Your Rights If You're Arrested or Stopped by the Police: A Plain-Language Guide to India's New Criminal Law (BNSS 2024)

Few moments in life are as frightening and disorienting as being arrested, detained, or even just stopped and questioned by the police. In that moment, most people freeze — they don't know what the officer is allowed to do, what they themselves are allowed to do, or what will happen next. And that not-knowing is exactly what leaves ordinary, innocent people vulnerable to being mistreated, held illegally, or pressured into things the law never permitted.

Here is the truth every citizen should carry: you have specific, powerful rights the moment the police deal with you — rights written into the Constitution and the criminal law, and reinforced again and again by the Supreme Court. And those rights matter more than ever right now, because on 1 July 2024, India's criminal law was completely overhauled. The old Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was replaced by a brand-new law, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. This guide explains, in plain language and fully up to date, exactly what the police can and cannot do — and precisely what your rights are if you are ever arrested, detained, or stopped.

First: The Law Changed on 1 July 2024

Before anything else, know this. On 1 July 2024, three new laws replaced the colonial-era codes that had governed Indian criminal justice for over a century:

• The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — this is the law that defines crimes and punishments.
• The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) — this is the law of procedure: arrest, FIR, investigation, bail, and trial. This is the law that governs your rights if arrested.
• The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act — the law of evidence.

Your deepest protections, however, do not come from any of these — they come from the Constitution itself, chiefly Articles 20, 21, and 22, which no ordinary law and no police officer can override. The new BNSS section numbers are different from the old CrPC, but your core constitutional rights are unchanged and, in several ways, now stronger.

In plain terms: The rulebook the police follow was rewritten in July 2024, so old advice quoting "CrPC Section so-and-so" is now out of date. But the Constitution — your ultimate shield — is exactly as strong as ever.

Can the Police Even Arrest You?

Not every situation allows an arrest. It depends first on the type of offence:

• Cognizable offences are serious crimes (like theft, assault, or worse) where the police can arrest without a warrant and must register an FIR.
• Non-cognizable offences are less serious; here the police generally cannot arrest without a warrant or a magistrate's order.

Under Section 35 of the BNSS, a police officer may arrest without a warrant in cognizable cases. But — and this is a crucial, citizen-friendly safeguard — for offences punishable with imprisonment of up to seven years, the police are not supposed to arrest you automatically. Instead, following the Supreme Court's landmark Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014) judgment (now written into Section 35(3) of the BNSS), the officer must usually first issue a notice requiring you to appear, and may arrest only if arrest is genuinely necessary — to stop you fleeing, tampering with evidence, or committing another offence. The Supreme Court has summed up the principle bluntly: for such offences, "arrest is the exception, notice is the rule."

How to use it: If you are picked up for a relatively minor offence (punishable up to seven years) without any notice and without any real reason that arrest was necessary, that arrest may itself be unlawful. Politely ask the officer under what section you are being arrested, and whether a notice under Section 35(3) was required. Note it. It can matter enormously later.

Your Rights the Moment You Are Arrested

If you are arrested, the Constitution and the BNSS give you a set of rights that take effect immediately. Know them cold:

• The right to know why — in writing. Under Article 22(1) of the Constitution and Section 47 of the BNSS, you must be told "forthwith" the full grounds of your arrest. And in two recent, powerful judgments — Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India (2023) and Prabir Purkayastha v. State of NCT of Delhi (2024) — the Supreme Court ruled that these grounds of arrest must be furnished to you in writing, as a matter of course. If they are not, the arrest and any remand can be held illegal.
• The right to a lawyer. Under Article 22(1), you have the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of your choice — and to have your lawyer present during interrogation.
• The right to remain silent. Under Article 20(3), no person "shall be compelled to be a witness against himself." You cannot be forced to confess or to answer in a way that incriminates you.
• The right to have someone informed. Under Section 48 of the BNSS, the police must inform a friend, relative, or a person of your choice about your arrest and where you are being held — so you cannot simply "disappear" into custody.
• The right to a medical examination. You have the right to be medically examined, which protects you against custodial violence — a key safeguard from the Supreme Court's D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997) guidelines, which also require an arrest memo signed by a witness.

The 24-Hour Rule — One of Your Strongest Protections

This is perhaps the single most important safeguard against illegal detention. Under Article 22(2) of the Constitution and Section 58 of the BNSS, the police cannot hold an arrested person for more than 24 hours (excluding the time needed to travel to the court) without producing them before a magistrate. Only a magistrate — not the police — can authorise your detention beyond that.

