D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal

The Supreme Court laid down 11 mandatory requirements for every arrest:

• Police must bear accurate, visible, and clear identification and name tags
• A memo of arrest must be prepared — attested by at least one witness (family member or local person) — with time and date of arrest
• Arrested person has a right to have one friend, relative, or well-wisher informed of the arrest
• Time, place of arrest, and place of custody must be notified to next friend/relative within 8–12 hours
• Arrested person must be informed of the right to have someone informed
• Entry must be made in a diary at the place of detention — time of arrest, name of informant
• Arrested person may request medical examination at time of arrest — minor and major injuries recorded
• Medical examination by trained doctor every 48 hours during detention
• Copies of all documents sent to Magistrate for record
• Arrested person has right to meet lawyer during interrogation (though not throughout)
• A police control room must be set up in every district — information about arrest communicated within 12 hours