Kerala High Court strikes down the guideline restricting production of arrested persons before Magistrates after 5 p.m.

24 October 2026

The Kerala High Court on Friday set aside the Kerala government guidelines that preferred production of arrested persons before judicial officers between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and treated production after 5 p.m. as permissible only in exceptional circumstances.
The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar held that an executive protocol cannot dilute the safeguards guaranteed by the Constitution and the governing statute.
The guidelines were first issued in a government order dated September 21, 2023, and were modified by an order dated September 24, 2026; the Court set aside the Clause 18 preference as it stood in the modified guidelines.
The Court retained the provisions requiring prior intimation to the Magistrate when production is to be made after 5 p.m., and directed the State to issue fresh guidelines.
The ruling is reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 599 in Adv. P.S. Subeesh v State of Kerala.