Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 187 BNSS - Remand When Investigation Cannot Be Completed Within 24 Hours

Section 187 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 governs remand when an arrested person cannot be released and the investigation cannot be completed within the statutory twenty-four-hour period. It regulates production before the Magistrate, police and judicial custody, the maximum 60-day or 90-day investigation periods linked to default bail, remand by an Executive Magistrate when a Magistrate is unavailable, and the six-month limit on investigation in specified summons cases.

Updated: 11 September 2026

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Meaning and scope of Section 187 BNSS

Section 187 applies where a person has been arrested and detained, the investigation cannot be completed within the twenty-four-hour period referred to in Section 58, and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well-founded.

In that situation, the officer in charge of the police station, or the investigating police officer if not below the rank of sub-inspector, must promptly send the relevant case-diary entries to the nearest Magistrate and produce the accused before that Magistrate.

Text of Section 187 BNSS

187. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours.

(1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody, and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed within the period of twenty-four hours fixed by section 58, and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well-founded, the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, if he is not below the rank of sub-inspector, shall forthwith transmit to the nearest Magistrate a copy of the entries in the diary hereinafter specified relating to the case, and shall at the same time forward the accused to such Magistrate.

(2) The Magistrate to whom an accused person is forwarded under this section may, irrespective of whether he has or has no jurisdiction to try the case, after taking into consideration whether such person has not been released on bail or his bail has been cancelled, authorise, from time to time, the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit, for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole, or in parts, at any time during the initial forty days or sixty days out of detention period of sixty days or ninety days, as the case may be, as provided in sub-section (3), and if he has no jurisdiction to try the case or commit it for trial, and considers further detention unnecessary, he may order the accused to be forwarded to a Magistrate having such jurisdiction.

(3) The Magistrate may authorise the detention of the accused person, beyond the period of fifteen days, if he is satisfied that adequate grounds exist for doing so, but no Magistrate shall authorise the detention of the accused person in custody under this sub-section for a total period exceeding-

(i) ninety days, where the investigation relates to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of ten years or more;

(ii) sixty days, where the investigation relates to any other offence, and, on the expiry of the said period of ninety days, or sixty days, as the case may be, the accused person shall be released on bail if he is prepared to and does furnish bail, and every person released on bail under this sub-section shall be deemed to be so released under the provisions of Chapter XXXV for the purposes of that Chapter.

(4) No Magistrate shall authorise detention of the accused in custody of the police under this section unless the accused is produced before him in person for the first time and subsequently every time till the accused remains in the custody of the police, but the Magistrate may extend further detention in judicial custody on production of the accused either in person or through the audio-video electronic means.

(5) No Magistrate of the second class, not specially empowered in this behalf by the High Court, shall authorise detention in the custody of the police.

Explanation I.-For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that, notwithstanding the expiry of the period specified in sub-section (3), the accused shall be detained in custody so long as he does not furnish bail.

Explanation II.- If any question arises whether an accused person was produced before the Magistrate as required under sub-section (4), the production of the accused person may be proved by his signature on the order authorising detention or by the order certified by the Magistrate as to production of the accused person through the audio-video electronic means, as the case may be:

Provided that in case of a woman under eighteen years of age, the detention shall be authorised to be in the custody of a remand home or recognised social institution:

Provided further that no person shall be detained otherwise than in police station under police custody or in prison under judicial custody or a place declared as prison by the Central Government or the State Government.

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) to sub-section (5), the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, if he is not below the rank of a sub-inspector, may, where a Magistrate is not available, transmit to the nearest Executive Magistrate, on whom the powers of a Magistrate have been conferred, a copy of the entry in the diary hereinafter specified relating to the case, and shall, at the same time, forward the accused to such Executive Magistrate, and thereupon such Executive Magistrate, may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, authorise the detention of the accused person in such custody as he may think fit for a term not exceeding seven days in the aggregate; and, on the expiry of the period of detention so authorised, the accused person shall be released on bail except where an order for further detention of the accused person has been made by a Magistrate competent to make such order; and, where an order for such further detention is made, the period during which the accused person was detained in custody under the orders made by an Executive Magistrate under this sub-section, shall be taken into account in computing the period specified in sub-section (3):

Provided that before the expiry of the period aforesaid, the Executive Magistrate shall transmit to the nearest Judicial Magistrate the records of the case together with a copy of the entries in the diary relating to the case which was transmitted to him by the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, as the case may be.

