Are the changes applicable to arrest under Customs Act?
All the amendments state about arrest/interrogation by Police – But there is a classic concept that Customs officers are not police officers and that is exactly why the statements recorded before them are valid pieces of evidence.
The Supreme Court had in the DK Basu case held that – “These (directions) would apply with equal force to the other governmental agencies also to which a reference has been made earlier.”
Anyway perhaps to remove the cobwebs from the Customs minds, the Parliament has clarified that in a new Section 60A which stipulates,
60A . No arrest shall be made except in accordance with the provisions of this Code or any other law for the time being in force providing for arrest.
So the amended provisions apply to Customs arrests with equal vigour.
That brings us to another important issue. The amendments also provide that routine arrests cannot be made for offences for which the punishment is seven years and less. So you can't really arrest for a Customs offence.
More about that in another edition of DDT.