Section 50 CrPC vs Section 47 BNSS — Grounds of Arrest and Informing a Relative (CrPC 50-50A)

In India, Sections 47 and 48 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) replaced Sections 50 and 50A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) from 1 July 2024. Section 47 repeats Section 50 word for word; Section 48 adds that news of the arrest must also go to the district's designated police officer.

For when police may arrest without warrant and the Section 35 notice, see Section 41 CrPC vs Section 35 BNSS; this page covers what the arrested person and his family must be told.

At a glance

These are procedural safeguards, so no punishment or First Schedule classification applies.

What changed

• Identical — Section 47 (CrPC 50): both sub-sections and the heading are word for word the same. Sub-section (1) applies to "Every police officer or other person arresting any person without warrant"; sub-section (2) applies where "a police officer arrests without warrant any person other than a person accused of a non-bailable offence".
• Minor edit — heading of Section 48: "Obligation of person making arrest to inform about the arrest, etc., to a nominated person" becomes "Obligation of person making arrest to inform about arrest, etc., to relative or friend".
• Minor edit — Section 48(1): "making any arrest under this Code" becomes "under this Sanhita", and "any of his friends, relatives" becomes "any of his relatives, friends".
• Expanded — Section 48(1): the information must now be given "and also to the designated police officer in the district". Under Section 37(b) BNSS, the State Government designates a police officer, not below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector, in every district and police station, responsible for maintaining the names and addresses of persons arrested and the nature of the offence charged, to be "prominently displayed in any manner including in digital mode". Section 37 replaces Section 41C CrPC (control rooms, and display of the names and addresses of persons arrested).
• Minor edit — Section 48(3): the register is kept "in such form as the State Government may, by rules, provide" instead of "in such form as may be prescribed in this behalf by the State Government".
• Neighbouring provision: Section 36(c) BNSS (formerly 41B(c) CrPC) requires the officer, unless the arrest memo is attested by a family member, to tell the arrested person of the right to have "a relative or a friend or any other person named by him" informed; the CrPC said "a relative or a friend named by him".

Statutory text (relevant extract)

Extract, Section 50(1) CrPC (repealed from 1 July 2024) — identical to Section 47(1) BNSS:

(1) Every police officer or other person arresting any person without warrant shall forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest.

Extract, Section 50A(1) CrPC:

(1) Every police officer or other person making any arrest under this Code shall forthwith give the information regarding such arrest and place where the arrested person is being held to any of his friends, relatives or such other persons as may be disclosed or nominated by the arrested person for the purpose of giving such information.

Extract, Section 48(1) BNSS:

(1) Every police officer or other person making any arrest under this Sanhita shall forthwith give the information regarding such arrest and place where the arrested person is being held to any of his relatives, friends or such other persons as may be disclosed or nominated by the arrested person for the purpose of giving such information and also to the designated police officer in the district.

How it works — the steps

1. At the arrest (without warrant). The arresting officer or private person "shall forthwith communicate" the full particulars of the offence or other grounds (Section 47(1)). Article 22(1) of the Constitution separately requires that no arrested person be detained without being informed, "as soon as may be", of the grounds.
2. Bailable offence. If the offence is not non-bailable, the police officer must tell the arrested person he is entitled to bail and may arrange sureties (Section 47(2)).
3. Arrest memo. Under Section 36(b), the officer prepares an arrest memo attested by a family member or respectable local person and countersigned by the arrested person.
4. Informing others. The person making the arrest must forthwith tell a relative, friend or nominated person about the arrest and the place of custody, and tell the designated police officer in the district (Section 48(1)).
5. At the police station. The arrested person must be told of the Section 48(1) right as soon as he is brought there (Section 48(2)), and an entry made of who was informed (Section 48(3)).
6. Before the Magistrate. The person must be produced within twenty-four hours, excluding journey time, absent a Magistrate's order under Section 187 (Section 58). The Magistrate must satisfy himself that Section 48(2) and (3) were complied with (Section 48(4)).
7. Arrest under a warrant. Section 47(1) speaks of arrest "without warrant". For a warrant, the executing officer must notify its substance and show it if asked (Section 77). Where a subordinate is deputed to arrest without warrant, he must carry a written order and notify its substance (Section 55(1)).

