FIR Decoder

Overall

None of these is a non-bailable offence

Police may arrest without a warrant

Highest court involved: Any Magistrate

Maximum sentencing exposure

Consecutive (one after another)

2 years

If run concurrently

2 years

Under s.25 BNSS there is no default: the court must direct, considering the gravity of the offences, whether the sentences run concurrently or consecutively. Applied under the BNSS — the procedure for every case registered on or after 1 July 2024.

Statutory minimum

1 month

Where a statutory minimum exists, the court cannot go below it.

Fine

Fine — no statutory ceiling, the court decides

This is the ceiling the statute sets, not a prediction. The actual sentence is the court's discretion and accounts for mitigating factors, plea bargaining, probation and set-off for time already served.

What the procedure allows

Each answer cites the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) first, with the old Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) section in brackets.

Cases registered on or after 1 July 2024 run under the BNSS. No case date was given, so this is inferred from the sections cited.

• FIR

  Yes

  Cognizable: the police must register an FIR — on oral, written or electronic information, at any police station (zero FIR).

  BNSS s.173 (CrPC s.154)Because of: The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 s.74

• Arrest or notice

  Yes

  For offences up to seven years arrest is not automatic: the police must first issue a notice to appear unless they record the reasons in s.35(1)(b). A person who is infirm or above sixty cannot be arrested for an offence under three years without a DSP's permission (s.35(7)).

  BNSS s.35(3) (CrPC s.41A)

• Bail

  Bailable

  Every offence is bailable: a person ready to give bail shall be released by the police or the court — a right, not a favour.

  BNSS s.478 (CrPC s.436)Because of: The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 s.74

• Anticipatory bail

  No

  Every offence is bailable, so anticipatory bail is not needed.

  BNSS s.482 (CrPC s.438)

• Default bail

  Yes

  If the police report (charge-sheet) is not filed within 60 days of the first remand, bail becomes a right — the day of remand counts as day one.

  BNSS s.187(3) (CrPC s.167(2))

• Release of an undertrial

  Yes

  An undertrial who has spent half the maximum (1 year) in detention shall be released on bail; a first-time offender on a bond after one-third (8 months).

  BNSS s.479 (CrPC s.436A)

• Compounding (settlement)

  Yes

  The offence may be compounded by a named authority under the Act's own provision (a Tribunal, Commissioner or Regional Director) — not by the victim's settlement.

  • Special Act:The Commissioner may, after a hearing, compound offences under s.74 or the rules, before or after prosecution, for up to Rs 2,000 or double the tax involved, as the case may be. Maharashtra VAT Act s.78

  BNSS s.359(1) (CrPC s.320(1))Because of: The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 s.74

• Plea bargaining

  Depends on facts

  Available on the punishment test — unless the offence was committed against a woman or a child, or is notified as affecting the country's socio-economic condition. Apply within 30 days of the charge being framed (BNSS s.290). The court may sentence to half the minimum (a quarter for a first-time offender) or, with no minimum, a quarter of the maximum (a sixth) (BNSS s.293).

  BNSS s.289 (CrPC s.265A)

• Summary trial

  Yes

  A Magistrate may try these summarily, which is quicker; a summary trial cannot impose more than three months' imprisonment (BNSS s.285(2)).

  BNSS s.283(2) (CrPC s.260)

• Probation

  Yes

  With no previous conviction the court may release on probation of good conduct instead of sentencing; the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 may also apply.

  BNSS s.401 (CrPC s.360)

• Time limit to prosecute

  Yes

  Up to three years: no cognizance after three years.

  Offences tried together take the period of the most severe (s.514(3)); it is counted to the date the FIR or complaint was filed.

  BNSS s.514 (CrPC s.468)Because of: The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 s.74

• If the accused is a child (JJ Act)

  Yes

  Petty offence (up to three years): the Juvenile Justice Board deals with it summarily.

  JJ Act s.2(45)Because of: The Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 s.74

What happens next

1. 1

   The FIR

   Information about a cognizable offence is recorded as an FIR, and a copy is given at once, free, to the informant or the victim. For offences of three to seven years the police may, with a DSP's permission, hold a preliminary enquiry of up to 14 days first (new in the BNSS).

   BNSS s.173(2) (CrPC s.154(2))BNSS s.173(3)

2. 2

   Notice or arrest

   For offences up to seven years a notice to appear comes first, unless reasons for arrest are recorded. A person arrested must be told the grounds of arrest and the right to bail.

   BNSS s.35(3) (CrPC s.41A)BNSS s.47 (CrPC s.50)

3. 3

   Before a Magistrate within 24 hours

   A person arrested without a warrant may not be held more than 24 hours, travel time excluded, without a Magistrate's order.

   BNSS s.58 (CrPC s.57)

4. 4

   Remand

   Police custody is limited to 15 days in all, at once or in parts, within the first 40 or 60 days of the 60- or 90-day period. The rest is judicial custody.

   BNSS s.187(2) (CrPC s.167(2))

5. 5

   Police report (charge-sheet)

   When the investigation ends the police report goes to the Magistrate. If it is not filed within 60 days of the first remand, default bail is a right. The police must tell the victim how the investigation is progressing within 90 days.

   BNSS s.193 (CrPC s.173)BNSS s.187(3) (CrPC s.167(2))

6. 6

   Cognizance, charge and trial

   The court takes cognizance and frames the charge. An application for plea bargaining must be made within 30 days of the charge being framed (the CrPC had no such limit).

   BNSS s.290 (CrPC s.265B)