India, July 17 -- The Delhi High Court has ruled that an accused can be re-arrested even if a previous arrest was declared illegal due to procedural lapses, affirming the legality of Delhi Police's re-arrest of gangster Hashim Baba, his wife Zoya Khan and two others in a murder case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, delivering the verdict on Tuesday, held that procedural lapses do not grant blanket immunity from future arrests, particularly when investigative agencies possess material implicating the accused.

"The mere fact that the earlier arrest was vitiated on account of procedural lapses does not, by itself, create any blanket immunity from future arrest," the court said in a 34-page ruling.

The judgment came in response to a plea fil...