Bombay HC: Waiting At Police Station While IO Is Busy Does Not Amount To Arrest

Mumbai, August 27, 2026: Simply being asked to wait at a police station while the investigating officer is occupied with another case does not mean that a person has been arrested, the Bombay High Court has held.

A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and R.R. Bhonsale dismissed a petition filed by Manohar Pathare, who claimed that the time he spent waiting at the police station should be treated as the period of his arrest. Pathare argued that the police had control over him and had restricted his movement.

Pathare was named as an accused in an FIR registered at Dongri police station in Mumbai on June 4. The court noted that he had been called to the police station for an inquiry and that the police had neither picked him up from elsewhere nor gone to his home to arrest him.

Court Examines Arrest Circumstances

“Once the detenu (Pathare) came to the Police Station, it was well within the powers of the Police to make enquiry with him and only after being satisfied that his arrest was necessary, the arrest could be effected,” the bench said in its August 21 order.

The court also accepted the explanation given by the investigating officer for not questioning Pathare immediately. The officer was involved in another investigation in which an accused had suffered health problems and had to be taken to hospital. The bench found this explanation “reasonable”.

The judges said that merely making Pathare wait at the police station until the officer became available could not be treated as an arrest. The court also noted there was no material to show that Pathare had been prevented from contacting his relatives.

Phone Records Cited

“In fact, there is a phone record which shows that he was in touch with others till about 07.00 p.m. in the evening,” the bench observed.

The court said police officers must have an opportunity to assess an accused’s involvement before deciding whether an arrest is necessary. In this case, it found that the police had taken sufficient precautions before formally arresting Pathare.

The bench accepted the prosecution’s case that Pathare was arrested at 8.15 p.m. on June 10, 2026, and was produced before the court within 24 hours.

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No Illegal Detention Found

“It cannot be accepted that, the moment the detenu stepped into the Police Station at around 11.00 a.m. on June 10, 2026, he was under arrest,” the court said.

Holding that there was no illegal detention and no violation of Article 22(2) of the Constitution, the bench declined to grant any relief and disposed of the petition.

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