Supreme Court clarifies scope of police custody under new criminal law BNSS

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has clarified that police custody under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) can be sought in parts during the first 40 or 60 days of detention, rather than being confined to the initial 15 days of remand.

The court was ruling in The State of Andhra Pradesh vs Suda Suresh Veera Venkata Naga Raju, holding that Section 187(2) of the BNSS enlarges the window during which police custody may be sought by the investigating agency, so long as the aggregate does not exceed 15 days.

The Bench held that a magistrate or court exercising supervisory jurisdiction cannot place an absolute, non-extendable outer limit on custody, since that would foreclose recourse to Section 187(2) of the BNSS regardless of what the investigation may later reveal.

The court also held that while the right to meet an advocate of choice is guaranteed under Section 38 of the BNSS, it does not require the continuous physical presence of the advocate through the entirety of each interrogation session.

On videography, the court said the requirement is satisfied by audio-visual recording of the actual interrogation and of any discovery or recovery proceedings, and does not extend to uninterrupted videography of every minute of the accused's transit between locations.

The Bench permitted seven additional days of police custody in the case, so the total period of police remand, including that granted by lower courts, would not exceed 15 days.

Under the BNSS, Section 58 provides that a person arrested without warrant cannot be detained for more than 24 hours without a magistrate's authorisation, and Section 187(2) allows the magistrate to authorise detention of up to 15 days in the whole, or in parts, during the initial 40 or 60 days of the permissible detention period.