Chandigarh, July 16 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has termed a drug accused's arrest illegal after he was arrested without written intimation to his family and also not provided legal assistance before being produced in court.

The decision by the high court bench of justice Surya Partap Singh came while allowing the habeas corpus petition of a Punjab resident, Sajan Singh, who was booked in a drugs case at the Sector-79 police station in Mohali on February 9. He was arrested in Ferozepur after police allegedly found 307 gm heroin in his possession.

He approached the high court, claiming that his arrest was illegal. The plea stated that the grounds of arrest were not communicated to him and secondly, the arrest memo was not served...