Criminal procedure in India | Updated 16 October 2026
Section 47 CrPC: Search of Place Entered by a Person Sought to Be Arrested
Section 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 explained how authorised officers could search premises to locate and arrest a person. The corresponding current provision is Section 44 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which took effect on 1 July 2024.
What does Section 47 CrPC mean?
The provision concerns entry and search for the purpose of arresting a person believed to be inside a house, building, room or other place. It is not a general authorisation to search any premises for evidence. The arresting person must be acting under a warrant or be a police officer otherwise legally empowered to arrest.
Under the present law, Section 44 BNSS governs this situation. The provision addresses three circumstances: voluntary admission to the premises, forcible entry where statutory conditions are met, and escape from premises where an arresting person is unlawfully detained after lawful entry.
Section 44 BNSS: Powers and conditions explained
Section 44(1): Duty to allow entry
Where an authorised person has reason to believe that the person sought for arrest is inside a particular place, a resident or person in charge must, on demand, allow free entry and provide reasonable facilities to search for that person. This obligation arises in connection with a lawful arrest, not merely because an officer wishes to inspect a property.
Section 44(2): Entry when admission is refused
If access cannot be obtained, the statute permits entry and search in the circumstances it specifies. A person executing an arrest warrant may exercise the statutory power; a police officer may also act where a warrant could be issued but obtaining it would give the wanted person an opportunity to escape.
Before breaking open an outer or inner door or window to obtain entry, the officer must notify the occupants of the officer's authority and purpose, demand admission and be unable to obtain entry otherwise. These conditions protect against arbitrary forced entry.
Special protection for a woman occupying a private apartment
The proviso to Section 44(2) protects a woman, other than the person to be arrested, who occupies an apartment and, according to custom, does not appear in public. Before entering, the officer must give her notice that she may withdraw and provide every reasonable facility for doing so. Entry may follow after these safeguards are observed.
Section 44(3): Breaking open a door to secure release
A police officer or other person authorised to make an arrest may break open a door or window to free themselves or another person who lawfully entered premises for an arrest but is detained inside. This is a separate, limited power concerned with securing release.
Original Section 47 CrPC: Statutory text
The following reproduces the substantive wording of the former Section 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for historical and transitional reference.
47. Search of place entered by person sought to be arrested.
(1) If any person acting under warrant of arrest, or any police officer having authority to arrest, has reason to believe that the person to be arrested has entered into, or is within, any place, any person residing in, or being in charge of, such place shall, on demand of such person acting as aforesaid or such police officer, allow him free ingress thereto, and afford all reasonable facilities for a search therein.
(2) If ingress to such place cannot be obtained under sub-section (1), it shall be lawful in any case for a person acting under a warrant and in any case in which a warrant may issue, but cannot be obtained without affording the person to be arrested an opportunity of escape, for a police officer to enter such place and search therein, and in order to effect an entrance into such place, to break open any outer or inner door or window of any house or place, whether that of the person to be arrested or of any other person, if after notification of his authority and purpose, and demand of admittance duly made, he cannot otherwise obtain admittance:
Provided that, if any such place is an apartment in the actual occupancy of a female (not being the person to be arrested) who, according to custom, does not appear in public, such person or police officer shall, before entering such apartment, give notice to such female that she is at liberty to withdraw and shall afford her every reasonable facility for withdrawing, and may then break open the apartment and enter it.
(3) Any police officer or other person authorised to make an arrest may break open any outer or inner door or window of any house or place in order to liberate himself or any other person who, having lawfully entered for the purpose of making an arrest, is detained therein.
Safeguards and limits on police powers
Lawful authority: A search under Section 44 BNSS depends on the underlying legal authority to arrest and the officer's reason to believe the wanted person is on the premises. It cannot independently justify an otherwise unlawful arrest.
Notice before forced entry: The officer must satisfy the prescribed conditions before forcing entry. A refusal to open a door does not remove all statutory requirements.
Protection of privacy: Article 21 of the Constitution protects life and personal liberty, including privacy interests recognised by the Supreme Court. Statutory arrest powers must be exercised consistently with constitutional safeguards and applicable law.
Proportionality: Officers should confine their actions to what the arrest and the statute lawfully require. The provision does not give an unrestricted power to damage property or conduct an unrelated evidentiary search.
Related provisions: Section 43 BNSS addresses how an arrest is made; Section 45 deals with pursuit into other jurisdictions; Section 46 prohibits unnecessary restraint; and Section 47 addresses informing the arrested person of the grounds of arrest and right to bail. These correspond broadly to Sections 46, 48, 49 and 50 CrPC respectively.
Frequently asked questions
Can police enter a house to arrest someone?
Yes, where an officer has lawful authority to arrest and reason to believe the person is inside, Section 44 BNSS provides for entry and a search subject to statutory conditions.
Can police break open a door during an arrest search?
Only when the statutory conditions apply, including the required notification of authority and purpose and demand for admission, or where the separate rescue provision applies.
Does Section 47 CrPC still apply?
The BNSS generally replaced the CrPC from 1 July 2024. Section 44 BNSS is the corresponding provision; saved proceedings may continue under the CrPC subject to Section 531 BNSS.
Is a search warrant always necessary?
No. Section 44 BNSS addresses both persons acting under an arrest warrant and police officers who are otherwise authorised to arrest, subject to its conditions.
Official legal sources
For the full enacted provisions and any subsequent notifications, consult the official BNSS text (Bureau of Police Research and Development, PDF), the BPR&D new criminal laws resource page and the India Code legislative database. The official BNSS PDF identifies Section 44 as corresponding to Section 47 CrPC.
Legal information only. The application of arrest and search powers depends on the facts, applicable statutes, and judicial orders.