Summoning individuals to a police station is an important topic of wide public interest. Indeed, this matter becomes even more critical because of the arbitrariness and tyranny that mark the working of the police. In fact, it is a well-known practice among Indian police personnel to summon individuals through a mobile phone call. Afterward, they often torture these individuals, both physically and mentally. Consequently, this practice amounts to sheer illegality. Moreover, it directly violates established legal norms and constitutional rights. Therefore, citizens must understand the legal safeguards written into law. Specifically, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, mandates written notices instead of oral or mobile summons. Ultimately, no citizen deserves such treatment merely for being asked to assist an investigation.
Key Takeaways
- Police cannot legally summon individuals to a police station by mobile phone or oral request; it violates constitutional rights.
- Mahima Maurya’s case in Mirzapur highlights the unlawful oral summons practice, which disregards legal safeguards.
- Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, police must issue written summons detailing the complaint and legal sections.
- Judicial rulings confirm that electronic summons undermine personal liberty and procedural requirements.
- Police must strictly adhere to written summons protocol, especially for vulnerable individuals, ensuring their dignity and safety.
🚨 Summon Individuals to a Police Station: A Violation of Law and Dignity 🚨
Police personnel cannot legally summon individuals to a police station via mobile phone or oral request — doing so is an unlawful act that directly contravenes established legal norms. Consequently, Mahima Maurya in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh is currently facing this serious violation, highlighting a dangerous disregard for judicial and administrative guidelines.
The Core Violation: Oral Summons and Constitutional Rights
Specifically, the registered complaint (Reference No: 40019925002275) details the use of a mobile phone call to summon a woman to the police station.
- The Mandate: Law mandates that any summons must be issued in writing by an Investigating Officer (IO), detailing the complaint number, legal sections, and time.
- The Breach: Police personnel have repeatedly been overlooking these guidelines, summoning individuals orally, which is not only unlawful but a direct violation of constitutional rights.
- Judicial Stand: The Honourable Supreme Court of India and the Allahabad High Court have explicitly ruled that summons cannot be served via mobile phone, WhatsApp, or any other electronic means. The Allahabad High Court has further ruled that oral summons without a registered FIR are illegal.
As a result, this practice undermines the rule of law and erodes public trust, especially when it involves vulnerable individuals.
👩⚖️ Specific Safeguards Violated for the Applicant
Moreover, the violation is compounded because the applicant, Mahima Maurya, is a woman, which triggers additional, mandatory safeguards under the law. (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
1. Prohibition on Police Station Appearance (BNSS Section 179)
Under Section 179 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (formerly Section 160 CrPC), police are strictly prohibited from requiring any woman, or a person with acute illness or disability, to attend the police station for questioning.
- The Requirement: Instead, police must conduct the investigation at the woman’s place of residence (Village- Gorsar Sarpati, Mirzapur, in this case).
- The Violation: The oral summons via mobile phone, requiring attendance at the police station, is a direct breach of this fundamental protective provision.
2. Disregard for DGP Circulars (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The complaint explicitly cites a series of internal directives issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) for Uttar Pradesh, which the police must follow. The police action in this case demonstrates clear non-adherence to:
| DGP Circular Number | Date | Core Instruction Violated |
| 41 of 2014 | June 17, 2014 | Reinforces strict compliance with written summons procedures. |
| 05 of 2021 | February 19, 2021 | Emphasizes safeguards for women and mandatory adherence to CrPC/BNSS rules. |
| 20 of 2022 | July 16, 2022 | Re-emphasizes compliance with Supreme Court guidelines on arrest and summons. |
| Government Order 197 | January 23, 2023 | Directs the mandatory issuance of written notices. |
Moreover, failing to serve a notice in the format the DGP office requires constitutes an internal breach of discipline that directly affects the applicant’s rights.
Next Steps: Demanding Accountability (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The registration of this complaint (Reference No: 40019925002275) with the Jan Sunwai system is a critical step in demanding accountability from the police authorities in Mirzapur.
It is imperative that the investigating officer assigned to this case adhere strictly to the prescribed procedures, issue a formal written notice, and respect Ms. Maurya’s legal right to have the officer question her at her residence, not summon her to the police station via an unlawful mobile call.
🚨 Why Police Cannot Legally Summon Individuals to a Police Station 🚨
The practice of police personnel summoning individuals to a police station via mobile phone or oral request is unlawful and a serious violation of established legal and constitutional rights in India. Despite clear mandates from the highest judiciary, this alarming trend nonetheless undermines the rule of law and public trust.
The Legal Mandate for Issuing Summons (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The law in India establishes strict, mandatory procedures police must follow whenever they summon individuals to a police station. These rules are designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and the protection of personal liberty.
1. Written Summons is Mandatory (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The primary requirement is that any summons must be issued in writing. The written order must clearly state:
- Include the Complaint Number or Case Reference.
