Medical Examination of an Accused Under the BNSS (Section 51): CrPC 53 Mapping (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Procedure · BNSS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

When a person is arrested, the state of his body can be evidence. An injury, a blood or semen sample, a swab, or a DNA profile may connect him to the offence or clear him. But a forced examination also touches his rights, so the law sets out exactly when and how it can be done. Since 1 July 2024, the power to have an arrested person medically examined is in Section 51 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced Section 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. This explainer sets out what the provision allows, how it maps to the old law, and what changed. Last verified October 2026.

01Why this power exists

A criminal investigation often needs evidence from the body of the accused. Blood, a swab, hair, nail clippings, or a DNA sample can prove or disprove a link to the crime. Without a clear legal power, the police would either be unable to collect such evidence, or would collect it in a way that could be challenged in court.

Section 51 gives that power, and fences it. It allows a registered medical practitioner to examine an arrested person at the request of the police, but only when there are reasonable grounds to believe the examination will yield evidence, and only to the extent reasonably necessary.

This is a procedure, not an offence. It does not punish anyone. It sets out how a lawful medical examination of an accused is to be done.

02What Section 51 says

Section 51 of the BNSS allows a registered medical practitioner, acting at the request of a police officer, to examine a person arrested on a charge of an offence, when there are reasonable grounds to believe the examination will afford evidence about the offence. Reasonable force may be used to carry out the examination.

The provision also covers who may be examined and how:

• The examination is done by, or under the direction of, a registered medical practitioner.
• Where the person to be examined is a woman, the examination must be made by, or under the supervision of, a female registered medical practitioner.
• The term examination is defined widely. It expressly includes the examination of blood, bloodstains, semen, swabs in the case of sexual offences, sputum and sweat, hair samples and finger nail clippings, and includes DNA profiling and other modern tests.

The examination is lawful only to the extent reasonably necessary to find evidence of the offence. It is a targeted step, not a general search of the body.

03Old law to new law: CrPC 53 to BNSS 51

Section 51 of the BNSS corresponds to Section 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The core idea, a police-requested medical examination of an arrested person that may use reasonable force, is carried over.

The numbering around it shifted as well. The old Section 53A CrPC, which deals with the examination of a person accused of rape, is now Section 52 BNSS. The old Section 54 CrPC, the examination of an arrested person at his own request, moved to Section 53 BNSS. So the whole block renumbered.

Because this is a procedural provision, it does not carry an offence or a punishment. It is about how an investigation step is to be done.

04What changed in the new code

Section 51 is not just a renumbering. A few substantive changes were made.

• Any police officer can request it. Under the old Section 53 CrPC, the request had to come from a police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector. Under Section 51 BNSS, any police officer may make the request.
• Prompt reporting. The new provision requires the registered medical practitioner to forward the examination report to the investigating officer without delay.
• Updated definition of practitioner. The reference to a registered medical practitioner is now tied to the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, in place of the old Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.
• Express modern tests. The definition of examination now spells out DNA profiling and the various sample types, which modernises and widens what the examination can cover.

05The rape accused: Section 52

Where the arrested person is accused of rape or an attempt to commit rape, the examination is governed by Section 52 of the BNSS, which replaced Section 53A of the CrPC. Section 52 is structured like Section 51, but it is specific to that category of accused and lists the particulars the report should record.

The two sections work together. Section 51 is the general power to examine an arrested person. Section 52 is the special provision for a person accused of rape. For the matching provision on the medical examination of the victim, see medical examination of a rape victim under BNSS Section 184.

06Safeguards and practical points

• Reasonable grounds and necessity. The examination must rest on reasonable grounds to believe it will give evidence, and force may be used only to the extent reasonably necessary. An examination beyond that can be challenged.
• Female examination. A woman must be examined only by or under the supervision of a female registered medical practitioner. This safeguard carries over from the old law.
• Keep the report. The practitioner must forward the report to the investigating officer. The report and the chain of custody of samples are often decisive, especially for DNA evidence.
• Read with the rights of the arrested person. The examination sits alongside the other protections on arrest. See the rights of an arrested person under the BNSS and how an arrest is made under the BNSS.

For the wider vocabulary of a criminal case, see the glossary of Indian litigation terms.

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.

How a court reads a medical examination, the force used to carry it out, and the way samples were handled can decide a case, and the judgments on the old Section 53 and the new Section 51 keep growing. Claw helps on both sides of that work. A single search reaches more than 30 crore judgments, with the Supreme Court reported from 1950 and the High Courts from 1990, and returns in under 5 seconds, so you can see how courts have read the examination of an accused. Its tracking then follows the orders and hearings in your matters across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, under this section or by party or advocate name. You can search cases by party name or by advocate name, across the full case search coverage of Indian courts.

Claw does not conduct examinations and is not a substitute for legal advice, and it does not use customer documents to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account to search and follow Section 51 matters by party or advocate name.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official statute text): indiacode.nic.in
• Bare text of the BNSS: devgan.in
• Ministry of Home Affairs (new criminal laws): mha.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The new codes are still being read and applied by the courts, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

09Frequently asked questions