HC upholds police power to seek documents under BNSS

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has ruled that investigating officers are empowered to summon documents under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), provided they find such production necessary or desirable for the progress of an investigation.

The court observed that Section 94 serves as a procedural tool to aid discovery of truth and prevent miscarriage of justice. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh made the ruling while dismissing a plea filed by Swami Vivekananda University challenging a police notice that sought details of students who received government scholarships between 2020 and 2025.

The university had argued that it had no connection with Regent Institute of Science and Technology, the examination centre where large-scale

malpractices were alleged, and that the records of scholarships were maintained by the state government. The petitioners contended that the police notice amounted to a fishing inquiry and that Section 94 could not be used without establishing a clear link between the university and the case. They maintained that scholarships were directly disbursed by the government after a three-tier verification process, leaving the university with no control

over funds. Rejecting these submissions, the court underlined that the threshold for invoking Section 94 rests on the satisfaction of the investigating officer that the records sought would aid the inquiry. To demand a further justification from the police at this stage would amount to judicial interference in an ongoing investigation, the judge said.

The court emphasised that there is a well-defined separation between the role of the police in detecting crime and that of the judiciary in adjudication. Investigating officers, it noted, have statutory authority to collect evidence and call for documents as part of their duty to bring offenders to book. Courts, on the other hand, must exercise restraint and avoid disrupting investigations unless clear abuse of power is shown.

Dismissing the university’s plea, the court directed all concerned parties to act on the server copy of the order and permitted urgent issuance of certified copies.