Article 22 — Protection Against Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

(1) No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.

(2) Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate.

(3) Nothing in clauses (1) and (2) shall apply — (a) to any person who for the time being is an enemy alien; or (b) to any person who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.

(4) No law providing for preventive detention shall authorise the detention of a person for a longer period than three months...

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The preventive detention exception in clauses (3)-(7) was deeply contested in the Constituent Assembly. It allowed the government to detain individuals without trial for up to three months (extendable by Advisory Board). This power was used through laws like MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) during the Emergency, and more recently through UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). Critics argue that preventive detention provisions in Article 22 have enabled the systematic detention of political opponents and civil society activists.

• 44th Amendment (1978) — Reduced maximum preventive detention without Advisory Board review from three to two months in ordinary law (though security-related laws can exceed this under clause 7).

• Article 20
• Article 21
• Article 352

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026