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THE Supreme Court’s ruling that the 24-hour deadline for producing a detained person before a magistrate begins from the moment of detention, and not from the formal recording of arrest, is a timely reaffirmation of constitutional liberty. The judgment sends an unequivocal message: the police cannot manipulate procedures to circumvent fundamental rights. Rejecting the artificial distinction between detention and arrest for the purpose of Article 22(2) of the Constitution, the SC Bench has plugged a loophole that potentially allowed probe agencies to keep individuals in custody without prompt judicial oversight. The case in question, involving four persons detained in connection with a narcotics case, has exposed the dangers of an unexplained 18-hour gap between detention and formal arrest. Such delays create opportunities for arbitrary exercise of power and custodial abuse.