Section 57 BNSS 2023: Person Arrested to Be Taken Before Magistrate or Officer in Charge of Police Station
Section 57 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 governs the immediate procedure after a police officer makes an arrest without warrant. The officer must, without unnecessary delay and subject to the BNSS provisions relating to bail, take or send the arrested person before a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case or before the officer in charge of a police station.
What is Section 57 BNSS?
Section 57 is a post-arrest procedural safeguard. It applies when a police officer has arrested a person without warrant and requires the officer to move the arrested person promptly into the legally prescribed process, rather than keeping the person at the arresting officer's discretion.
Key legal terms under Section 57
Arrest without warrant: An arrest made by a police officer without first obtaining a judicial warrant, where such arrest is otherwise authorised by the BNSS.
Without unnecessary delay: The statutory direction that the next procedural step must be taken promptly, without avoidable or unjustified delay.
Subject to the provisions as to bail: Section 57 operates together with the BNSS provisions governing release on bail. Where the law permits or requires bail, those provisions remain applicable.
Magistrate having jurisdiction: A Magistrate legally competent to deal with the case under the applicable jurisdictional provisions.
Officer in charge of a police station: The police officer legally in charge of the police station before whom the arrested person may be taken or sent under Section 57.
Text of Section 57 - Person arrested to be taken before Magistrate or officer in charge of police station
57. A police officer making an arrest without warrant shall, without unnecessary delay and subject to the provisions herein contained as to bail, take or send the person arrested before a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or before the officer in charge of a police station.
When does Section 57 apply?
Section 57 applies specifically where the arrest has been made without warrant by a police officer. The provision does not itself create the power to arrest; the arrest must be independently lawful under the BNSS, including provisions such as Section 35 BNSS where applicable.
Duty to act without unnecessary delay
After the warrantless arrest, the police officer must take the next statutory step without unnecessary delay. This phrase does not authorise avoidable detention merely because the overall constitutional or statutory outer limit has not yet expired. The requirement is one of prompt action according to the circumstances.
Where may the arrested person be taken or sent?
Section 57 provides two statutory destinations: a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or the officer in charge of a police station. Which route is followed depends on the procedural circumstances and other applicable BNSS provisions.
Effect of bail provisions
Section 57 expressly makes the duty subject to the provisions of the BNSS relating to bail. Accordingly, the section must be read together with the provisions governing bailable and non-bailable offences, release on bail and the authority competent to grant or take bail.
Relationship with Section 58 BNSS
Section 58 BNSS provides the next important safeguard by limiting how long a person arrested without warrant may be detained without the authority of a Magistrate, excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate's Court. Section 57 and Section 58 therefore operate together: Section 57 requires prompt production or transfer, while Section 58 sets the statutory outer detention limit without Magistrate authority.
Relationship with health and safety duties
While the arrested person remains in custody, Section 56 BNSS requires the person having custody of an accused to take reasonable care of the accused's health and safety. The prompt-production requirement in Section 57 does not displace those custody responsibilities.
Relationship with grounds of arrest and information safeguards
Other Chapter V safeguards continue to apply. Section 47 BNSS requires communication of the grounds of a warrantless arrest and, in specified cases, information about the right to bail. Section 48 BNSS contains duties concerning information about arrest and the place where the arrested person is being held.
Section 57 BNSS at a glance
- Section 57 applies to an arrest without warrant made by a police officer.
- The arrested person must be taken or sent onward without unnecessary delay.
- The duty is subject to the BNSS provisions relating to bail.
- The person may be taken or sent before a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case.
- Alternatively, the person may be taken or sent before the officer in charge of a police station.
- Section 57 regulates procedure after arrest; it does not independently authorise arrest.
- Section 58 separately limits detention without Magistrate authority.
- Other arrest safeguards, including Sections 47, 48 and 56, continue to apply where relevant.
Official legal resources
This page provides general legal information. The legality of a warrantless arrest, the entitlement to bail, and the permissible period and place of custody in a particular case depend on the facts, the applicable provisions of the BNSS, constitutional safeguards and binding judicial decisions.