BNSS Section 185: Search by a police officer during investigation (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Procedure · BNSS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

An investigation often needs a search, and sometimes there is no time to get a warrant. Section 185 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) lets a police officer search a place without a warrant during an investigation, but only on grounds recorded in writing, and now with the search recorded by audio video means. Section 185 carries forward Section 165 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC). It is a procedure provision, so it creates no offence and carries no punishment of its own. This explainer sets out what it allows, the conditions and records it requires, and how it maps to the old law. Last verified October 2026.

01Why a warrantless search is allowed

Evidence can be lost in minutes. If the police always had to go to a court for a warrant before searching, important material could be moved or destroyed before the search ever happened. Section 185 is the answer to that problem during an investigation.

But a search without a warrant is a serious intrusion. So the power is tied to conditions: the officer must have reason to believe the thing is needed and cannot be got without delay, and must record those grounds in writing before the search. These conditions are what keep the power in check.

The BNSS adds a further check for transparency: the search is to be recorded by audio video means, and a copy of the written record is sent to a Magistrate.

02What Section 185 allows

Section 185 lets the officer in charge of a police station, or an officer making an investigation, search a place for a thing needed for the investigation, without a warrant. In plain terms:

• The belief: the officer must have reasonable grounds to believe that the thing sought is necessary for the investigation, and that it cannot otherwise be obtained without undue delay.
• Recorded grounds: the officer must record in writing the grounds of that belief, and specify, as far as possible, the thing to be searched for.
• Who conducts it: the officer should, where practicable, conduct the search in person.
• The record goes to a Magistrate: copies of the written record are sent to the nearest Magistrate, reported to be within 48 hours.

A warrantless search under Section 185 is lawful only when the grounds are recorded in writing first.

Section 185 is a procedure provision. It creates no offence and has no sentence of its own.

03The conditions and the records

The safeguards in Section 185 are the heart of the provision, and the BNSS adds a new one.

• Write the grounds before the search: the officer must record the reasons for the belief and the thing sought in writing. This is what makes the search reviewable later.
• Record the search: the BNSS requires the search to be recorded through audio video electronic means, preferably by mobile phone. This is the clearest new feature compared with the old CrPC.
• Send the record to a Magistrate: copies of the record are to be sent to the nearest Magistrate, reported as within 48 hours, so there is independent oversight.

04Old law to new law: CrPC 165

Section 185 of the BNSS carries forward Section 165 of the old CrPC, the police power to search during an investigation. The core power and conditions are substantially the same, with added recording duties.

So an advocate who knows the old Section 165 will recognise the content. Read Section 185 with the general search provisions and the rule that searches be recorded by audio video means, which the BNSS applies across searches.

05What changed from the old law

In substance, Section 185 keeps the old power to search without a warrant during an investigation, on recorded grounds. The real additions are about recording and oversight.

• Same power: a warrantless search is allowed where the thing is necessary and cannot be got without undue delay, on grounds recorded in writing.
• Audio video record: the search is to be recorded by audio video electronic means, which is new compared with the old Section 165.
• Magistrate oversight: copies of the record are sent to the nearest Magistrate, reported as within 48 hours.

For the wider investigation powers, read Section 185 with the police power to investigate under Section 175 and the power to require attendance of witnesses under Section 179.

06Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A challenge to a search under Section 185 usually rests on whether the grounds were written down first, and now on whether the audio video record was made and sent to the Magistrate in time. Claw searches more than 30 crore judgments in under five seconds, so you can find how courts have treated defects in a search and what they mean for the evidence that came out of it. It also tracks cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, letting you follow a search-and-seizure matter by party or advocate name. Create a free Claw account to bring this case law into your own search challenges. Research across every court starts at the case search across Indian courts hub.

Claw is a research and tracking tool rather than a substitute for counsel, and it does not use customer case documents to train its AI models.

07Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNSS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• Ministry of Home Affairs (new criminal laws): mha.gov.in
• Section 185 BNSS (commentary): lexibal.com
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text of Section 185 and take advice from counsel before you act.

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