Home The Constitution Part III Article 22

Art. 22 Part III: Fundamental Rights

Protection Against Arrest and Detention

Exact text — Constitution of India

(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)–(7) [A separate, weaker regime for preventive detention laws — generally requiring review by an Advisory Board if detention exceeds three months, subject to Parliament prescribing the maximum period and procedure by law.]

In Plain English

What this Article actually means

Article 22 gives constitutional force to the arrest safeguards you may already know from Article 21's due-process umbrella: being told why you're arrested, the right to a lawyer of your choice, and production before a magistrate within 24 hours. But clause (3) carves out a much weaker regime for 'preventive detention' — where a person can be detained not for a crime already committed, but to prevent a future one, under specific preventive detention laws (like the National Security Act) — with only the limited safeguards in clauses (4)-(7), not the full protections of clauses (1)-(2).

Why This Matters To You

How it shows up in everyday life

This is the constitutional backbone of what BNSS Sections 47, 48 and 58 implement in practice (see our Police & Arrest category for the real-world playbook). It's also important to know preventive detention is a genuinely different, weaker-safeguard regime — if you or someone you know is detained under a preventive detention law rather than an ordinary arrest, different (and generally less protective) rules apply.

Landmark Cases

How courts have interpreted this Article

A.K. Gopalan v. State of MadrasAIR 1950 SC 27 — An early, narrow ruling that treated Article 22 as a self-contained code for arrest/detention, separate from Article 21 — an approach later significantly widened by Maneka Gandhi (1978), which read the two Articles together. Verify this case

Read alongside this one

Art. 21 — Protection of Life and Personal Liberty Art. 20 — Protection in Respect of Conviction for Offences

Frequently Asked

Quick answers about Article 22

What is preventive detention, and how is it different from an ordinary arrest?

Preventive detention allows detaining someone to prevent a future offence, not to punish a past one — it comes with far weaker procedural safeguards than an ordinary criminal arrest, which is exactly why it's constitutionally controversial and used sparingly, under specific named laws.

How long can someone be held under preventive detention without review?

Generally capped at 3 months without referring the case to an Advisory Board, though Parliament can extend this via specific legislation, subject to the Advisory Board safeguard.

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The text above reproduces Article 22 of the Constitution of India as amended to date, for general educational reference. It is public-domain legislative text, but we recommend cross-checking the authoritative version at legislative.gov.in or india.gov.in before relying on it for a legal matter. The explanation, examples and FAQs are general information, not legal advice — consult a qualified advocate for guidance on your specific situation.