Attachment of property of person absconding
Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with attachment of property of person absconding. The Court issuing a proclamation under section 84 may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, at any time after the issue of the proclamation, order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable, or both, belonging to the proclaimed person: Provided that where at the time of the issue of the The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
(1) The Court issuing a proclamation under section 84 may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, at any time after the issue of the proclamation, order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable, or both, belonging to the proclaimed person:
Provided that where at the time of the issue of the proclamation the Court is satisfied, by affidavit or otherwise, that the person in relation to whom the proclamation is to be issued,—
(a) is about to dispose of the whole or any part of his property; or
(b) is about to remove the whole or any part of his property from the local jurisdiction of the Court, it may order the attachment of property simultaneously with the issue of the proclamation.
(2) Such order shall authorise the attachment of any property belonging to such person within the district in which it is made; and it shall authorise the attachment of any property belonging to such person without such district when endorsed by the District Magistrate within whose district such property is situate.
(3) If the property ordered to be attached is a debt or other movable property, the attachment under this section shall be made—
(a) by seizure; or
(b) by the appointment of a receiver; or
(c) by an order in writing prohibiting the delivery of such property to the proclaimed person or to any one on his behalf; or
(d) by all or any two of such methods, as the Court thinks fit.
(4) If the property ordered to be attached is immovable, the attachment under this section shall, in the case of land paying revenue to the State Government, be made through the Collector of the district in which the land is situate, and in all other cases—
(a) by taking possession; or
(b) by the appointment of a receiver; or
(c) by an order in writing prohibiting the payment of rent on delivery of property to the proclaimed person or to any one on his behalf; or
(d) by all or any two of such methods, as the Court thinks fit.
(5) If the property ordered to be attached consists of live-stock or is of a perishable nature, the Court may, if it thinks it expedient, order immediate sale thereof, and in such case the proceeds of the sale shall abide the order of the Court.
(6) The powers, duties and liabilities of a receiver appointed under this section shall be the same as those of a receiver appointed under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).
Section 85, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure
CRPC 83 Attachment of Property of person absconding Text carried over almost unchanged 100%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Nevada Properties Pvt. Ltd. through Its Director LTD vs The State of Maharashtra Home Department S. H. O
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The expression 'any property' appearing in Section 102(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 does not include immovable property. A police officer does not have the power to attach, seize, and seal an immovable property under Section 102 of the Code. The word 'seize' in Section 102 means actual taking of possession which cannot be done with immovable property without dispossessing the occupant, which power is not conferred by Section 102. Immovable property disputes must be adjudicated by Civil Courts or through specialized statutory procedures like the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance 1944 or Chapter VIIA of the Code. However, police may seize documents or papers of title relating to immovable property as this is distinct from seizure of the immovable property itself.
On this section: Relates to seizure of property of proclaimed absconder and specifically uses the words 'movable or immovable' property, showing that when Legislature intends to include immovable property, it explicitly says so, unlike Section 102 which only says 'any property'.
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Standard Chartered Bank vs V. Noble Kumar
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A secured creditor under the SARFAESI Act has the discretion to choose between two alternative procedures for taking possession of secured assets - either direct possession under Section 13(4) with procedures mandated by Rule 8, or by invoking the assistance of the Magistrate under Section 14 - and need not exhaust one procedure before resorting to the other. The statutory appeal remedy under Section 17 remains available to the borrower after possession is transferred to the secured creditor, regardless of which procedure was employed, ensuring the borrower's right to challenge the measures taken is preserved. Rule 8 procedures are specific to direct creditor possession under Section 13(4) and are not applicable when a Magistrate exercises powers under Section 14, which are instead governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
On this section: Provides procedure for attachment of property of proclaimed offender, including appointment of receiver. Powers, duties and liabilities of such receiver are same as under Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
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Pankaj Jain vs Union Of India
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The word 'may' in Section 88 Cr.P.C. confers discretionary power on the court and does not create a mandatory obligation or a corresponding right in any person appearing before the court. The discretion is for the court to exercise judicially based on the nature of the case, seriousness of charges, and status of the person (whether a free agent or already under warrant/arrest). Section 88 applies only to persons who are free agents - meaning they have not been arrested, are not under custody, and a non-bailable warrant has not been issued against them. When a non-bailable warrant has been issued and proceedings under Sections 82 and 83 Cr.P.C. have been initiated against an accused, that person ceases to be a free agent and cannot claim protection under Section 88. The discretion under Section 88 is not coupled with any duty toward the appearing person; rather, it is coupled with the duty to ensure appearance of the person in court. Therefore, an accused person's non-arrest during investigation does not automatically entitle them to release on bond merely by appearing in court; they must follow the prescribed bail procedures applicable to their specific category of offence.
