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The Constitution, Made Understandable.

Article 22

Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases

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Source edition
The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
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Part III, Article 22, printed pages 11–13
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1. In One Sentence

Article 22 provides safeguards for arrest and custody, with separate rules and exceptions for preventive detention.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

For arrests covered by clauses (1) and (2), a person must be informed of the grounds as soon as may be, must not be denied consultation and defence by a lawyer of their choice, and must be brought before the nearest magistrate within twenty-four hours, excluding necessary journey time.

Clause (3) excludes enemy aliens and persons arrested or detained under preventive-detention laws from clauses (1) and (2). Clauses (4)–(7) separately address preventive detention, including Advisory Board scrutiny, communication of grounds, representation, and specified legislative powers.

The 1 May 2026 official edition retains the three-month wording in clause (4). It prints the proposed two-month replacement from section 3 of the Forty-fourth Amendment in a footnote marked as awaiting notification. The uncommenced replacement is not substituted into the text below.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

A person arrested in an ordinary criminal matter remains in police custody beyond twenty-four hours without magistrate authority, after allowing for necessary travel.

Core takeaway: For an arrest covered by clause (2), continued detention beyond that period requires a magistrate’s authority.
Illustrative Notice: Preventive detention and enemy-alien cases fall under the exceptions in clause (3). The applicable detention law and facts must be checked; this is not a promise of automatic release.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Ordinary arrest safeguards and preventive-detention safeguards must not be conflated.

  • The twenty-four-hour rule excludes necessary journey time.
  • Clauses (1) and (2) have the express exceptions in clause (3).
  • Preventive detention beyond three months is governed by the conditions and parliamentary powers in clauses (4) and (7), not an unconditional three-month maximum.
  • Clause (5) requires communication of grounds and an early opportunity to make a representation; clause (6) allows withholding facts considered contrary to public interest to disclose.
  • The transcription follows the cited 2026 edition. Later commencement notifications remain a review task.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice. (2) Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate. (3) Nothing in clauses (1) and (2) shall apply— (a) to any person who for the time being is an enemy alien; or (b) to any person who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention. (4) No law providing for preventive detention shall authorise the detention of a person for a longer period than three months unless— (a) an Advisory Board consisting of persons who are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as, Judges of a High Court has reported before the expiration of the said period of three months that there is in its opinion sufficient cause for such detention: Provided that nothing in this sub-clause shall authorise the detention of any person beyond the maximum period prescribed by any law made by Parliament under sub-clause (b) of clause (7); or (b) such person is detained in accordance with the provisions of any law made by Parliament under sub-clauses (a) and (b) of clause (7). (5) When any person is detained in pursuance of an order made under any law providing for preventive detention, the authority making the order shall, as soon as may be, communicate to such person the grounds on which the order has been made and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order. (6) Nothing in clause (5) shall require the authority making any such order as is referred to in that clause to disclose facts which such authority considers to be against the public interest to disclose. (7) Parliament may by law prescribe— (a) the circumstances under which, and the class or classes of cases in which, a person may be detained for a period longer than three months under any law providing for preventive detention without obtaining the opinion of an Advisory Board in accordance with the provisions of sub-clause (a) of clause (4); (b) the maximum period for which any person may in any class or classes of cases be detained under any law providing for preventive detention; and (c) the procedure to be followed by an Advisory Board in an inquiry under sub-clause (a) of clause (4).
Transcription for reference; compare with the linked official editionNot yet verified by a human legal reviewer

6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata
  • •
    Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
    Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part III, Article 22, printed pages 11–13 • Human source-link check pending

    Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource

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