Arrest warrants at investigation stage need statutory basis and recorded reasons; Section 73 cannot serve as routine police assistance.

Warrants of arrest issued at the investigation stage cannot be sustained merely to aid police action unless the statutory preconditions are shown and the Magistrate exercises discretion on relevant reasons. The Court read Chapter VI of the Code as directed to securing appearance before the Court, not as a device to make the Court an adjunct of investigation. Section 73 was treated as an extraordinary power for persons already required to appear in judicial process, such as escaped convicts or proclaimed offenders, and not as a routine investigative tool. As the police application and the Magistrate's orders disclosed no specific necessity or germane basis, the warrants and consequential orders were quashed.

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Issues: Whether warrants of arrest issued by the Magistrate at the investigation stage, on a police application that did not disclose specific reasons or any legal obstacle to arrest without warrant, were sustainable; and whether the power under Section 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 could be used merely to aid police investigation.

Analysis: The Court held that the scheme of the Code gives the police wide power to arrest without warrant during investigation, subject to the statutory requirements of satisfaction and recorded reasons where applicable. Chapter VI, which governs processes to compel appearance, is aimed at securing appearance before the Court and not at making the Court an adjunct of police investigation. Section 73 was read contextually as an extraordinary power meant for persons who are already required to appear before the Court, such as escaped convicts, proclaimed offenders, or persons accused of a non-bailable offence and evading arrest in the judicial process. The police application in the present case disclosed only that the petitioner was evading arrest, without setting out any specific obstacle that made a warrant necessary. The Magistrate's orders also did not show any germane material or judicial basis for exercising discretion.

Conclusion: The warrants of arrest and consequential orders were unsustainable and were quashed. The petition was partly allowed in favour of the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: A Magistrate cannot issue warrants of arrest at the investigation stage merely to assist the police unless the statutory preconditions are shown and the discretion is exercised on relevant reasons; Section 73 cannot be used as a routine investigative tool.

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