Section 47 BNSS 2023: Grounds of Arrest and Right to Bail
Section 47 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 requires a person arrested without warrant to be informed forthwith of the full particulars of the offence or other grounds of arrest. It also requires a police officer, in cases other than arrest for a non-bailable offence, to inform the arrested person of the right to be released on bail and the ability to arrange sureties.
What is Section 47 BNSS?
Section 47 creates two connected safeguards for a person arrested without warrant. First, the arresting officer or other person must communicate the full particulars of the offence or other grounds for arrest. Second, where a police officer arrests a person other than one accused of a non-bailable offence, the officer must inform the person that he is entitled to be released on bail and may arrange sureties.
Key legal terms under Section 47
Arrest without warrant: An arrest made without a prior judicial warrant where the law otherwise authorises such arrest.
Grounds of arrest: The factual and legal basis on which the person is being arrested. Section 47 requires full particulars of the offence or other grounds to be communicated forthwith.
Forthwith: Without avoidable delay. The duty to communicate the grounds is immediate in nature.
Bailable offence: An offence for which bail is available as a matter of right in accordance with the BNSS.
Non-bailable offence: An offence other than a bailable offence. The expression does not mean that bail can never be granted; rather, bail is not available merely as an automatic statutory right in the same manner as for a bailable offence.
Surety: A person who undertakes responsibility under a bail bond for the appearance or compliance of the accused according to law.
Text of Section 47 - Person arrested to be informed of grounds of arrest and of right to bail
47. (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.
(2) Where a police officer arrests without warrant any person other than a person accused of a non-bailable offence, he shall inform the person arrested that he is entitled to be released on bail and that he may arrange for sureties on his behalf.
Duty to communicate the grounds of arrest
Subsection (1) applies to every police officer or other person making an arrest without warrant. The arrested person must be told the full particulars of the offence for which the arrest is made or the other grounds on which the arrest is based.
This requirement enables the arrested person to understand why personal liberty has been curtailed and to take appropriate legal steps. It also reflects the constitutional safeguard in Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India, under which a person arrested must be informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds of arrest.
Right to be informed about bail
Subsection (2) applies where a police officer arrests without warrant a person other than one accused of a non-bailable offence. In such a case, the officer must inform the arrested person that he is entitled to be released on bail and that sureties may be arranged on his behalf.
The provision is therefore both procedural and protective: it requires active communication of the bail entitlement rather than leaving the arrested person to discover it independently.
Relationship with other BNSS arrest safeguards
Section 47 should be read with Section 46 BNSS, which prohibits unnecessary restraint, and Section 48 BNSS, which deals with informing a relative or friend about the arrest.
Section 43 BNSS governs how arrest is made, while Section 45 BNSS permits pursuit into any place in India where the officer is already authorised to arrest without warrant. None of those provisions displaces the duty under Section 47 to communicate grounds of arrest.
Section 47 BNSS at a glance
- Applies to arrest without warrant.
- The arrested person must be informed forthwith of the full particulars of the offence or other grounds of arrest.
- The duty under subsection (1) applies to a police officer or other person making the arrest.
- Where the person is not accused of a non-bailable offence, the police officer must inform him of the entitlement to bail.
- The officer must also inform the person that sureties may be arranged.
- The provision works alongside constitutional and other BNSS safeguards relating to arrest and personal liberty.
Official legal resources
This page provides general legal information. The legality of a particular arrest and the sufficiency of communicated grounds depend on the facts, the applicable arrest power, compliance with the BNSS, constitutional safeguards, and binding judicial decisions.