Governs how long a person can be held before trial once an investigation can't be finished within 24 hours — split between police custody (interrogation-focused) and judicial custody (held in jail pending investigation or trial).
Total police custody is capped at 15 days. Under BNSS, those 15 days can now be requested in parts, any time across the full 60-day (offences under 10 years) or 90-day (serious offences) detention window — not just within the first 15 days, as the old CrPC required. This is one of BNSS's most actively litigated changes: courts, including a Karnataka High Court ruling the Supreme Court declined to disturb, have since held that police custody must generally be sought within the first 40 days for offences punishable up to 10 years.
- Maximum 15 days of police custody total, which can be split across multiple requests.
- Judicial custody can extend to 60 or 90 days depending on offence severity, after which default bail becomes available if no chargesheet has been filed.
- This provision is genuinely still being shaped by court rulings — treat any specific claim about its limits as worth double-checking against the latest case law.
Police custody isn't unlimited, and courts are actively narrowing how the extended window can be used — worth knowing if you or someone you know is in this situation.
Related law
The 24-hour first-production rule this section picks up from
The constitutional backdrop
Still wondering about...
Can police keep asking for custody again and again?
Keep exploring
No Detention Beyond 24 Hours
Mirrors Article 22(2) of the Constitution — a firm limit on how long you can be held without judicial oversight.
Maximum Detention Period for Undertrials
An important protection against indefinite pre-trial detention, especially for first-time offenders.
This is a plain-English summary, not verbatim statutory text. Adhikar is an independent citizen-awareness platform, not a Government of India website. Always verify against the bare Act (legislative.gov.in) or a qualified advocate before relying on this for an actual legal situation.