Now turning to clause (1) of article 15-A, I think there were three suggestions made. One is with regard to the words “as soon as may be”. There are amendments suggested by Members that these words should be deleted and in place of those Words “fifteen days” and in some places “seven days” are suggested. In my judgment, these amendments show a complete misunderstanding of what the words “as soon as may be” mean in the context in which they are used. These words are integrally connected with clause (2) and they cannot, in my judgment, be read otherwise than by reference to the provisions contained in clause (2), which definitely say that no man arrested shall be detained in custody for more than 24 hours unless at the end of the 24 hours the police officer who arrests and detains him obtains an authority from the magistrate. That is how the section has to be read. Now it is obvious that if the police officer is required to obtain a judicial authority from a magistrate for the continued arrest of a person after 24 hours, it goes without saying that he shall have at least to inform the magistrate of the charge under which that man has been arrested, which means that “as soon as” cannot extend beyond 24 hours. Therefore all those amendments which suggest fifteen days or seven days are amendments which really curtail the liberty of the individual. Therefore I think those amendments are entirely misplaced and are not wanted.
