BNSS Section 113: Letter of Request From Outside India for an Investigation in India (CrPC 166B Mapping) (2026)
What Section 113 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) really does: it lets a court or authority in a country outside India send a letter of request to India to examine a person or collect evidence here. How it maps to the old Section 166B of the CrPC. Last verified October 2026.
Explainer · Criminal Procedure · BNSS
Section 113 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), in force since 1 July 2024, handles a letter of request that comes into India from a court or authority in another country. It lets that request be routed so that a person here can be examined or evidence collected for a foreign investigation. It replaced Section 166B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This is not, as some lists suggest, a section about security for good behaviour from habitual offenders. This explainer sets out what Section 113 does, how the request is handled, and how it maps to the old law. Last verified October 2026.
- New section: Section 113 of the BNSS handles an incoming letter of request from a court or authority outside India, in force since 1 July 2024.
- Old section: it replaced Section 166B of the CrPC.
- Routed by: the Central Government, which may send it to a Magistrate or to a police officer.
- Not this: it is not about security for good behaviour from habitual offenders, which is now Section 129 of the BNSS.
01Clearing up the section number
Some section lists wrongly tag BNSS Section 113 as "security for good behaviour from habitual offenders". That is the old Section 110 CrPC, which in the BNSS is now Section 129, not Section 113. The error comes from carrying old numbers across, which the BNSS renumbering does not allow.
Section 113 of the BNSS actually deals with an incoming letter of request: a court or authority outside India asking India for help in a criminal investigation. It maps to the old Section 166B of the CrPC and sits in the chapter on reciprocal arrangements and attachment of property.
02What Section 113 covers
Section 113 is the inbound counterpart of the outgoing letter of request. It applies when a court or an authority in a country or place outside India wants to examine a person, or obtain a document or thing, for an offence under investigation there, and that person or material is in India.
The request comes to the Central Government. The Central Government may, if it thinks fit, act on it by one of two routes, so the provision gives the government a gatekeeping role rather than making the request automatic.
Inbound, not outbound
Section 113 is about requests coming into India. The reverse case, where an Indian criminal court asks a foreign authority for help, is the outgoing letter of request under Section 112 of the BNSS (old Section 166A CrPC).
03How an incoming request is handled
Once the Central Government decides to act on the request, it can take one of two routes:
- Through a Magistrate: forward the letter of request to a Chief Judicial Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate, who then summons the person, records a statement, or has the document or thing produced.
- Through the police: send the letter to a police officer, who investigates the offence as if it had been committed in India, and then returns the result through the Central Government.
This lets India give lawful help to a foreign investigation through recognised channels, while keeping the process under the control of the government and the courts here.
04Old to new: CrPC 166B to BNSS 113
Section 166B of the CrPC is now Section 113 of the BNSS. The structure of the reciprocal-assistance chapter is carried over, with the inbound and outbound requests kept as separate sections.
| Point | Old law (CrPC) | New law (BNSS) |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming letter of request (from outside India) | Section 166B | Section 113 |
| Outgoing letter of request (by an Indian court) | Section 166A | Section 112 |
| Definitions for the chapter | Section 105A | Section 111 |
| Security for good behaviour from habitual offenders | Section 110 | Section 129 |
The definitions that control the whole chapter, including "contracting State" and "proceeds of crime", are set out in Section 111 of the BNSS.
05Is it an offence? Classification
Section 113 does not create an offence, so there is no cognizable, bailable or triable label to apply to the section itself, and it carries no punishment.
It is a procedural route for international cooperation. Whether an examination or search that follows is cognizable or not depends on the underlying foreign offence and the Indian provisions used to act on the request.
06What changed from the old law
For the incoming letter of request, the substance follows Section 166B of the CrPC, so earlier practice on handling foreign requests still guides how Section 113 is read. The main change is the renumbering and the cleaner grouping of the reciprocal-assistance chapter.
Read Section 113 together with the chapter definitions in Section 111 of the BNSS, and with the outgoing request in Section 112.
07Where 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 letter of request turns up in the big economic, cyber and organised-crime matters that stay in the Indian courts for years. Claw lets you trace that litigation across 9,102 courts, benches and forums and a store of more than 30 crore judgments, by provision or by party or advocate, returning each result in under five seconds. So you can see how a court has treated an incoming request, or evidence gathered through one, or keep watch on a live matter.
Claw does not use customer case documents to train its AI models, so your material in a cross-border matter is never used that way. Create a free Claw account to search and follow these cases, and for the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.
08Sources and further reading
- India Code (official text of the BNSS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
- Section 113, BNSS (bare text): advocatekhoj.com
- Section 166B, CrPC (old provision): devgan.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.
09Frequently asked questions
What does Section 113 of the BNSS cover?
Section 113 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with a letter of request from a court or authority in a country or place outside India seeking help with a criminal investigation. The Central Government may route it to a Magistrate or to a police officer in India. It replaced Section 166B of the CrPC.
Is Section 113 BNSS about security for good behaviour?
No. Security for good behaviour from habitual offenders, the old Section 110 CrPC, is now Section 129 of the BNSS. Section 113 is the incoming letter of request provision in the reciprocal arrangements chapter.
Who decides whether to act on a foreign request under Section 113?
The Central Government. It may, if it thinks fit, forward the letter of request to a Chief Judicial Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate to examine a person or secure a document, or send it to a police officer to investigate as if the offence had been committed in India.
What is the difference between Section 112 and Section 113 BNSS?
Section 112 is the outgoing letter of request, where an Indian criminal court asks a foreign authority for help. Section 113 is the incoming request, where a foreign court or authority asks India for help. They are the two sides of reciprocal assistance.
Is Section 113 BNSS an offence section?
No. Section 113 is procedural and creates no offence. It carries no punishment, so cognizable or bailable labels do not apply to it. It is a route for lawful international cooperation in criminal matters.
Can I track a case involving a letter of request in Claw?
Yes. Matters involving a letter of request can be searched by provision, party or advocate across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, with results in under five seconds. Claw tracks and researches the matter but does not give legal advice.