Police can keep someone in custody as long as they want if the investigation isn't finished.

The law fixes strict outer limits — 60 or 90 days depending on the offence — beyond which the accused must be released on bail if they furnish it, regardless of whether the investigation is complete.

Being sent to judicial custody means the accused must physically appear in court every single time.

Once in judicial (not police) custody, the Magistrate can extend detention based on production of the accused through audio-video means, not just in-person appearance.

Any Magistrate can order a person to be kept in police custody.

Only Magistrates of the first class, or second-class Magistrates specially empowered by the High Court, can authorise police custody.

Default bail after 60/90 days means the case is dropped.

Default bail only releases the accused from custody; the investigation can continue, and the accused can still be tried and convicted later if the chargesheet is filed.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 187

Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours

(1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody, and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed within the period of twenty-four hours fixed by section 58, and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well-founded, the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, if he is not below the rank of sub-inspector, shall forthwith transmit to the nearest Magistrate a copy of the entries in the diary hereinafter specified relating to the case, and shall at the same time forward the accused to such Magistrate.§

(2) The Magistrate to whom an accused person is forwarded under this section may, irrespective of whether he has or has no jurisdiction to try the case, after taking into consideration whether such person§

has not been released on bail or his bail has been cancelled, authorise, from time to time, the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit, for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole, or in parts, at any time during the initial forty days or sixty days out of detention period of sixty days or ninety days, as the case may be, as provided in sub-section (3), and if he has no jurisdiction to try the case or commit it for trial, and considers further detention unnecessary, he may order the accused to be forwarded to a Magistrate having such jurisdiction.§

(3) The Magistrate may authorise the detention of the accused person, beyond the period of fifteen days, if he is satisfied that adequate grounds exist for doing so, but no Magistrate shall authorise the detention of the accused person in custody under this sub-section for a total period exceeding—§

(i) ninety days, where the investigation relates to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of ten years or more;§

(ii) sixty days, where the investigation relates to any other offence, and, on the expiry of the said period of ninety days, or sixty days, as the case may be, the accused person shall be released on bail if he is prepared to and does furnish bail, and every person released on bail under this sub-section shall be deemed to be so released under the provisions of Chapter XXXV for the purposes of that Chapter.§

(4) No Magistrate shall authorise detention of the accused in custody of the police under this section unless the accused is produced before him in person for the first time and subsequently every time till the accused remains in the custody of the police, but the Magistrate may extend further detention in judicial custody on production of the accused either in person or through the audio-video electronic means.§

(5) No Magistrate of the second class, not specially empowered in this behalf by the High Court, shall authorise detention in the custody of the police. Explanation I.—For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that, notwithstanding the expiry of the period specified in sub-section (3), the accused shall be detained in custody so long as he does not furnish bail. Explanation II.—If any question arises whether an accused person was produced before the Magistrate as required under sub-section (4), the production of the accused person may be proved by his signature on the order authorising detention or by the order certified by the Magistrate as to production of the accused person through the audio-video electronic means, as the case may be: Provided that in case of a woman under eighteen years of age, the detention shall be authorised to be in the custody of a remand home or recognised social institution: Provided further that no person shall be detained otherwise than in police station under police custody or in prison under judicial custody or a place declared as prison by the Central Government or the State Government.§

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) to sub-section (5), the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, if he is not below the rank of a sub-inspector, may, where a Magistrate is not available, transmit to the nearest Executive Magistrate, on whom the powers of a Magistrate have been conferred, a copy of the entry in the diary hereinafter specified relating to the case, and shall, at the same time, forward the accused to such Executive Magistrate, and thereupon such Executive Magistrate, may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, authorise the detention of the accused person in such custody as he may think fit for a term not exceeding seven days in the aggregate; and, on the expiry of the period of detention so authorised, the accused person shall be released on bail except where an order for further detention of the accused person has been made by a Magistrate competent to make such order; and, where an order for such further detention is made, the period during which the accused person was detained in custody under the orders made by an Executive Magistrate under this sub- section, shall be taken into account in computing the period specified in sub-section (3):§

Provided that before the expiry of the period aforesaid, the Executive Magistrate shall transmit to the nearest Judicial Magistrate the records of the case together with a copy of the entries in the diary relating to the case which was transmitted to him by the officer in charge of the police station or the police officer making the investigation, as the case may be.§

(7) A Magistrate authorising under this section detention in the custody of the police shall record his reasons for so doing.§

(8) Any Magistrate other than the Chief Judicial Magistrate making such order shall forward a copy of his order, with his reasons for making it, to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.§

(9) If in any case triable by a Magistrate as a summons-case, the investigation is not concluded within a period of six months from the date on which the accused was arrested, the Magistrate shall make an order stopping further investigation into the offence unless the officer making the investigation satisfies the Magistrate that for special reasons and in the interests of justice the continuation of the investigation beyond the period of six months is necessary.§

(10) Where any order stopping further investigation into an offence has been made under sub-section (9), the Sessions Judge may, if he is satisfied, on an application made to him or otherwise, that further investigation into the offence ought to be made, vacate the order made under sub-section (9) and direct further investigation to be made into the offence subject to such directions with regard to bail and other matters as he may specify.§

Why this exists

Police investigations often cannot be wrapped up within the initial 24-hour arrest window, but the Constitution does not allow indefinite detention without judicial oversight. This provision — carried forward with modifications from Section 167 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure — creates a middle path: it lets investigation continue while keeping a Magistrate in control of how long a person stays in custody, and it fixes hard outer limits (60 or 90 days) after which continued incarceration without a chargesheet becomes illegal, entitling the accused to bail. The safeguards around magistrate seniority, recorded reasons, and physical production of the accused were designed to prevent misuse of remand as a tool of harassment.

How courts read it

Under the predecessor provision (Section 167 CrPC), courts repeatedly held that the right to 'default bail' after 60/90 days is not a mere discretion but an indefeasible right of the accused once the deadline expires and a chargesheet has not been filed (Uday Mohanlal Acharya v. State of Maharashtra). The Supreme Court in Sanjay Dutt v. State clarified that this right must be claimed before the chargesheet is actually filed — if the accused doesn't apply for bail in time, the right can be lost once the chargesheet is filed. In Rakesh Kumar Paul v. State of Assam, the Court examined how to classify offences for deciding whether the 60-day or 90-day limit applies. M. Ravindran v. Intelligence Officer, Customs reaffirmed that default bail is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21, and courts cannot dilute it. These principles are widely expected to continue guiding interpretation of the renumbered Section 187 BNSS.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Police can keep someone in custody as long as they want if the investigation isn't finished.
Fact: The law fixes strict outer limits — 60 or 90 days depending on the offence — beyond which the accused must be released on bail if they furnish it, regardless of whether the investigation is complete.
Myth: Being sent to judicial custody means the accused must physically appear in court every single time.
Fact: Once in judicial (not police) custody, the Magistrate can extend detention based on production of the accused through audio-video means, not just in-person appearance.
Myth: Any Magistrate can order a person to be kept in police custody.
Fact: Only Magistrates of the first class, or second-class Magistrates specially empowered by the High Court, can authorise police custody.
Myth: Default bail after 60/90 days means the case is dropped.
Fact: Default bail only releases the accused from custody; the investigation can continue, and the accused can still be tried and convicted later if the chargesheet is filed.