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CHAPTER XXXV PROVISIONS AS TO BAIL AND BONDS

Section 478: In what cases bail to be taken

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

(1) When any person other than a person accused of a non-bailable offence is arrested or detained without warrant by an officer in charge of a police station, or appears or is brought before a Court, and is prepared at any time while in the custody of such officer or at any stage of the proceeding before such Court to give bail, such person shall be released on bail:

Provided that such officer or Court, if he or it thinks fit, may, and shall, if such person is indigent and is unable to furnish surety, instead of taking bail bond from such person, discharge him on his executing a bond for his appearance as hereinafter provided.

Explanation.—Where a person is unable to give bail bond within a week of the date of his arrest, it shall be a sufficient ground for the officer or the Court to presume that he is an indigent person for the purposes of this proviso:

Provided further that nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 135 or section 492.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (1), where a person has failed to comply with the conditions of the bond or bail bond as regards the time and place of attendance, the Court may refuse to release him on bail, when on a subsequent occasion in the same case he appears before the Court or is brought in custody and any such refusal shall be without prejudice to the powers of the Court to call upon any person bound by such bond or bail bond to pay the penalty thereof under section 491.

Corresponding CrPC provision

As given in the correspondence table of the National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs). Read both texts before relying on it. NCRB table

Questions on this section

5 questions in 15 of our papers cite Section 478. Try these from the free papers:

  1. 1. X, accused of a bailable offence, was released on bail but failed to appear at the time and place required by his bail bond. On a later date in the same case he is brought before the Court in custody and offers fresh bail, claiming a right to release under Section 478(1) of the BNSS. The Court

  2. 2. Under the Explanation to the first proviso to Section 478(1) of the BNSS, a person arrested for a bailable offence may be presumed to be an indigent person if he is unable to give a bail bond within:

Practise questions on Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita