Processes to Compel Appearance | Section 63 to 93 BNSS

Processes to Compel Appearance under the BNSS, 2023: Chapter VI, Sections 63 to 93, Structure, Correspondence with the CrPC, and Sections 90 to 93

Chapter VI of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 answers a single question in thirty-one sections: how does a criminal court secure the presence of a person who is not before it? The answer is a graduated sequence of four processes, each more coercive than the last, and each available only where the one before it has failed. A summons asks. A warrant commands. A proclamation publishes. An attachment takes property. At the end of the sequence, for a proclaimed offender who has absconded, the Sanhita now permits the trial to proceed without him.

This topic takes the chapter as a whole: its architecture, its correspondence with Chapter VI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, what the Sanhita changed, and in particular sections 90 to 93, the four general provisions that make the chapter operate beyond its own pages. The individual processes are examined separately in this series.

Figure 1: Chapter VI at a glance

1. The Architecture of the Chapter

The chapter divides into five parts, and the division is not arbitrary. Each part corresponds to a stage in the escalation, and the sections within each part deal with form, service or execution in that order.

Part	Sections	Subject
A. Summons	63 to 71	Form, service, service on special categories, and proof of service
B. Warrant of arrest	72 to 78	Form and duration, the security endorsement, to whom directed, notification and production
C. Execution outside the jurisdiction	79 to 83	Where a warrant may be executed, endorsement by the local authority, and production before it
D. Proclamation and attachment	84 to 89	Proclamation, declaration as a proclaimed offender, attachment including property abroad, claims, restoration and appeal
E. Other rules as to processes	90 to 93	Warrant in lieu of summons, bond for appearance, arrest on breach, and the general application of the chapter

The internal logic is that of preconditions. A warrant under section 90 may be issued where a summons has failed or is expected to fail. A proclamation under section 84 may be published only against a person against whom a warrant has been issued. An attachment under section 85 may be ordered only after the issue of the proclamation. And a declaration as a proclaimed offender under section 84(4) requires a proclamation, a failure to appear, an offence within the punishment threshold, and an inquiry. Skipping a step is not a procedural shortcut but a jurisdictional defect.

2. Correspondence with the CrPC, and What Changed

BNSS	CrPC, 1973	Subject	Change
63	61	Form of summons	Clause (ii) added: an encrypted or other electronic form, bearing the image of the seal or a digital signature
64	62	Summons how served	Proviso added: service by electronic communication in the form State rules provide
65	63	Service on corporate bodies, firms and societies	Unchanged in substance
66	64	Service when the person cannot be found	The word “male” dropped: the duplicate may now be left with any adult member of the family
67	65	Procedure when service cannot be effected	Unchanged
68	66	Service on a Government servant	Unchanged
69	67	Service outside local limits	Unchanged
70	68	Proof of service	Sub-section (3) added: the statement in the affidavit is admissible, and electronic service is deemed due service with an attested copy kept as proof
71	69	Service on a witness	Electronic communication added alongside registered post
72 to 78	70 to 76	Warrant: form, duration, security, direction, notification, production	Unchanged in substance
79 to 83	77 to 81	Execution outside the jurisdiction	Unchanged in substance
84	82	Proclamation for a person absconding	Sub-section (4) widened: a proclaimed offender may now be declared in any offence punishable with ten years or more, life or death, under any law, replacing the closed list of IPC sections
85	83	Attachment of property	Unchanged in substance
86	No counterpart	Identification and attachment of property situated outside India	Entirely new
87 to 89	84 to 86	Claims and objections, release, sale and restoration, appeal	Unchanged
90 to 93	87 to 90	Warrant in lieu of summons, bond for appearance, arrest on breach, general application	Unchanged in substance

⚠ The three substantive changes

Electronic summons. Section 63(ii) permits the summons to be issued electronically; the proviso to section 64(2) permits it to be served electronically; and section 70(3) deems such service to be due service. Together they create a complete electronic route from issue to proof, for a court summons. There is no equivalent for a warrant of arrest, and the Supreme Court held in July 2025 that a police notice under section 35 must still be served physically.

A wider proclaimed offender. Section 84(4) replaces the CrPC list of IPC sections with a punishment threshold of ten years, life or death, under any law. That widens the category considerably and extends it to special statutes, and the status carries consequences under sections 40, 75 and 356 and on bail.

Property abroad. Section 86 is the only entirely new section in the chapter. It permits a court to request a court or authority in a contracting State to identify, attach and forfeit property of a proclaimed person situated there, working through the reciprocal arrangements in Chapter VIII.

3. Sections 90 to 93: the General Provisions

Figure 2: The four provisions that tie the chapter together

3.1 Section 90: warrant in lieu of, or in addition to, summons

Section 90, BNSS 2023

A Court may, in any case in which it is empowered by this Sanhita to issue a summons for the appearance of any person, issue, after recording its reasons in writing, a warrant for his arrest —

(a) if, either before the issue of such summons, or after the issue of the same but before the time fixed for his appearance, the Court sees reason to believe that he has absconded or will not obey the summons; or

(b) if at such time he fails to appear and the summons is proved to have been duly served in time to admit of his appearing in accordance therewith and no reasonable excuse is offered for such failure.