- Cite the Relevant Legal Sections (e.g., under which law the person is being questioned).
- State the Scheduled Time and Date for appearance.
- An Investigating Officer (IO) must issue the summons.
- Officers must duly document the issuance of the written order in the police diary for accountability.
2. Prohibition on Electronic Summons (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The Honourable Supreme Court of India has explicitly ruled against the use of electronic means for serving summons.
- For instance, the Supreme Court rejected a plea to allow summons via mobile phone, WhatsApp, or other electronic means.
- The Court stated that such practices violate personal liberty and fail to meet the procedural safeguards required under the relevant provisions, such as Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (formerly Section 160 of the CrPC).
Therefore, the principle is clear: an oral or mobile phone summons provides no official record, offers no formal proof of service, and poses a grave threat to an individual’s rights.
Special Safeguards for Women (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
The issue becomes even more critical when a woman is being summoned. Specific, stringent guidelines are in place to ensure her dignity and safety:
- The guidelines issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) for Uttar Pradesh (and various High Court rulings) specifically reinforce that summons to women must be handled with utmost adherence to the prescribed written format.
- Calling a woman to a police station via an unrecorded mobile call or oral request is a direct violation of these special safeguards, which the complaint by Mahima Maurya specifically highlights, referencing multiple DGP Circulars (e.g., Circular No. 41 of 2014, Circular No. 05 of 2021, etc.).
🏛️ Judicial Directives and Violations 📜 (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
Both the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court have repeatedly cracked down on this unlawful practice.
- The Allahabad High Court has explicitly ruled that oral summons without a registered FIR are illegal.
- The Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that written notices are mandatory and that the Station House Officer (SHO) monitors their issuance.
Indeed, when police personnel disregard these clear judicial and procedural guidelines, they are not merely overlooking an administrative rule—they are committing an act that is unlawful and constitutes a violation of the constitutional rights of the individual being summoned.
Conclusion and Call to Action
The continued practice of using oral or mobile phone calls to summon individuals to a police station is a serious issue that demands immediate correction. It represents a systemic failure to adhere to the rule of law.
Police departments across the country must:
- Adhere Strictly to the legal mandate of issuing only written summons in the prescribed format.
- Document all summons in the police diary.
- Respect the procedural and constitutional rights of all citizens, especially women, as defined by the judiciary.
Citizens who receive an oral or mobile phone summons should be aware of their rights and can politely but firmly insist on receiving a formal, written notice as mandated by the law.
You are right to seek the specific text. The provision governing the police’s power to summon an individual for investigation without arresting them is Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
This section effectively consolidates and replaces the provisions of the old Section 41 and Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973.
📜 Key Provisions of BNSS Section 35 📜(Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
Section 35 of the BNSS, titled “When police may arrest without warrant,” primarily deals with the conditions for arrest, but Sub-section (3) is the crucial part that mandates the issuance of a written notice (summons) when arrest is not required.
Moreover, Section 35(3) – The Mandatory Notice
Section 35(3) of the BNSS states:
“(3) The police officer shall, in all cases where the arrest of a person is not required under sub-section (1) issue a notice directing the person against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information 1has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed a cognizable offence, to2…”
The notice directs the person to appear before the police officer at a specified place and time and cooperate with the investigation.
Core Legal Requirements (Summon Individuals to a Police Station)
This sub-section, along with judicial interpretations (like the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Arnesh Kumar case), establishes the following strict requirements:
| Requirement | Explanation |
| Mandatory Written Notice | The police officer must issue a notice in the prescribed format (Form I of the Second Schedule of BNSS) when deciding not to arrest for a cognizable offense. |
| Arrest is an Exception | For offenses generally punishable with up to seven years of imprisonment, the police officer must first be satisfied that an arrest is necessary for specific, recorded reasons (like preventing tampering with evidence or ensuring court attendance). If not necessary, the officer must instead issue the notice under Sec 35(3). |
| Physical Service Only | As you correctly pointed out, the Supreme Court has ruled that officers cannot serve the notice under Section 35(3) via WhatsApp or other electronic means. Officers must instead serve it physically to ensure procedural sanctity and protect the individual’s liberty interests, since non-compliance can lead to arrest under Section 35(6). |
Section 35(6) – Consequence of Non-Compliance
Section 35(6) outlines the penalty for non-compliance, which reinforces why the service process must be formal and physical:
(6) Where such person, at any time, fails to comply with the terms of the notice or is unwilling to identify himself, the police officer may, subject to such orders as may have been passed by a competent Court in this behalf, arrest him for the offence mentioned in the noti34ce.
In essence, Section 35(3) is the legal safeguard that converts a police officer’s request for attendance from an arbitrary call to a formal, documented legal instrument, thereby protecting the citizen from unlawful compulsion and arbitrary arrest.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, provides very strict and explicit safeguards for women and other vulnerable groups regarding their presence at a police station for questioning.
