BNSS Section 64: How a Summons Is Served (CrPC 62 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Procedure · BNSS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

A summons is served under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the new criminal procedure code in force since 1 July 2024. Section 64 replaced Section 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). It says a summons is served by a police officer or an authorised public servant, in person where that is practicable, and it now allows service by electronic communication. If you still look up "section 62 CrPC", this is the provision you now need. This explainer sets out what Section 64 covers, how it maps to the old law, and what actually changed. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number matters now

For decades, "Section 61" and "Section 62" of the CrPC meant the form of a summons and how it was served. Since 1 July 2024 the CrPC is replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), and those rules have moved. The form of a summons is now Section 63 of the BNSS. How a summons is served is now Section 64.

This matters in daily practice. A summons issued on or after 1 July 2024 is governed by the BNSS, so a service objection, a bailable warrant for non-appearance, or a plea of no valid service is argued under Section 64, not Section 62. Older matters keep their CrPC numbers. So for a while you will see both numbers in live files, and you need to read each one correctly.

02What Section 64 covers

Section 64 of the BNSS tells you how a summons is served once it has been issued. It does not deal with the form of the summons, which is Section 63, and it does not deal with who may be summoned.

Section 64 has three main ideas:

• Who serves it: a police officer, or an officer of the court that issued it, or another public servant, subject to the rules the State Government makes.
• A register of details: the police station or the court must keep a register of the address, email address, phone number and other details that State rules prescribe. This supports modern, traceable service.
• Personal and electronic service: where practicable, service is personal, by giving or offering one of the two duplicate copies to the person named. A summons that bears the seal of the court may also be served by electronic communication in the form that State rules set.

03How service is done

The ordinary way is personal service. The serving officer hands or offers one duplicate of the summons to the person named. If the serving officer asks for it, the person served signs a receipt on the back of the other duplicate. That receipt is the proof that service was effected.

The BNSS adds a clear electronic route. A summons that carries the image of the seal of the court can be served by electronic communication, such as email, in the form and manner that the State Government prescribes by rules. This sits alongside personal service and is meant to cut delay.

Where personal service is not possible even with due diligence, the later sections of the BNSS take over. For example, service when the person cannot be found, service on companies and firms, and the affixing of a copy at the residence are dealt with in the sections that follow Section 64.

04Old to new: CrPC 62 to BNSS 64

Section 62 of the CrPC is now Section 64 of the BNSS. The three-part structure, service by a police or court officer, personal delivery of a duplicate where practicable, and a signed receipt on request, is carried over. The BNSS adds the service register and electronic service.

So the heavy lifting of the old Section 62 survives. What is genuinely new is the register of contact details and the express power to serve a sealed summons electronically.

05What changed from the old law

For the common question of how a summons is served, the core rule is the same, so older case law on Section 62 of the CrPC still guides how Section 64 is read. Personal service with a signed receipt remains the safe route.

The real change is the push to digital. The register of addresses, emails and phone numbers, and the power to serve a sealed summons electronically, are built to reduce the long delays that process service used to cause. How courts treat proof of electronic service, and what counts as valid delivery, is still settling, so keep a record of the mode you used. For the related summons to produce a document or electronic record, see Section 94 of the BNSS.

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 service objection can freeze a matter for months, and the answer usually turns on how a given court has read what counts as valid service, now including service by email under the new rule. Across more than 30 crore judgments reaching back to the Supreme Court from 1950 and the High Courts from 1990, Claw lets you trace how benches have treated proof of service and electronic service, with each search returning in under five seconds. You can also follow a live summons by the party or advocate on the file, watching orders and hearings move across the 9,102 courts, benches and forums Claw keeps in view.

Your own case files stay yours: Claw does not train its AI models on customer documents. Open a free Claw account and look up a service dispute by party or advocate name, or widen the net with case search across Indian courts.

07Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNSS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BNSS overview and CrPC comparison): prsindia.org
• Section 64, BNSS (bare text): devgan.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and rules made by the State Government, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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