The Bombay High Court said that the right to sleep is a "basic human requirement" and not providing it violates a person's human rights.
The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to issue directions for maintaining "earthly timings" for recording statements, when summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are issued by the agency.
"The right to sleep / right to blink is a basic human requirement, in as much as, non-providing of the same, violates a person’s human rights," the bench said in its order.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by 64-year-old Gandhidham resident Ram Kotumal Issrani seeking that his arrest be declared illegal.
Advocates Vijay Aggarwal, Ayush Jindal and Yash Wardhan Tiwari submitted that on August 7, 2023, Issrani joined the investigation at 10.30 am in Delhi and his personal liberty was curtailed, his mobile phone was seized, and he was surrounded by ED officials who even followed him to the washroom.
Issrani was interrogated throughout the night, which violated his ‘right to sleep’, which forms part of his right to life, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, Aggarwal said.
Issrani's statement was recorded by ED from 10.30 pm till 3 am, thereby depriving him of his right to sleep. Aggarwal submitted that Issrani had medical issues and as such, there was no tearing hurry for the ED to record his statement post midnight, and he could well have been summoned on the next date or even a few days thereafter. Issrani was formally shown as arrested at 5.30 am on August 8, 2023.
Advocates Hiten Venegaonkar and Ayush Kedia appearing for the agency submitted that Issrani had no objection to the recording of his statement belatedly and hence, the same was recorded.
The bench said, "Recording of statements at unearthly hours, definitely results in deprivation of a person’s sleep, a basic human right of an individual. We disapprove this practice."
Lack of sleep affects a person’s health, may impair his mental faculties, cognitive skills and so on, it added.
"The said person, so summoned, cannot be deprived of his basic human right, that is right to sleep, by the agency, beyond a reasonable time. Statements must necessarily be recorded during earthly hours and not in the night when the person’s cognitive skills may be impaired," the high court said.
The court rejected Aggarwal's contention of illegal arrest, but in its order noted the manner in which Issrani was kept overnight for recording of his statement, whether voluntarily or otherwise.
The court noted that when a person is summoned for questioning, the investigating agency is yet to arrive at a `reason to believe’ that the said person is guilty of an offence.
The bench noted that the petitioner, who is 64 years of age, had in the past too appeared before the agency to record his statement. The court noted that Issrani could have well been summoned on some other day or even on the next day, instead of keeping him waiting post-midnight, despite his alleged consent. The bench posted the matter for compliance on September 9.
