detained inside an aircraft?
Police can arrest or detain a person from the aircraft only on lawful grounds and after following the prescribed procedure, advocate Saurabh Nandwani, an expert in aviation law and regulatory matters, told The Indian Express.
“An aircraft does not become immune from Indian law simply because it has landed at an airport. However, the police must have a valid legal basis for the arrest or detention and comply with the safeguards prescribed by law,” he said
Section 35 of the BNSS, 2023, specifies the circumstances in which the police can make an arrest without a warrant, while sections 126 and 170 deal with preventive action in specific circumstances.
Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution also protect personal liberty and provide safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention.
Experts said that it is important to distinguish between action taken to address a threat to aircraft safety or security and police action taken for an independent law-enforcement purpose. While an unruly passenger may need to be restrained to ensure safety on board, detention in connection with a proposed protest must be assessed on its own facts and legal grounds, they said.
“The mere possibility of a protest does not, by itself, justify detention,” Nandwani told IE.
Police have to justify the use of force and explain why it was necessary to enter the aircraft to execute the arrest.
“Arrest provisions are governed by the BNSS, 2023, irrespective of whether the arrest takes place at an airport or elsewhere. Under Section 43 of the BNSS, force may be used to effect an arrest when a person forcibly resists or attempts to evade arrest, and only to the extent necessary. The question is whether the person was resisting arrest, attempting to evade it or posing a threat to other passengers,” aviation law expert Satyam Dwivedi,told Indian Express.
Is there a Court ruling?
The Supreme Court’s guidelines in D K Basu v State of West Bengal mandate the police to follow prescribed safeguards during arrest and custody. This includes preparing an arrest memo, informing the arrested person of the grounds of arrest, notifying a relative or friend, and ensuring medical examination as required by law.
The police had reportedly invoked Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 while detaining Dipke and from the plane.
What did the police say?
Section 126 of BNSS deals with security for keeping peace. An Executive Magistrate can initiate proceedings against a person who is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb public tranquillity, requiring them to show cause why they should not execute a bond to maintain peace.
Section 170 of BNSS deals with arrest to prevent a cognizable offence.
A police officer may arrest without a warrant if the officer knows of a design to commit a cognizable offence and believes that the offence cannot otherwise be prevented. Detention under this provision cannot exceed 24 hours unless further detention is authorised under another applicable law.
About the Author
Livemint
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer