Drafting Guide by Akinchan Aggarwal, Advocate — B.A. (Hons.) Gold Medalist, LL.B. (University Rank 2), LL.M. (Dispute Resolution), UGC–NET, Ph.D. (Pursuing)
Start with the trap, because it catches people every week.
Under the old Code, Section 438 CrPC was anticipatory bail and Section 482 CrPC was the High Court's inherent power to quash. Under the new Sanhita, those two numbers have been shuffled:
| Power | CrPC, 1973 | BNSS, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipatory bail | s 438 | s 482 |
| Inherent powers / quashing | s 482 | s 528 |
"Section 482" now means anticipatory bail. A petition that says "under Section 482 BNSS for quashing" is asking the wrong court for the wrong thing under the wrong provision. Fix the number before you fix anything else.
What follows is a complete, annotated model of an anticipatory bail petition for a High Court, drawn from the structure used in the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh. Every fact is left blank or in square brackets. The commentary between the paragraphs explains why each one exists — because the paragraphs are not decoration. Each of them is answering a question the Bench will ask.
The Law You Are Working Within
Section 482 BNSS allows a person who has reason to believe that he may be arrested on an accusation of having committed a non-bailable offence to apply to the High Court or the Court of Session for a direction that, in the event of arrest, he shall be released on bail. Two propositions govern how the court will approach it:
- Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 565 — the Constitution Bench decision that remains the foundation. Anticipatory bail is a device to secure individual liberty. The discretion conferred is not to be read down by judicially invented restrictions, and the provision is not confined to exceptional cases.
- Sushila Aggarwal v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2020) 5 SCC 1 — a later Constitution Bench holding that, as a general rule, anticipatory bail need not be limited to a fixed period. Protection does not automatically lapse when the accused is summoned or when charges are framed, and can continue till the end of trial — though a court may limit its duration where special features require it.
Check first whether the remedy is available at all.
Anticipatory bail is excluded or heavily restricted in several statutes. Section 18 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 bars it. The UAPA, the NDPS Act and the PMLA each impose their own bars or twin conditions that change the entire approach. If any of these are in the FIR, stop and re-plan — the model below is for an ordinary non-bailable offence and will not carry you through a special statute.
Sessions Court First
Section 482 gives concurrent jurisdiction to the Court of Session and the High Court. In practice, the High Court will want to know why you are before it directly, and the settled convention in most High Courts is that the Sessions Court is approached first.
If the Sessions Court has dismissed the application, say so, in the petition, and annex the order. Do not let the State point it out. A petition that conceals a prior dismissal invites an adverse view on candour before the merits are even reached — and it will come out, because the State's counsel will have the file.
What Actually Goes Into the Paper-Book
The petition is not one document. It is a set, and a set filed short is a set that gets objected to at the filing counter.
| # | Document | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urgent Application | Addressed to the Deputy Registrar (Judicial); gets the matter listed out of turn |
| 2 | Index | Page-numbered list of every document in the set |
| 3 | Court Fee page | Where the court fee stamp is affixed |
| 4 | Synopsis and List of Dates | The only page many judges read before the hearing. Write it last, and write it best |
| 5 | Memo of Parties | Full description and address of petitioner and respondent; includes the proclaimed-offender declaration |
| 6 | The Petition | Grounds and prayer |
| 7 | Affidavit | Sworn verification in support |
| 8 | Annexures P-1, P-2, P-3… | FIR (with certified translation if in a regional language), documents relied on, order of the Sessions Court |
The Model Draft
Everything below is a template. Replace the square brackets; leave the blanks blank until you have the document in front of you. Do not invent a fact to fill a gap.
1. Urgent Application
IN THE HIGH COURT OF [—————] AT [—————]
****
To,
The Deputy Registrar (Judicial),
[—————] High Court,
[—————].
CRM-M No. _________ of 20__
[Name of Petitioner] …Petitioner
Versus
State of [———] …Respondent
Sir,
Will you kindly treat the accompanying matter as an urgent one in accordance with the provisions of [cite the applicable Rule and Chapter of the Rules and Orders of the High Court].
2. The ground of urgency is that — the petitioner is seeking anticipatory bail.
Yours faithfully,
[Place] (Advocate)
Date: Counsel for the Petitioner
[Enrolment No. / NOR]
Why it matters: without the urgency application the matter joins the ordinary queue. In an anticipatory bail matter the queue is the whole problem. The ground of urgency is one line and it is always the same line.
2. Memo of Parties
MEMO OF PARTIES
[Name], aged about ___ years, son/daughter of [———], resident of [full address including village/town, tehsil and district], (Mobile No. ____________).
…Petitioner
Versus
State of [———]…Respondent
Whether the petitioner has been declared as a proclaimed offender or proclaimed person by any court of law? — NO
Two warnings on this page.
The proclaimed-offender declaration is not a formality. Several High Courts require it on the memo of parties, and a person who has been proclaimed will ordinarily not be heard on anticipatory bail at all. Check the position before you certify it. Signing a false declaration is a far worse problem than a dismissed petition.
Think before you put personal identifiers in the paper-book. A public court file does not need the petitioner's Aadhaar number. Give what the Rules require and no more.
3. The Petition — Cause Title and Description
IN THE HIGH COURT OF [—————] AT [—————]
CRM-M No. _________ of 20__
[Name of Petitioner]…Petitioner
Versus
State of [———]…Respondent
FIRST Petition under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in FIR No. ______ dated __________ registered under Sections __________ of the [Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 / Indian Penal Code, 1860] at Police Station __________, District __________ (Annexure P-1).
AND
It is further prayed that the arrest of the petitioner may kindly be stayed during the pendency of the present petition, in the interest of justice.
Three things are doing work in that short block.
"FIRST Petition". You must state whether this is the first, second or third petition. If it is a second petition, say so and state what has changed since the first — a successive petition on the same facts, filed as though it were fresh, is the quickest way to lose the Bench.
The correct Code. Offences committed before 1 July 2024 remain charged under the IPC; the procedure applied to them now is the BNSS. So a 2023 FIR under IPC Sections 406 and 420 is perfectly properly moved under Section 482 BNSS. Reproduce the sections exactly as they appear in the FIR — do not helpfully "update" them to BNS numbers.
The interim prayer. The stay of arrest during pendency is the relief that actually protects your client next week. Put it in the description block, not only in the prayer at the end, so it is visible when the matter is called.
4. The Grounds
RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1. That the petitioner is an innocent person and a law-abiding citizen of India, who has never been involved in any criminal activity and has been falsely implicated in the present FIR bearing No. ______ dated __________ under Sections __________, Police Station __________. A copy of the FIR is appended herewith as Annexure P-1.
2. That as per the FIR (Annexure P-1), the case set up by the prosecution, in brief, is that [set out the prosecution version neutrally and accurately, without argument]. A certified translation of the relevant portion of the FIR is appended as part of Annexure P-1.
3. That it is evident from a bare perusal of the FIR that, apart from the petitioner, [state who else has been arrayed, and their relationship to the petitioner] have also been made accused, although no specific role whatsoever has been attributed to them in the body of the complaint. Their inclusion is manifestly intended to create pressure upon the petitioner.
4. That the allegations, even taken at their highest, are inherently improbable, inasmuch as [identify the internal contradiction — the step in the prosecution story that no rational person would take].
5. That the complaint is conspicuously silent on [the particulars a genuine complainant would necessarily have given — dates, documents, names, specifics], which omission is telling.
6. That the true facts, which the petitioner is in a position to establish from record, are that [the defence version, stated soberly and only so far as it is documented]. A copy of [document] is appended as Annexure P-2.
7. That the dispute, if any, between the parties is essentially civil in nature, and the present FIR is an attempt to give a criminal colour to a civil transaction in order to coerce the petitioner.
8. That the petitioner had, prior to the institution of the present petition, moved an application dated __________ before [the Superintendent of Police / competent authority] seeking a fair and impartial investigation. A copy is appended as Annexure P-__.
9. That the petitioner had earlier approached the Court of the learned [Additional] Sessions Judge, __________, by way of an application under Section 482 BNSS, which came to be dismissed vide order dated __________. A copy of the said order is appended as Annexure P-3.
10. That no custodial interrogation of the petitioner is required in the facts of the present case, the alleged offence being [documentary in nature / based on records already with the prosecution]. The petitioner is ready and willing to join the investigation as and when directed and to cooperate fully therewith.
11. That the petitioner is not involved in any other case and no other FIR is pending against him. The petitioner has not been declared a proclaimed offender by any court of law.
12. That the petitioner is __ years of age and a permanent resident of the address given in the memo of parties, with [family, employment, property — the ties that make flight implausible]. There is accordingly no apprehension of the petitioner absconding or of his being unavailable to the investigation or the trial.
13. That the petitioner undertakes to abide by all terms and conditions that this Hon'ble Court may impose.
14. That the petitioner further undertakes that he shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence nor influence or contact any prosecution witness in any manner.
15. That the petitioner further undertakes to attend the Court on each and every date of hearing and to make himself available to the investigating agency.
16. That the petitioner has not filed any other similar petition either before this Hon'ble Court or before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, and no such or similar application is pending before any other court of competent jurisdiction.
Reading the Skeleton
Those sixteen paragraphs are not a list of complaints. They are four arguments in sequence, and it helps to know which paragraph is doing which job.
| Paras | The argument being made |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Orientation. Who the petitioner is, and what he is accused of — stated fairly. Overstate the prosecution case here and you gain credibility for everything after it. |
| 3–7 | The complaint is not what it claims to be. Family members with no role; internal improbability; conspicuous silences; a documented alternative explanation; a civil dispute dressed as a crime. |
| 8–9 | Candour. What the petitioner has already done, and what has already been decided against him. Disclosed by you, on your terms. |
| 10–16 | Custody is unnecessary. No custodial interrogation needed; cooperation offered; no antecedents; roots in the community; undertakings given. This is the part the court actually decides on. |
Paragraph 10 is the one that wins or loses the petition.
Judges hearing anticipatory bail are not deciding guilt. They are deciding whether this person needs to be in custody for the investigation to work. Everything else — the falsity of the complaint, the civil flavour of the dispute, the malice of the complainant — is context. So do not bury the necessity argument at paragraph 10 of a 16-paragraph petition and then argue it in one sentence. Give it its own paragraphs and its own reasons: the offence is documentary; the money trail is already with the bank and the investigating officer; the phone has been produced; there is nothing to recover from the petitioner's person. If you can say what recovery custody could possibly achieve and answer it, you have made the argument that matters.
The Prayer
It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to:
(a) Allow the present petition and grant the concession of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in FIR No. ______ dated __________ under Sections __________, Police Station __________ (Annexure P-1);
AND
(b) That the arrest of the petitioner may kindly be stayed during the pendency of the present petition, in the interest of justice;
AND
(c) That the filing of certified copies of Annexures P-1 and P-3 may kindly be dispensed with, and the petitioner be permitted to file photocopies / true typed copies / printouts thereof, in the interest of justice;
AND/OR
(d) To pass any other order or direction in favour of the petitioner which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice.
Prayer (c) is the one people forget, and it is the one that keeps the matter from being adjourned at the first hearing. You will rarely have a certified copy of the FIR or of the Sessions Court order in hand when urgency requires you to file. Ask for the dispensation up front.
Six Drafting Rules
- Set out the prosecution case honestly. The Bench has the FIR. A petition that shades the allegations loses the argument at paragraph 2 and never recovers.
- Argue improbability, not innocence. You cannot prove innocence on a bail petition and you will not be asked to. What you can do is show that the story, on its own terms, does not hang together.
- Never plead a fact you cannot annex. If the loan is real, annex the agreement. If the complaint to the Superintendent of Police was made, annex the receipt. An unsupported assertion in a bail petition is worth less than no assertion.
- Disclose the earlier dismissal, and any pending or previous petition. Paragraph 16 exists for a reason. Candour is currency in bail matters and it is spent only once.
- Keep the "civil dispute" point in proportion. It is a real and frequently successful argument, but a criminal court will not accept that every commercial grievance is only civil. Show the specific features — a written agreement, an account of repayment, a delay in complaining — that make it so.
- Do not attack the complainant personally. Allege the facts that show motive; let the Bench draw the inference. Invective in a petition reads as weakness in the case.
Two Points Worth Raising in Argument
The Arnesh Kumar line. In Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, (2014) 8 SCC 273, the Supreme Court laid down that arrest should not be automatic in offences punishable with imprisonment up to seven years, and that the notice-of-appearance procedure should ordinarily be followed. Where the sections in your FIR fall in that band, that framework is directly relevant to the necessity question — and the notice provision now sits in Section 35(3) BNSS (formerly Section 41A CrPC).
Where the complainant's own account discloses an illegality. In cases about money paid for a promised government job, the complainant is, on his own version, describing a payment made to procure appointment by illegitimate means. High Courts have treated that as a relevant circumstance when considering bail, since the complainant comes to court having admitted his own part in an illegal arrangement. It is a legitimate and often effective submission — but find and read the current authority in your own High Court before citing it, and put the proposition to the court as a factor going to the equities, not as a bar to prosecution.
Filing Checklist
| Before you file |
|---|
| Correct provision cited — Section 482 BNSS, not 438 CrPC and not 528 BNSS |
| FIR sections reproduced exactly as registered (IPC if the offence pre-dates 1 July 2024) |
| Whether first / second / third petition, stated on the first page |
| Sessions Court order annexed and disclosed |
| Proclaimed-offender declaration on the memo of parties — and verified as true |
| FIR translated and the translation certified by counsel, if it is in a regional language |
| Every pleaded document actually annexed and correctly cross-referenced |
| Interim prayer for stay of arrest present in both the description block and the prayer |
| Prayer for dispensation of certified copies included |
| Urgent application signed; affidavit sworn; index paginated; court fee affixed |
| Statutory bars checked — SC/ST Act, UAPA, NDPS, PMLA |
A well-drafted anticipatory bail petition is not a piece of advocacy dressed up as a document. It is a set of answers, arranged so the judge can find them quickly: who is this person, what is he accused of, why is the accusation shaky, what has already happened, and why does none of it require him to be in custody? Answer those five questions in that order and the drafting takes care of itself.
Related on Lawizard
- "No Coercive Steps" Means "Do Not Arrest": Interim Protection Does Not Bar a Charge Sheet
- Section 420 No Longer Exists: Cheating, Criminal Breach of Trust and Misappropriation Under the BNS
- IPC to BNS Section Converter — search any section across both codes
- Attempt, Abetment and Criminal Conspiracy — Sections 45 to 62, BNS 2023
Disclaimer: This is a drafting guide prepared for the assistance of law students, young advocates and candidates preparing for judicial services and the AIBE. The model draft is a template only. All names, facts, figures, dates and particulars are blank or notional, and it does not reproduce or relate to any actual case, client or party. Court formats, rules as to urgent applications, paper-book requirements, declarations and annexure practice differ between High Courts and are amended from time to time; before filing, consult the Rules and Orders and the current practice directions of the High Court concerned, and the filing counter. Statutory provisions and case law are stated in outline for study purposes and should be verified against the bare Acts and the full reports; the applicability of Section 482 BNSS is excluded or restricted under several special statutes noted in the text. Nothing in this article is legal advice, no advocate-client relationship arises from reading it, and no representation is made that the template is suitable for any particular case. A person apprehending arrest should engage a lawyer to settle a petition on the actual facts. Please read our Disclaimer for more details.
