Saya & Associates
The first seventy-two hours decide most of what follows.
A criminal case is shaped by things that happen before anyone argues the merits: whether you answered the notice or ignored it, what you said at the police station, whether bail was moved in the right court on the right day. Much of the damage in the matters that reach this practice was done in the first week.
From the first notice to the last appeal.
Anticipatory bail
Applications under section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 before the Sessions Court and the High Court, including interim protection where arrest is imminent.
Regular bail & custody
Bail after arrest, default bail where the investigating agency has missed its statutory period, cancellation and modification of conditions, and applications made in custody.
FIR, complaint & quashing
Getting an FIR registered where the police decline, and the opposite — quashing under section 528 BNSS where the complaint discloses no offence or the parties have settled.
Notices and summons
Replies and appearances on a section 35 BNSS notice, on summons from the police or a magistrate, on economic-offence investigations, and on look-out circulars.
Trial defence
Conduct of the defence through framing of charge, prosecution evidence, cross-examination, the statement of the accused and final arguments, before magistrates and Sessions.
Appeals & revision
Appeals and revisions before the Sessions Court, the High Court of Delhi and the Supreme Court, and petitions for suspension of sentence.
Answer the notice. Do not talk your way out of it.
The instinct on receiving a police notice is either to ignore it or to go alone and explain. Both make things worse. A notice under section 35 of the BNSS is an obligation to attend, and attending with the reply already in writing, with counsel, is what keeps an investigation from becoming an arrest.
The three criminal codes — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, in force since 1 July 2024 — changed section numbers, timelines and the treatment of electronic evidence. Old habits produce applications under provisions that no longer exist.
Protection first, then the record, then the merits.
Contain
Exposure assessed, interim protection secured where arrest is a live risk, and nothing said or signed that cannot afterwards be taken back.
Record
The notice answered, the defence version placed on file, and the documents and electronic evidence collected before they are lost.
Run
Bail, discharge or quashing as the facts allow — and where the matter goes to trial, the defence conducted through to judgment and appeal.