What this means in practice

For the person arrested and the family

• Ask for the grounds of arrest in writing, in a language you understand; Mihir Rajesh Shah requires them in writing at least two hours before production for remand.
• Nominate a relative or friend to be informed; the police must tell you of this right at the police station (Section 48(2)) and record whom they informed (Section 48(3)).
• For a bailable offence, you must be told of the right to bail and to arrange sureties (Section 47(2)).

For the defence advocate

• At the first remand, check whether written grounds were supplied, when, and in what language, and whether the Section 48(3) entry exists. Under Section 48(4) the Magistrate must verify compliance; Vihaan Kumar also places on the Magistrate a duty to check Article 22(1) compliance.
• A case-diary entry or remand report is not proof of communication (Vihaan Kumar, paras 25-27); the burden is on the police.

For the investigating officer

• Formulate the grounds before arrest, give them in writing, and keep a contemporaneous record. If writing is impractical at the moment of arrest, convey them orally and supply them in writing within the Mihir Rajesh Shah time limit, noting any delay in the remand papers (para 52).
• Inform the nominated person and the designated police officer in the district (Section 48(1)).

Judgments that still matter

D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, [1996] Supp. 10 S.C.R. 284 (1996 INSC 1508) — 18 December 1996. Kuldip Singh and Dr. A.S. Anand JJ. (judgment by Anand J.) issued eleven requirements for all arrests "till legal provisions are made in that behalf", including that an arrested person "shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him ... being informed, as soon as practicable" (requirement 3), must be made aware of that right (requirement 5), and that a diary entry disclose who was informed (requirement 6), with a police control room at district and State headquarters (requirement 11). The report shows no paragraph numbers for the requirements. On a comparison of the texts, Section 50A CrPC, inserted by Act 25 of 2005 with effect from 23 June 2006, and now Sections 36, 37 and 48 BNSS, cover much of the same ground in statutory form, though no provision among them carries requirement 11's twelve-hour time limit for informing the control room.

Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana & Anr., [2025] 2 S.C.R. 424 (2025 INSC 162) — 7 February 2025. In the main opinion, Abhay S. Oka J. held that informing the arrested person of the grounds "is not a formality but a mandatory constitutional requirement" (para 14). Section 50 "cannot have the effect of diluting the requirement of Article 22(1)", and "what we have held about Section 50 will apply to Section 47 of the BNSS" (para 19). The burden of proving compliance is on the police; non-compliance vitiates the arrest and remand but not the investigation, charge-sheet or trial; the Magistrate must check compliance at remand; and release must follow even where bail is statutorily restricted (paras 20-21). "Information about the arrest is completely different from the grounds of arrest" (para 26). The arrest was held illegal (para 28). In a separate opinion concurring with it, N. Kotiswar Singh J. read Section 50A CrPC as requiring the grounds to be communicated in writing also to the relatives or friends (paras 2-3 of that opinion).

Kasireddy Upender Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors., [2025] 7 S.C.R. 105 (2025 INSC 768) — 23 May 2025. J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan JJ. (judgment by Pardiwala J.) extracted Sections 47 and 48 BNSS (paras 12-13). It held that the authorities need not furnish full details of the offence, but the information "should be sufficient to enable the arrested person to understand why he has been arrested" (para 28), and that "If a person is arrested on a warrant, the grounds for reasons for the arrest is the warrant itself" (para 36). Finding the written grounds supplied meaningful, it dismissed the habeas corpus appeal (paras 37-38).

Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra and Another, [2025] 11 S.C.R. 291 (2025 INSC 1288) — 6 November 2025. B.R. Gavai CJI and Augustine George Masih J. (judgment by Masih J.) held that the grounds must be informed "in each and every case without exception" and "in writing in the language he understands" (para 46), in all offences under all statutes including the BNS (para 56). Where the police already hold documentary material, written grounds must be furnished on arrest; in exceptional cases such as offences committed in flagrante delicto, oral grounds suffice at arrest, with written grounds "in no event later than two hours prior to production" for remand (paras 52, 54). Non-compliance renders the arrest and remand illegal (para 56). Noting that no binding written-grounds rule had existed for all offences, the Court directed that the procedure "shall govern arrests henceforth" (para 58).

