‘Knee-Jerk’ Arrests Must Stop: Bombay HC Calls Pune Rural Police Arrests Illegal, Orders Statewide Compliance With BNSS Safeguards
Mumbai/Pune, 15th September 2026 : The Bombay High Court has directed its Registrar General to circulate a crucial directive to all superintendents and commissioners of police across Maharashtra, stressing strict compliance with statutory safeguards governing arrests under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
A single-judge bench of Justice Milind N Jadhav issued the direction on September 10 while holding the arrest of two Pune brothers, aged 24 and 20, by Pune Rural Police to be illegal.
The court found that the brothers were arrested at the same time they were served notices under Section 35(3) of the BNSS, effectively bypassing the safeguards prescribed by law.
The case relates to an FIR registered at Talegaon Dabhade police station under charges including kidnapping (Section 140(3)), robbery (Section 311) and joint criminal liability under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The brothers had gone to the police station to enquire about the arrest of their father, who is also an accused in the case. Instead, police served them notices under Section 35(3) and immediately took them into custody. The prosecution subsequently admitted this sequence before the court.
Under Section 35(3) of the BNSS, police can issue a notice requiring an accused to appear for questioning instead of arresting them. For offences punishable with imprisonment of up to seven years, arrest is not meant to be automatic and must be justified under the statutory conditions.
Justice Jadhav observed that serving a notice and arresting a person simultaneously makes the safeguards under Section 35(6) “completely otiose and redundant infructuous”. The provision permits arrest in specified circumstances, including when a person fails to comply with the notice, subject to legal requirements.
Advocate Nikitesh Kotangale, appearing for the brothers, urged the court to issue statewide guidelines, arguing that police often act in haste and arrest individuals on the same day notices are served.
Justice Jadhav agreed that broader directions were necessary in the larger public interest to prevent such “knee-jerk” arrests.
The court granted bail to both brothers, while clarifying that its observations were limited to the bail proceedings and would not affect the merits of the pending trial.
