JODHPUR, April 1 -- The Rajasthan high court has ruled that arresting someone solely on a WhatsApp notice is illegal, holding a former additional superintendent of police with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) guilty of contempt for violating Supreme Court guidelines on arrests, a lawyer familiar with the case said. Justice Praveer Bhatnagar passed the order on Monday while hearing a contempt petition by Ravi Meena, who was arrested on February 1, 2023, over an FIR registered at the ACB Jaipur police station. The FIR invoked sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with section 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Meena's counsel told the court the investigating officer, Pushpendra Singh Rathore, sent a notice via WhatsApp on January 25, 2023, asking him to appear on January 31. The petitioner replied on January 30 seeking more time due to his wife's illness but received no response before his arrest. The court observed that ordinarily, a notice under Section 41-A of the CrPC requires personal service on the noticee. Where personal service proves unfeasible, alternatives include pasting it at the person's residence or dispatching it through recognised channels, such as speed post. "Admittedly, none of these procedures were adopted by the investigating agency in the present case. The intimation made through WhatsApp does not satisfy the statutory requirement of service contemplated under Section 41-A of the Cr.P.C., and therefore cannot be treated as valid service of notice in the eyes of law." It added: "The conduct of the Investigating Officer, therefore, demonstrates a clear departure from the procedure prescribed under the Code as well as the binding directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Arnesh Kumar and later reiterated in the case of Satender Kumar Antil. The safeguards laid down in these judgments are intended to ensure that arrest is not made in a mechanical manner and that the power of arrest is exercised strictly within the parameters of law." The bench emphasised that personal liberty holds a central place in India's constitutional order. "Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life and liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law. The procedure prescribed by law is not an empty formality; it constitutes an essential safeguard against arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty." It further noted that statutory measures like Section 41-A CrPC exist to regulate arrests, obliging investigators to follow them diligently. Any lapse undermines core constitutional protection of liberty. The court ordered: "This Court is satisfied that respondent Pushpendra Singh Rathore has committed contempt by violating the principles laid down in the case of Arnesh Kumar and breached the personal liberty of the petitioner without adhering to the principles laid down in the aforesaid case. List the matter for orders on sentencing on April 6."...