Polity · 14 Aug 2026

Section 187(2) BNSS police custody

Consider the following statements regarding Section 187(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, as recently clarified by the Supreme Court:

  1. Police custody may be sought in parts, spread across the first 40 or 60 days of an investigation, depending on the offence.
  2. The aggregate period of police custody permissible under Section 187(2) has been increased from 15 days to 40 days.
  3. Under the earlier Code of Criminal Procedure, police custody could only be sought within the first 15 days after arrest.
A1 only
B2 only
C1 and 3 only
D1, 2 and 3
This question is based on: The Custody Window That Moved: What BNSS Section 187(2) Actually Changed
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About this question

Why in news

The Supreme Court, in The State of Andhra Pradesh v. Suda Suresh Veera Venkata Naga Raju (2026 INSC 744), clarified the scope of Section 187(2) BNSS and struck down a magistrate's attempt to impose an absolute, non-extendable custody limit.

Why for UPSC

This tests a classic UPSC-style trap - conflating an expanded "window" with an expanded "limit." The BNSS widened when custody can be sought, not how much custody is allowed in total, a distinction candidates often misread on a first pass.

Prelims summary

Section 187(2) BNSS keeps the 15-day aggregate cap on police custody unchanged but allows it to be claimed in parts across the first 40 or 60 days of an investigation (versus the old CrPC's rigid first-15-day-only window), depending on the severity of the offence.

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