(7) A Magistrate authorising under this section detention in the custody of the police shall record his reasons for so doing.

(8) Any Magistrate other than the Chief Judicial Magistrate making such order shall forward a copy of his order, with his reasons for making it, to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

(9) If in any case triable by a Magistrate as a summons-case, the investigation is not concluded within a period of six months from the date on which the accused was arrested, the Magistrate shall make an order stopping further investigation into the offence unless the officer making the investigation satisfies the Magistrate that for special reasons and in the interests of justice the continuation of the investigation beyond the period of six months is necessary.

(10) Where any order stopping further investigation into an offence has been made under sub-section (9), the Sessions Judge may, if he is satisfied, on an application made to him or otherwise, that further investigation into the offence ought to be made, vacate the order made under sub-section (9) and direct further investigation to be made into the offence subject to such directions with regard to bail and other matters as he may specify.

Twenty-four-hour rule and production before the Magistrate

Section 187 operates after the ordinary twenty-four-hour custody limit becomes insufficient for completing the investigation. Police cannot continue detention merely because investigation remains incomplete. The accused and the relevant case-diary entries must be placed before the Magistrate so that further detention is based on judicial authorisation.

The Magistrate may act even if that Magistrate does not ultimately have jurisdiction to try the case. If necessary, the accused may later be forwarded to the Magistrate having jurisdiction.

Police custody under BNSS: fifteen days in whole or in parts

A significant feature of Section 187(2) is that police custody of up to fifteen days in total may be authorised in one block or in parts. The permissible window depends on whether the applicable maximum investigation period under Section 187(3) is sixty days or ninety days.

Applicable investigation period Window within which the total 15 days of police custody may be authorised
60 days At any time during the initial 40 days.
90 days At any time during the initial 60 days.

Important: Section 187 does not create an unlimited power of police custody. The aggregate police-custody period remains capped at fifteen days; the section changes the window within which those fifteen days may be authorised.

Default bail after sixty days or ninety days

Section 187(3) fixes the outer period for authorised custody pending investigation:

  • 90 days where the investigation concerns an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term of ten years or more.
  • 60 days for any other offence.

On expiry of the applicable period, the accused is to be released on bail if the accused is prepared to and does furnish bail. A person so released is deemed to have been released under the bail provisions in Chapter XXXV.

Explanation I: Expiry of the 60-day or 90-day period does not by itself result in physical release. The accused remains in custody until bail is furnished.

Personal production and audio-video production

For police custody, the accused must be produced before the Magistrate in person the first time and subsequently every time while police custody continues.

For further judicial custody, production may be either in person or through audio-video electronic means. Section 187 also specifies how production may be proved if a dispute arises about whether the accused was produced as required.

Where the person detained is a woman under eighteen years of age, detention is to be authorised in a remand home or recognised social institution. The section also limits permissible places of detention to a police station for police custody, a prison for judicial custody, or a place declared as a prison by the Central or State Government.

Executive Magistrate remand when a Magistrate is unavailable

Section 187(6) provides a limited emergency mechanism where a Magistrate is not available. The investigating officer, if not below the rank of sub-inspector, may forward the accused and relevant diary entry to the nearest Executive Magistrate on whom Magistrate powers have been conferred.

The Executive Magistrate may, for written reasons, authorise detention for a total period not exceeding seven days. That period counts toward the 60-day or 90-day period under Section 187(3). Before the authorised period expires, the Executive Magistrate must transmit the case records and diary entries to the nearest Judicial Magistrate.

Reasons must be recorded for police custody

A Magistrate who authorises detention in police custody must record reasons. If the order is made by a Magistrate other than the Chief Judicial Magistrate, a copy of the order and the reasons must be forwarded to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

This written-reasons requirement is an important judicial safeguard because police custody involves direct investigative control over the accused.

Six-month investigation limit in Magistrate-triable summons cases

Where a case is triable by a Magistrate as a summons case and the investigation is not completed within six months from the date of arrest, Section 187(9) requires the Magistrate to stop further investigation unless the investigating officer shows special reasons and demonstrates that continuation is necessary in the interests of justice.

Under Section 187(10), the Sessions Judge may vacate an order stopping further investigation and direct that investigation continue, subject to directions concerning bail and other matters.

Official legal resources

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024, subject to the exception specified in the Central Government notification concerning the First Schedule entry relating to Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.