The Supreme Court has held that a police officer should have sufficient grounds prior to exercise of his discretion to arrest a person on the basis of some allegations.
“Having the power to arrest is one thing but the justification for the exercise of that power is quite another,” observed Justice Syed Mansoor Ali in a five-page judgement given on an appeal by Shahzada Qaiser Arfat against a March 3, 2020, Lahore High Court order.
Ordinarily no person should be arrested straightaway only because he has been nominated as an accused in an FIR until the investigating officer feels satisfied that sufficient justification exists for his arrest, the judgement explained.
