With the BNSS replacing the CrPC, assess whether the new criminal laws adequately codify judicial safeguards on arrest and custody.

Article 21 allows a person to be deprived of liberty only by "procedure established by law". Article 22(2) requires that an arrested person be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours [1]. Over decades the Supreme Court has built arrest safeguards on these two provisions. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, writes most of them into law. However, it leaves important gaps and weakens a few.

Safeguards codified

• Grounds of arrest: the duty to tell an arrested person why they are being arrested moves from Section 50 CrPC to Section 47 BNSS. The 24-hour production rule is retained [1].
• D.K. Basu norms: the arrest memo, informing a relative and meeting an advocate during interrogation are now part of the statute.
• Arnesh Kumar principle: for lesser offences, police can issue a notice of appearance instead of making a routine arrest.
• Transparency: each district still has a designated police officer who publicly displays the details of arrested persons.

Gaps and dilutions

• Mode of communication not specified: Section 47 does not say the grounds must be given "in writing" [1]. In Jaskaran Jeet Singh Deol v. State of Punjab (2026), the SC had to fill this gap. It held that an arrest without written grounds violates Article 22(1). It also made re-arrest subject to a magistrate's sanction and directed departmental action against the investigating officer (IO) [2]. The safeguard therefore rests on case law, not on the statute.
• Custody in parts: police custody of up to 15 days can now be authorised "in whole or in parts" within the first 40 or 60 days. PRS flags that this could lead to bail being denied, and the Standing Committee sought a clarification [3].
• Handcuffing: the BNSS allows handcuffs for certain categories of accused, which PRS says contravenes SC judgments and NHRC guidelines [3].
• Why it matters: undertrials make up as much as 74% of prison inmates (2023) [4]. Weak safeguards at the arrest and remand stage therefore keep large numbers of people in pre-trial detention.

Assessment and way forward The BNSS codifies the safeguards only partly. It consolidates the older case law but lags behind recent rulings and widens police discretion over custody. To close the gap:

• amend Section 47 to require written grounds in a language the accused understands;
• allow split custody only for exceptional reasons that are recorded in writing;
• align the handcuffing rules with SC and NHRC norms;
• have magistrates check the written grounds at the first remand hearing.

Overall, the BNSS preserves the core safeguards but does not yet reflect the Court's latest standards. Amending the statute to match them would make the Maneka Gandhi test of "fair, just and reasonable" procedure part of the law itself, so the accused would not have to litigate for it. That would also advance SDG 16's goal of access to justice for all.