liable

1. Who is liable?
A person may be liable for false
imprisonment not only when he directly
arrests or detains the plaintiff, but also when
he was “ active” in promoting or causing”
the arrest or detention.

2. • If a person gets another arrested by police on
a false complaint, he is liable for damages for
false imprisonment.
• Did the person merely give information or was
he the instigator, promoter and active inciter
of the arrest and imprisonment.

3. Arrest by Public Officer
• Sec 41 ( 1) of Cr. P.C 1973 provides that a
Police Officer may arrest a person “ who has
been concerned in any cognizable offence, or
against whom a resonable complaint has
been made or credible information has been
received or a reasonable suspicion exits of
having been so concerned.

4. • Existence of reasonable suspicion- Minimum
requirement
• Person shall be informed of the grounds for such
arrests
• Right to consult and to be defended by a legal
practitioner
• Every person arrested and detained as to be brought
before a Magistrate within a period of twenty four
hours of such arrest, excluding the time necessary for
the journey and no such person shall be detained in
custody beyond the period without the authority of a
Magistrate. Article 22(1).

5. Shabban Bin Hussain v Chong Fook
Kam, ( 1969) 3 All Er
• Lord Devlin said: ‘An arrest occurs when a police
officer states in terms that he is arresting or when
he uses force to restrain the individual
concerned. It occurs also when by words or
conduct he makes it clear that he will, if
necessary, use force to prevent the individual
from going where he may want to go.’
In order to have a reasonable suspicion the
officer need not have evidence amounting to a
prima facie case: ‘Suspicion in its ordinary
meaning is a state of conjecture or surmise where
proof is lacking: ‘I suspect but I cannot prove’.

6. • Arrest involves trespass to the person, the
onus lies on the arrestor to justify the trespass
by establishing that the arrest was lawful and
was made at least on reasonable suspicion.
• Even where the Police has a reasonable