On this section: Non-bailable warrant process - proceedings initiated against appellant preventing application of Section 88
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Subhash vs State
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Once an absconding accused appears before the court and faces trial, the purpose of property attachment under Section 82 CrPC is achieved and the attached property must be released, regardless of whether the application for release is technically time-barred under Section 85(3) CrPC, particularly when the accused was genuinely unaware of the proceedings due to being out of the country. The purpose of Section 82 CrPC is limited to securing the attendance of the accused, not to punish him or permanently deprive him of property. Once this purpose is achieved through the accused's appearance and trial, substantive justice requires that the property be restored to the accused, even if he has been acquitted.
On this section: Proceedings against absconding accused. Court examined the procedure for declaring someone absconding and the consequences thereof, particularly regarding property attachment.
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Kamla Engg. vs Punjab National Bank
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The dues of a secured creditor have priority over and shall be paid in priority to all other debts and government dues including Central Excise dues. An auction purchaser who purchases a mortgaged property from a secured creditor in an auction conducted under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 is not liable to pay the dues of the erstwhile owner/borrower/assessee that are claimed by the Central Excise Department or other government agencies, provided such dues do not arise from the utilization of the property itself and no charge has been created and notice given to the purchaser. The secured creditor's right of priority is established through Section 31B of Recovery Act 1993, Section 26E of Securitisation Act 2002, and Section 11E of Central Excise Act 1944, all of which have retroactive application to live and existing debts. A charge on immoveable property can only be enforced against a transferee if: (1) a charge has been validly created, and (2) the transferee had notice of such charge. In the absence of either element, the charge cannot be enforced against the transferee.
On this section: Court discussed that attachment under Section 83 CrPC would not prevail over prior mortgage created by secured creditor.
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Chandra Kanta Bartar vs State of Uttarakhand
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When statutory remedies are available under the Criminal Procedure Code for challenging attachment of property (Sections 84, 85, and 86), a writ petition under Article 226 is not the appropriate remedy, and the petitioner must first exhaust these statutory remedies before approaching the High Court through writ jurisdiction.
On this section: Deals with attachment of property of person absconding; cited as the substantive provision under which the attachment order was likely issued
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Laxmeswar Thakur vs The State
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
An application for cancellation of proceedings under Section 82/83 CrPC cannot be entertained when the factual basis for the application (payment of dues) is contradicted by verified bank records of the recipient.
On this section: Attachment of property of person absconding.
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Sangeeta Devi vs State of U.p.
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 83, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The High Court, exercising its inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C., can direct a subordinate criminal court to decide pending objections under Section 84 Cr.P.C. within a specified time frame (preferably two months) to prevent harassment of the accused and secure the ends of justice, particularly when such objections have remained undecided for an unreasonable period.
On this section: Seizure of property during investigation; the basis for police seizure of applicant's household items
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 85
What have the courts held on Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
Nevada Properties Pvt. Ltd. through Its Director LTD vs The State of Maharashtra Home Department S. H. O (06 May 2022) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under CRPC 83, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Relates to seizure of property of proclaimed absconder and specifically uses the words 'movable or immovable' property, showing that when Legislature intends to include immovable property, it explicitly says so, unlike Section 102 which only says 'any property'. Another 7 judgments on this section are set out below, 3 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2013 to 2024.
How do I find court cases under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: BNSS 85, section 85 BNSS, section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. People searching for it also type bnss 85 86 in hindi and bnss 85 b. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 8 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Nevada Properties Pvt. Ltd. through Its Director LTD vs The State of Maharashtra Home Department S. H. O (06 May 2022).
What should I read with Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 84 (Proclamation for person absconding), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. It carries forward CrPC 83 (Attachment of Property of person absconding), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita come into force?
Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, cited as BNSS 85, came into force on 01 Jul 2024, having been enacted on 25 Dec 2023. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 359. Compounding of offences1355 words
- 187. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours1122 words
- 2. Definitions956 words
- 243. Trial for more than one offence930 words
- 35. When police may arrest without warrant881 words
- 480. When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence823 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.