In particular, these provisions ensure that the investigating process respects their dignity, personal liberty, and physical safety.
🛡️ Mandatory Safeguards for Vulnerable Groups (BNSS Section 179) 🛡️
Section 179 of the BNSS (which corresponds to the old Section 160 of the CrPC) lays out the power of a police officer to require the attendance of witnesses for examination.
The crucial proviso under Section 179 explicitly restricts the police’s ability to summon certain vulnerable individuals to the police station.
1. Restriction on Place of Examination
The law prohibits the police from requiring the following persons to attend at any place other than the place in which such person resides:
- Any Woman
- Boys under the age of fifteen years
- Men above the age of sixty years
- A mentally or physically disabled person
- A person with acute illness
Furthermore, this means that for the above categories, including women, the police must go to their residence to conduct the examination or questioning.
2. Consent for Police Station Appearance
The only exception is if the vulnerable person is willing to attend the police station. In such cases:
- Officers may permit the person to do so.
- Officers must obtain this willingness in writing, which can include electronic communication.
- Officers must then record this willingness in the case diary.
👩 Special Safeguards for Women During Investigation and Arrest 🤝
Beyond the place of examination, the BNSS provides additional critical safeguards for women:
| Legal Provision | Safeguard |
| Summoning for Statement (S. 179) | Police shall not call a woman to the police station for questioning; instead, they must examine her at her residence. |
| Arrest by Female Officer (S. 43(1) Proviso) | A male police officer shall not touch the body of a woman to make her arrest. A female police officer must make the arrest instead. |
| No Night Arrests (S. 43(5)) | Officers shall not arrest a woman after sunset and before sunrise, except in exceptional circumstances. |
| Exceptional Night Arrests | If a night arrest is absolutely necessary, the female police officer must obtain prior written permission from a Judicial Magistrate of the first class. |
| Search (S. 49(2)) | Another female must conduct the search of a woman’s person, with strict regard to decency. |
| Medical Examination (S. 53(1) Proviso) | When a woman undergoes medical examination, a female registered medical practitioner must conduct it or supervise it. |
The central principle, which your original complaint rightly points out, is that any communication to a woman or vulnerable person compelling attendance must adhere to the formal written procedure (as per Section 35 notice or the formal summoning process under Section 179) and must respect the mandatory restriction on the place of examination. An oral or mobile call to summon a woman to the police station is a direct violation of both the form (written notice) and the substance (place of residence) of the law.
Locating the Supporting Circular
That is an excellent request. Direct links to official documents are the strongest support for your complaint.
While it is difficult to find a single, definitive, and permanent link for every internal circular on the UP Police website due to their archival system, I was able to locate a highly relevant document from the Director General of Police (DGP) that references all of your listed circulars and the Government Order.
In addition, this omnibus circular reinforces the core issue of your complaint—the strict requirement for written notice under Section 41A CrPC (now Section 35 BNSS) and adherence to Supreme Court guidelines.
🔗 Supporting Legal Links & Documents (UP Police)
1. Omnibus Circular Reinforcing Guidelines (Most Important)
This PDF document from the DGP, UP Police, is an essential piece of evidence as it explicitly quotes all the previous circulars and the Government Order you referenced, directing strict compliance with the arrest and summons guidelines.
| Document Title | Relevant Circulars Mentioned | Web Link (PDF) |
| डीजी परिपत्र सं0 -31/2023 (DGP Circular No. 31/2023) Dated: 31/07/2023 | DG Circular Nos.: 41/2014, 57/2014, 05/2021, 20/2022 Government Order: 197पी/छ:-पु-3-23-2(291)पी/2022 दि0 23.01.2023 | https://uppolice.gov.in/site/writereaddata/siteContent/20230818175201505231.pdf |
What it Confirms: This circular directs all police officers in UP to strictly comply with the Supreme Court’s guidelines (specifically referencing the Arnesh Kumar judgment), which the DGP’s office previously circulated via all the circular numbers you listed. It covers the procedure for arrest and the mandatory issuance of notice (summons) in non-arrest cases.
2. General UP Police Circulars Page
This is the main portal where UP Police uploads its latest circulars and often archives older ones. You can search the archive using the dates and numbers if the direct link stops working.
| Document Title | Web Link |
| Uttar Pradesh Police Circulars Archive | https://uppolice.gov.in/pages/en/topmenu/police-units/dg-police-hqrs/en-dgp-up-circulars |
3. Legal Provisions (Replaced CrPC Sections)
While you are complaining about the police not following the guidelines based on these laws, it’s important to have the legal source.
| Document/Act | Relevant Section | Web Link |
| The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) Note: This is the predecessor act, but the judgments and circulars are based on it. | Section 160 (Restricts summoning women/children to police station). Section 41A (Mandatory written notice for appearance). | https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15272/1/the_code_of_criminal_procedure,_1973.pdf |
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