In a significant judgment, the Allahabad High Court has ruled that the earlier restriction under Section 438(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)—which barred anticipatory bail in cases punishable with death or life imprisonment—is no longer applicable under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS).
Justice Chandra Dhari Singh delivered the ruling while allowing the second anticipatory bail plea of Abdul Hameed, an accused in a 2011 murder case who was not charge-sheeted during the investigation but was later summoned to stand trial. Hameed’s earlier bail application had been rejected in February 2023 based solely on the CrPC restriction imposed by the Uttar Pradesh Amendment Act, 2019.
However, the court observed that the BNSS, which replaced the CrPC from July 1, 2024, contains no corresponding bar under Section 482—the provision that now governs anticipatory bail. The court noted that this omission was a “conscious and deliberate legislative choice,” implying that Parliament did not intend to retain the earlier restriction.
The State of Uttar Pradesh had argued that since the alleged offence occurred in 2011 and the charge sheet was filed before the BNSS came into force, the new law should not apply. Rejecting this contention, the court emphasized that the legal framework has undergone a material transformation. It held that the present application—filed after July 1, 2024—must be evaluated under BNSS, not the CrPC.
Importantly, the bench clarified that since Hameed’s first application had been rejected only on grounds of maintainability (due to the statutory bar) and not on merits, his fresh application under BNSS was maintainable and warranted reconsideration.
Referring to its own recent ruling in Deepu & Ors vs State of U.P., the court reiterated that the liberalized anticipatory bail provisions of BNSS now apply to all applications filed post-July 1, 2024, regardless of when the offence was committed.
This judgment effectively removes the previous procedural barrier to anticipatory bail in Uttar Pradesh for grave offences and affirms the primacy of the new statutory scheme under BNSS.