The section contains two distinct powers, and treating them as one is a common error. Clause (a) is anticipatory: it may be exercised before the summons has even been issued, and certainly before the time fixed for appearance, where the court sees reason to believe the person has absconded or will not obey. Clause (b) is consequential: it operates on a failure to appear, and it is subject to three conditions, each of which must be satisfied.

The summons must be proved to have been duly served. Not merely issued, and not merely reported as served. Where service was by affixation, the court must have declared it sufficient under section 67; where it was electronic, section 70(3) supplies the deeming.
It must have been served in time to admit of his appearing. A summons served on the date fixed, or too late to permit the journey, does not satisfy the clause.
No reasonable excuse must have been offered. Where an excuse is offered, the court must consider it; a warrant issued without addressing an excuse on the record is open to challenge.

Both clauses require the court to record its reasons in writing. The requirement is the textual answer to the practice of issuing warrants as a matter of routine on the first non-appearance, and it is the provision on which an application to recall an improperly issued warrant will usually rest.

3.2 Sections 91 and 92: the bond for appearance

Section 91 provides that when any person for whose appearance or arrest the officer presiding in any court is empowered to issue a summons or warrant is present in such court, that officer may require him to execute a bond or bail bond for his appearance in that court, or in any other court to which the case may be transferred for trial. Section 92 provides that when a person so bound does not appear, the presiding officer may issue a warrant directing that he be arrested and produced.

The two sections are the efficient alternative to the whole of the rest of the chapter. A person who is present in court can be bound over on the spot, without any process being issued at all, and the breach of that bond produces a warrant directly. The provisions apply to any person whose appearance the court may compel, and not only to an accused: a witness, a surety and a person whose presence is required in any proceeding are all within them.

3.3 Section 93: the chapter applies generally

Section 93, BNSS 2023

The provisions contained in this Chapter relating to a summons and warrant, and their issue, service and execution, shall, so far as may be, apply to every summons and every warrant of arrest issued under this Sanhita.

Section 93 is short and is the reason the chapter matters beyond its own pages. A summons issued by a Magistrate on taking cognizance under section 227 is governed by sections 63 to 71; a warrant issued for the arrest of an absconding accused during a Sessions trial is governed by sections 72 to 83; a warrant issued on the forfeiture of a bail bond under section 492 is governed by the same provisions; and the proclamation and attachment machinery in sections 84 to 89 follows in each case. The chapter is not a self-contained code for its own processes but the general law of process for the whole of the Sanhita.

4. Process, Delay and the Recall of Process

The processes in this chapter are the principal cause of delay in criminal litigation. A case in which the accused has not been served, or the witnesses have not attended, does not proceed, and the great majority of adjournments in the magistracy are attributable to one or the other. Two decisions frame the problem from opposite directions.

📖 Hussain v. Union of India, (2017) 5 SCC 702

Facts: The Court considered the pendency of criminal cases and the position of undertrial prisoners, and was asked what directions could be given to secure the right to a speedy trial, which it had long held to be part of Article 21.

Held: The Supreme Court held that the right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right implicit in Article 21, and issued directions for its enforcement. It directed that bail applications be disposed of ordinarily within one week; that magisterial trials where the accused is in custody be concluded within six months and Sessions trials within two years; that cases in which trial is stayed be taken up on priority; that steps be taken to ensure the attendance of witnesses and that process be issued and served in time, with the use of modern means; that the High Courts monitor the position through their subordinate judiciary; and that the problem of delay in the service of process and the attendance of witnesses be addressed administratively as a priority.

Ratio: Delay in the issue and service of process is not an administrative inconvenience but an impediment to a fundamental right. The obligation to make the processes in this chapter work is part of the obligation to provide a speedy trial.

📖 Adalat Prasad v. Rooplal Jindal, (2004) 7 SCC 338

Facts: A Magistrate had issued process summoning the accused on a complaint. The accused applied to the same Magistrate to recall the summoning order on the ground that no offence was made out, and the question was whether a Magistrate who has issued process has the power to recall or review that order.

Held: The Supreme Court held that once a Magistrate has taken cognizance and issued process, the Code contains no provision empowering him to review or recall that order, and the general bar on a court altering its own judgment or final order applies. The remedy of an aggrieved accused is not an application to the Magistrate but a petition to the High Court under its inherent jurisdiction to have the proceeding quashed. The Court overruled the contrary view that a Magistrate could drop proceedings on being satisfied that the issue of process was erroneous.

Ratio: A summoning order, once made, is not recallable by the court that made it. The issue of process is therefore a decision to be made with care at the time, because the only remedy against it lies in the High Court.

The two together explain why the requirement in section 90 that reasons be recorded in writing is more than a formality. A process issued without consideration cannot be undone by the court that issued it, and the person against whom it was issued must go to the High Court. The discipline that the chapter requires at the point of issue is therefore the only discipline available.

