The bail provisions of the CrPC have been carried into Chapter XXXV of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, with new numbers and a few real changes. The Sanhita also now defines “bail”, “bail bond” and “bond” for the first time.
Where the provisions now sit
- Section 478 — bail in bailable offences (formerly Section 436)
- Section 479 — maximum period of detention of an undertrial (formerly Section 436A)
- Section 480 — bail in non-bailable offences by the Magistrate (formerly Section 437)
- Section 482 — anticipatory bail (formerly Section 438)
- Section 483 — special powers of the High Court and the Court of Session (formerly Section 439)
First-time undertrials
Section 479 keeps the rule that an undertrial who has spent half the maximum sentence for the offence in detention is to be released on bond. It adds a proviso for a first-time offender, a person never convicted of any offence before, who is to be released on completing one-third of that period. The section does not apply to offences punishable with death or imprisonment for life, and Section 479(2) restricts release where investigation, inquiry or trial in more than one offence or in multiple cases is pending.
In August 2024, in In Re: Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, the Supreme Court held that Section 479 applies to undertrials in cases registered before 1 July 2024 as well, and directed jail superintendents to process the applications of those eligible.
Police custody in parts
Under Section 187 BNSS, police custody remains limited to fifteen days in all. What has changed is when it may be taken: in the whole or in parts, at any time during the first forty days of detention where the limit is sixty days, or the first sixty days where the limit is ninety days. In July 2026, in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Suda Suresh Veera Venkata Naga Raju, the Supreme Court confirmed this reading. The right to default bail on expiry of the sixty or ninety days continues under Section 187(3).
Notice before arrest
Section 35 BNSS carries forward Section 41A CrPC: where arrest is not required, the police must issue a notice of appearance. In Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI, the Supreme Court held in January 2025, and reaffirmed in July 2025, that such a notice cannot be served through WhatsApp or other electronic means; it must be served in the manner the Sanhita prescribes. The guidelines in Satender Kumar Antil (2022) on bail and arrest continue to bind all courts under the new law.
The High Court’s powers
Section 483 confers on the High Court and the Court of Session the same wide power to grant bail that Section 439 conferred, including in offences punishable with death or imprisonment for life, subject to notice to the Public Prosecutor where the statute requires it. The governing principle remains the one stated in State of Rajasthan v. Balchand: bail is the rule and jail the exception.
This note states the law as it stands on 15 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an advocate–client relationship. The law on several of these points is still developing.