The Bombay High Court declared Hemang Shah’s arrest by the Economic Offences Wing illegal due to the failure to produce him before a magistrate within 24 hours.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court vacation bench on Friday declared the arrest of Anchor Group director Hemang Shah, 50, by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) as illegal, citing failure by police to produce him before a magistrate in 24 hours. The court ordered his immediate release from Arthur Road Jail. The vacation bench, comprising Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan, noted that chat messages between the wives of the two brothers supported Hemang Shah’s claim that his arrest and continued custody were intended to recover the settlement amount in mediation between family members. The arrest was based on allegations of defrauding his elder brother, Mehul Shah, of Rs 67 crore.Hemang Shah petitioned the High Court, arguing that his arrest was illegal since he was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours as required by law. He was detained at Delhi airport at 5.30 pm on May 17 and produced in court only at 10.45 pm on May 18. The High Court agreed, stating that his arrest “without producing him before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours is completely illegal” and infringes on fundamental rights under Article 22(2), which mandates such production.The First Information Report (FIR) by the elder brother was lodged with Malabar Police Station in South Mumbai at 2.14 am, and a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued at the police station’s request. The dispute, being resolved before a mediator, is between Hemang on one side and his brother and their father on the other. The FIR was filed during mediation, and Hemang, scheduled to fly to Muscat from Delhi on May 17, was apprehended at the airport due to the LOC.Police stated they arrested him on May 18 after the immigration department handed him over at 4.30 am, and then he was brought to Mumbai. Senior counsel for the elder brother—the complainant—argued that the immigration officers cannot be considered police officers, and hence his custody after being “accosted” at the airport was not an “arrest” by police officers. The prosecution and complainant’s counsel argued that only on arrest by officers authorised to do so would the legal obligations ensue.The EOW’s arrest memo states he was arrested on May 18 at 7.30 pm. The High Court bench said, “In our view, the act of the Immigration Officers to accost the petitioner or detain him on 17th May 2025 at 1730 hours is the act of arrest, and therefore the period of 24 hours as contemplated under Section 58 of BNS and Article 22(2) of the Constitution of India shall begin on 17th May 2025 at 1730 hours.”Additionally, the High Court order stated, “Though the petitioner is shown to have been arrested in the arrest memo on 18th May 2025 at 19.30 hours, the material on record does not support the date and time as mentioned in the arrest memo.”The bench also refrained from “expressing any comments on the unholy haste shown by the police officers as well as EOW officers in registering the FIR post-midnight at 2.14 hours on 14th May 2025 and also issuing the request for LOC (Look Out Circular) on the same day,” stating that the case did not merit such haste. “Considering the nature of the dispute and the allegations made against the petitioner, we did not find any such tearing hurry to initiate action to take the petitioner into custody with such zeal and enthusiasm,” said the detailed order made available on Saturday.The High Court also accepted the prosecutor’s statement that the police would preserve CCTV footage of the EOW Unit 5 office at DN Road and the May 18, 22, 25 entry register for two weeks to enable Hemang Shah to take legal steps. However, the High Court clarified that its observations were only to decide his plea regarding his illegal arrest and would not influence the trial or merits of the case.