This rule exists precisely to stop the old horror of people being held incommunicado in police stations for days. If the 24 hours pass and you have not been produced before a magistrate, your detention has become illegal, and that is a serious violation you (or your lawyer) can immediately raise — including through a habeas corpus petition in the High Court.

How to use it: Keep track of the exact time of arrest. If 24 hours pass with no magistrate, that is a red line crossed. A relative on the outside should immediately contact a lawyer or legal aid (15100) to demand your production or file for habeas corpus.

Special Protections If You Are a Woman

The law gives women additional, specific safeguards:

• No arrest at night, as a rule. Under Section 43(5) of the BNSS, a woman generally cannot be arrested after sunset and before sunrise. Only in exceptional circumstances can this happen, and then a woman police officer must obtain the prior written permission of a Judicial Magistrate. (Note: some High Courts have read this as a strong guideline rather than an absolute bar, but it remains an important protection.)
• Arrest and search by women officers. As a rule, a woman should be arrested and searched only by a female police officer, and with regard to her dignity.
• Medical examination of a woman must be conducted by, or under the supervision of, a female registered medical practitioner.

How to use it: If police attempt to arrest a woman at night without a woman officer and without magistrate permission, that is very likely improper. Note the details and raise it — it directly affects the legality of the arrest.

If the Police Refuse to File Your FIR

Sometimes the problem is the opposite: you are the victim, and the police won't even register your complaint. The law does not leave you helpless. Under Section 173 of the BNSS, for a cognizable offence, the police are bound to register an FIR — and the new law adds two citizen-friendly reforms:

• Zero FIR: You can now walk into any police station, regardless of where the crime happened, and have an FIR registered as a "Zero FIR" (numbered 0). It is then transferred to the police station that has jurisdiction. This means you never have to run between stations while a crime goes unrecorded — vital in urgent cases like assault or a missing person.
• e-FIR / electronic reporting: The BNSS enables reporting of information electronically, so a cognizable offence can be reported online without first physically visiting a station (it is then signed within three days).

If a station house officer still refuses to register your FIR, the BNSS gives you an escalation path: you can send your complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police (SP), and, if that fails, you can approach a Magistrate, who has the power to order the police to investigate.

How to use it: Never accept "come back tomorrow" for a serious offence. Insist on a Zero FIR; get an acknowledgement. If refused, put your complaint in writing to the SP (keep a copy and proof of delivery), and escalate to the Magistrate. Evidence that you tried — dated copies — is powerful.

Handcuffs, Searches, and Force

The police do not have unlimited power over your body. Handcuffing is permitted only in limited situations (such as habitual or violent offenders) and not as routine humiliation. Any search of your person must be done lawfully and with dignity — and a woman may only be searched by another woman. Excessive force, custodial violence, and torture are strictly illegal; the D.K. Basu guidelines and Article 21 (the right to life and dignity) protect every person in custody, guilty or innocent, accused or convicted.

How to use it: You are a human being with dignity at every stage. If you face custodial violence or humiliation, the medical examination, the arrest memo, and informed relatives are your evidence trail — use them, and report the abuse to a magistrate, the State Human Rights Commission, or the NHRC.

What To Do — A Practical Checklist

• Stay calm and don't resist. Resisting turns a stop into a fresh offence. Assert your rights with words, not force.
• Ask for the grounds in writing and the section you're arrested under. This is now your right (Section 47; Supreme Court rulings).
• Say you want a lawyer and choose to stay silent. You cannot be forced to incriminate yourself (Article 20(3)).
• Give a name and number to be informed (Section 48), and note the arrest time — the 24-hour clock starts now (Section 58).
• Insist on an arrest memo and, if needed, a medical examination (D.K. Basu guidelines).
• Women: flag any night arrest without a woman officer and magistrate permission (Section 43(5)).
• Victim and FIR refused? Demand a Zero FIR at any station; escalate in writing to the SP, then to a Magistrate.
• Save every number: Police 112 · Free legal aid (NALSA) 15100 · Women in distress 181 · Child in danger 1098 · Human-rights violations — NHRC.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Ministry of Home Affairs — the new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA), in force 1 July 2024
• PRS Legislative Research — The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)
• Supreme Court Observer — communication of the grounds of arrest (Pankaj Bansal; Prabir Purkayastha)
• National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) — free legal aid, helpline 15100