5. The Chapter in Relation to the Rest of the Sanhita

Where a process arises	Provision	Governed by Chapter VI through section 93
On taking cognizance	Section 227	A summons in a summons case; a warrant, or a summons if the Magistrate thinks fit, in a warrant case
On the failure of a person to appear	Section 90	A warrant in lieu of or in addition to a summons, after recording reasons
On the breach of a bond for appearance	Sections 92 and 492	A warrant of arrest
For the attendance of a witness	Sections 71 and 267	A summons, and where necessary a warrant to compel attendance
For the production of a document or thing	Section 94	A summons by a court, or a written order by an officer in charge of a police station
For a search	Section 96, with section 102	A search warrant, to which the provisions on warrants of arrest apply so far as may be
For the attendance of a person in prison	Chapter XXIV	An order for production, which operates alongside the process machinery of this chapter
Against an absconder	Sections 84 to 89, and section 356	Proclamation, attachment, and in a proper case trial in absentia

Section 102 deserves particular notice in that list. It provides that the provisions of sections 32, 72, 74, 76, 79, 80 and 81 apply, so far as may be, to all search warrants issued under sections 96, 97, 98 or 100. A search warrant is therefore governed by the rules of form, duration, direction and execution outside the jurisdiction that this chapter lays down for a warrant of arrest, and the two chapters are read together.

6. Key Takeaways

The position stated shortly

1. Chapter VI contains thirty-one sections, 63 to 93, corresponding to sections 61 to 90 of the CrPC, and provides a graduated sequence: summons, warrant, proclamation, attachment, and for a proclaimed offender, trial in absentia under section 356.

2. Each step is a precondition of the next. A proclamation requires a warrant to have been issued; an attachment requires a proclamation; a declaration as a proclaimed offender requires a proclamation, a failure to appear, and an offence within the ten-year threshold.

3. The Sanhita made three substantive changes: the electronic summons in sections 63(ii), 64(2) and 70(3); the wider proclaimed offender in section 84(4), now defined by punishment rather than by a list of sections; and the new section 86 on property situated abroad.

4. Section 66 dropped the CrPC requirement that the duplicate be left with an adult male member of the family.

5. Section 90 contains two powers: an anticipatory power exercisable before the time for appearance where the court believes the person has absconded or will not obey; and a consequential power on failure to appear, subject to proof of due and timely service and the absence of a reasonable excuse. Both require reasons in writing.

6. Section 91 permits a court to take a bond or bail bond from a person present in court, and section 92 permits a warrant on its breach. Together they bypass the whole of the rest of the chapter.

7. Section 93 applies the chapter, so far as may be, to every summons and warrant of arrest issued under the Sanhita, which is why it governs process issued under Chapters XVII, XIX and XXXV.

8. Section 102 applies the warrant provisions of this chapter to all search warrants under Chapter VII.

9. Delay in the issue and service of process impedes the fundamental right to a speedy trial, and the courts have directed that it be addressed as a priority: Hussain v. Union of India.

10. A summoning order, once made, cannot be recalled by the court that made it; the remedy is a petition to the High Court: Adalat Prasad. The discipline required at the point of issue is therefore the only discipline available.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

What are the processes to compel appearance under the BNSS?

A summons under sections 63 to 71; a warrant of arrest under sections 72 to 83; a proclamation under section 84; and the attachment of property under sections 85 to 89. Sections 90 to 93 contain the general rules, including the power to issue a warrant in lieu of a summons and to take a bond for appearance.

Which section of Chapter VI is new?

Section 86, on the identification and attachment of property of a proclaimed person situated outside India, through a request to a court or authority in a contracting State. Two existing sections also gained new provisions: section 63(ii) on the electronic form of a summons and section 70(3) on the deeming of electronic service.

When can a court issue a warrant instead of a summons?

Under section 90, after recording its reasons in writing: where before or after the issue of the summons but before the time fixed for appearance the court sees reason to believe the person has absconded or will not obey it; or where he fails to appear, the summons is proved to have been duly served in time to admit of his appearing, and no reasonable excuse is offered.

Can a Magistrate recall a summons he has issued?

No. The Supreme Court held in Adalat Prasad v. Rooplal Jindal that once process has been issued there is no provision permitting the Magistrate to review or recall the order, and the remedy of the accused is a petition to the High Court in its inherent jurisdiction.

Does Chapter VI apply to search warrants?

Yes, in part. Section 102 applies the provisions on the direction, form, duration and execution of warrants of arrest, so far as may be, to all search warrants issued under sections 96, 97, 98 or 100. Section 93 separately applies the chapter to every summons and warrant of arrest issued under the Sanhita.

What is the significance of section 91?

It permits the court to require a person present before it, whose appearance or arrest it could compel by summons or warrant, to execute a bond or bail bond for his appearance. It avoids the issue of any process at all, and section 92 provides for a warrant on the breach of that bond.

Related Topics

Summons under the BNSS, 2023: Sections 63 to 71
Warrant of Arrest under the BNSS, 2023: Sections 72 to 83
Proclamation and Attachment: Sections 84 to 89, BNSS
Search Warrant and Summons to Produce Compared
Production of Documents and Search: Sections 94 to 110, BNSS
Trial in Absentia of a Proclaimed Offender: Section 356, BNSS