Supreme Court clarifies 24-hour custody Clock starts at actual detention

The Supreme Court of India ruled on November 5, 2026, that the constitutional 24-hour deadline for producing a detained person before a Magistrate begins when their liberty is actually curtailed, not when the formal arrest is recorded. In the case of Sujit Das v. Union of India, the Bench rejected the argument that the clock starts only after the police formally record the arrest, a distinction that had allowed authorities to extend custody without judicial oversight.

The Court ordered the immediate release of four appellants in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act case after finding a violation of Article 22(2) of the Constitution. The individuals had been detained in September 2025, but their formal arrest was recorded nearly 21 hours later. The ruling clarifies that only the time necessary for travelling to the Magistrate's court is excluded from the 24-hour calculation, while time spent on inquiry or investigation before formal arrest counts toward the limit.

The judgment places responsibility on Magistrates to record the actual date and time when a person's liberty is restricted and to independently verify that the constitutional deadline has been met. The Court emphasized that detention must remain reasonable even within the 24-hour window and that any person held beyond the permissible period without being produced before a Magistrate must be released immediately.

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