A private person can arrest anyone they merely suspect of any crime.

The power only applies when the person commits a non-bailable, cognizable offence in the citizen's own presence, or is a proclaimed offender — not for suspected or minor offences.

Citizens can hold an arrested person for as long as they want before involving police.

The law requires handing the person over to police, or taking them to the nearest police station, without unnecessary delay and within a maximum of six hours.

Once handed over, the police must always keep the person in custody.

Police must independently assess the situation — if there's no sufficient reason to believe an offence was committed, the person must be released at once.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 40

Arrest by private person and procedure on such arrest

(1) Any private person may arrest or cause to be arrested any person who in his presence commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence, or any proclaimed offender, and, without unnecessary delay, but within six hours from such arrest, shall make over or cause to be made over any person so arrested to a police officer, or, in the absence of a police officer, take such person or cause him to be taken in custody to the nearest police station.§

(2) If there is reason to believe that such person comes under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 35, a police officer shall take him in custody.§

(3) If there is reason to believe that he has committed a non-cognizable offence, and he refuses on the demand of a police officer to give his name and residence, or gives a name or residence which such officer has reason to believe to be false, he shall be dealt with under the provisions of section 39; but if there is no sufficient reason to believe that he has committed any offence, he shall be at once released.§

Why this exists

Indian criminal procedure has long recognized that ordinary citizens may need to act immediately when they witness a serious crime, since police may not be present at the moment of the offence. This provision, carried forward from Section 43 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, balances the public's power to make a citizen's arrest with safeguards against misuse — requiring quick handover to police and giving police discretion to release a wrongly held person. The six-hour outer limit is a new addition in the BNSS, aimed at preventing prolonged private detention.

How courts read it

Under the older, similarly worded Section 43 CrPC, courts held that a private person's power of arrest is narrow and must be exercised strictly within its terms — the offence must be committed in the arrester's presence and must be non-bailable and cognizable, or the person must be a proclaimed offender. Courts have cautioned against private citizens using this power as a pretext for vigilante action, and have emphasised the duty to hand over the arrested person to police without delay, since prolonged private custody can amount to wrongful confinement.

Common misconceptions

Myth: A private person can arrest anyone they merely suspect of any crime.
Fact: The power only applies when the person commits a non-bailable, cognizable offence in the citizen's own presence, or is a proclaimed offender — not for suspected or minor offences.
Myth: Citizens can hold an arrested person for as long as they want before involving police.
Fact: The law requires handing the person over to police, or taking them to the nearest police station, without unnecessary delay and within a maximum of six hours.
Myth: Once handed over, the police must always keep the person in custody.
Fact: Police must independently assess the situation — if there's no sufficient reason to believe an offence was committed, the person must be released at once.