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)

6 months

If run concurrently

6 months

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.

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).

  • Special Act:Every offence under the NDPS Act is cognizable. NDPS Act s.37(1)(a)
  • Special Act:Offences punishable with more than three years are tried by the Special Court; up to three years, a Magistrate may try them summarily (s.36A(5)). NDPS Act s.36A

  BNSS s.173 (CrPC s.154)Because of: The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 s.47

• 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.

  • If it applies:If the offence involves a commercial quantity, bail needs the twin conditions: the Public Prosecutor is heard and the court finds reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and will not offend on bail. NDPS Act s.37(1)(b)

  BNSS s.478 (CrPC s.436)Because of: The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 s.47

• 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.

  • If it applies:If the offence involves a commercial quantity, the period is 180 days (extendable up to one year by the Special Court), not 60 or 90. NDPS Act s.36A(4)

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

• Release of an undertrial

  Yes

  An undertrial who has spent half the maximum (3 months) in detention shall be released on bail; a first-time offender on a bond after one-third (2 months).

  BNSS s.479 (CrPC s.436A)

• Compounding (settlement)

  Not known

  Whether these can be compounded is not published.

  BNSS s.359(1) (CrPC s.320(1))

• 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 one year: no cognizance after one year.

  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 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 s.47

• 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 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 s.47

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)