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Showing contexts for: design to commit in A.K. Gopalan vs State Of Kerala And Ors. on 21 December, 1961Matching Fragments
7. It cannot be said that arrest was illegal and without jurisdiction Section 151, Criminal Procedure Code authorises a police officer who gets knowledge of a design to commit any cognizable offence to arrest without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, the person so designing, if it appears to such officer that the commission of the offence cannot be otherwise prevented. The facts set out in detail in the reply affidavit filed by the Circle Inspector and incorporated in the remand report itself clearly indicates that he had the necessary knowledge and that it appeared to him that the commission, of the offence cannot be prevented otherwise than by the arrest of the petitioner and the others. It is the subjective satisfaction of the officer concerned that- is envisaged in the section and it is not for this court in, these proceedings to go into the question whether the officer was indeed justified in coming to his conclusions. This question was considered in some detail by the Madras High Court in In re Om Prakashp. Gupta -- AIR (1949 Mad 744 from which the following observations may be incorporated with benefit : -
"Section 151 authorises a police officer to arrest if he had knowledge that the person sought to be arrested entertained a design to commit a cognizable offence. It must also further appear to the police officer that the commission of the offence could not be otherwise prevented. Both the "knowledge" and the 'appearance' are those of the police officers concerned and, are not capable of an independent investigation. It is not open to the High Court exercising its jurisdiction under Section 6491 to go into the question whether, in fact,, the police officer was justified in concluding that the person sought to be arrested was about to commit a cognizable offence and whether the police officer was equally justified in concluding that there were no other means by which the perpetration of the offence could have been prevented. The discretion is vested solely in the police officer and that discretion cannot be questioned or canvassed in a proceeding under Section 491. The object of the section is to prevent the commission of an offence which a person designs or intends to commit., The facts would not be capable of investigation in order to find out whether, in fact, a cognizable offence was intended to be committed or not, as the offence would still1 be at the stage of an intention and not passed into the region of facts. There would be nothing (therefore on the face of the record to show that the arrest was illegal 'or Improper .within the meaning of Section 6491 .(i), Clause (b)".