Which law applies to your case

Section 531(2)(a) BNSS provides that an investigation pending immediately before 1 July 2024 is continued under the CrPC "as if this Sanhita had not come into force". On a reading of that text, an arrest in such an investigation is governed by Sections 50 and 50A CrPC, and one in an investigation begun on or after that date by Sections 47 and 48 BNSS. Article 22(1) applies to both. Mihir Rajesh Shah directed that its written-grounds procedure govern arrests "henceforth" (para 58); on a reading of that word, it applies to arrests after 6 November 2025. See which law applies to an offence before 1 July 2024.

Frequently asked questions

What is the BNSS equivalent of Section 50 CrPC? Section 47 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaces Section 50 CrPC with the same words. Every police officer or other person arresting anyone without warrant must forthwith communicate to him full particulars of the offence or other grounds for the arrest (Section 47(1)), and a person arrested for a bailable offence must be told he is entitled to bail and may arrange sureties (Section 47(2)).

What is the BNSS equivalent of Section 50A CrPC? Section 48 BNSS. The person making an arrest must forthwith give information about the arrest and the place of custody to a relative, friend or person nominated by the arrested person and, under Section 48(1) BNSS, also to the designated police officer in the district. Section 50A(1) CrPC did not include the designated police officer.

Must the grounds of arrest be given in writing? Section 47 BNSS does not say so, but in Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra, [2025] 11 S.C.R. 291, the Supreme Court held that grounds of arrest must be communicated in writing, in a language the arrested person understands, in all offences under all statutes. Where that is impractical at the moment of arrest, they may be conveyed orally and must be supplied in writing at least two hours before production for remand (paras 52, 54, 56).

What happens if the police do not tell me the grounds of arrest? In Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana, [2025] 2 S.C.R. 424, the Supreme Court held that non-compliance with Article 22(1) vitiates the arrest and the remand orders that follow, that the burden of proving compliance is on the police, and that the court must order release forthwith, even where statutory bail restrictions apply. It held that the investigation, charge-sheet and trial are not vitiated (para 21).

Is telling my family about the arrest the same as telling me the grounds? No. In Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana, [2025] 2 S.C.R. 424, the Supreme Court held that 'Information about the arrest is completely different from the grounds of arrest', and that an arrest memo recording whom the arrest was reported to does not contain the grounds (para 26). Section 48 BNSS (information to a relative or friend) and Section 47 BNSS (grounds to the arrested person) are separate duties.

Who checks that a relative was informed? Section 48(3) BNSS requires an entry in a police-station book recording who was informed, in a form the State Government provides by rules. Under Section 48(4), the Magistrate before whom the arrested person is produced must satisfy himself that the arrested person was told of this right and that the entry was made. Both duties repeat Section 50A(3) and (4) CrPC.

Does Section 47 BNSS apply to an arrest under a warrant? Section 47(1) BNSS speaks of arresting 'without warrant'. For a warrant, Section 77 BNSS (formerly Section 75 CrPC) requires the person executing it to notify its substance and, if asked, show the warrant. In Kasireddy Upender Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, [2025] 7 S.C.R. 105, the Supreme Court said that where a person is arrested on a warrant, the warrant itself states the grounds (para 36).

Which law applies to an arrest made before 1 July 2024? Section 531(2)(a) BNSS provides that an investigation pending immediately before the BNSS came into force is continued under the CrPC as if the BNSS had not come into force. On a reading of that text, an arrest in such an investigation is governed by Sections 50 and 50A CrPC. The Article 22(1) duty to inform the grounds applies under either Code.

Related

• Arrest without warrant: CrPC 41 vs BNSS 35
• Your rights after arrest — a checklist
• Arrest of women and senior citizens
• Handcuffing and use of force during arrest
• Remand and default bail: CrPC 167 vs BNSS 187
• CrPC to BNSS master table
• Sections 41C and 43 CrPC vs Sections 37 and 40 BNSS — Designated Police Officer, Control Rooms and Arrest by a Private Person

Sources

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette text): Sections 36, 37, 38, 47, 48, 55, 58, 77 and 531.
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (India Code text): Sections 41B, 41C, 50, 50A (with the Act 25 of 2005 footnote), 55 and 75.
• Constitution of India: Article 22(1).
• Judgments read in full text: D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (S_1996_10_284_320_EN.md); Vihaan Kumar v. State of Haryana (2025_2_424_451_EN.md); Kasireddy Upender Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh (2025_7_105_138_EN.md); Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra (2025_11_291_326_EN.md).

This page explains the statutory text and the judgments cited as they stand. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.