What is house arrest?
House Arrest is a concept where a person suspected of some illegal activity is by the order of court being confined to one’s residence or a public place usually allowed to leave only for medical or employment reasons.
Many countries use electronic anklets to monitor house arrest violations.
In what cases can a person be under house arrest?
House arrest can be imposed by a judge under the following circumstances-
- Imprisonment term is less than two years
- There are no charges where the minimum sentence of incarceration is required
- The offender is not under the charges of bodily harm, terrorism or criminal association that is prosecuted through indictment and carries a sentence of ten years of prison or more.
- The offender’s sentence of community service is in accordance with the Criminal Code’s tenets.
Conditions/guidelines on house arrest
- Giving the probation officer permission to contact your house whenever they want to make sure you are available.
- Allowing the probation officer to search your house to make sure there are no drugs or alcohol on hand.
- Observing a rigorous time restriction.
- Submitting to a drug and alcohol examination.
- Participating in counseling, community service, or other forms of rehabilitation.
House Arrest in India
- Only preventive detention laws, like Section 5 of the National Security Act, 1980, which permits the government to detain people in any location, including their home, have allowed for the use of house arrest in India.
- Neither CRPC nor any other law mentions house arrest.
- Preventive Detention does not fall under the purview of “custody”.
- Section 167 of CRPC gives a magistrate the authority to “authorise the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit”
- Regarding the computation of house arrest for the purpose of granting default bail, the SC emphasized that, as it is intrinsically connected to the right to liberty, the right to default bail is a fundamental right under Article 21.
Read more at: https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/house-arrest-in-india--16321.asp
Digital House Arrest
A recent scam where a person imposes a law authority and confines the victim to one’s own place monitoring them over a webcam. Victims are not allowed to move out or get in touch with the outside world.
