Police Search Without Video? Your BNSS Section 105 Right

When the police search your home or seize your things, the law now says they must record the whole search on audio and video, preferably on a mobile phone. If they skip this recording, the recovery becomes weak in court, and an accused person can use that gap to ask for bail.

Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, is titled 'Recording of search and seizure through audio-video electronic means'. Here is what it actually says.

Break that down in plain words:

• The search of a place and the taking of any property must be recorded on audio and video.
• Making the list of seized items, and the witnesses signing that list, must also be on the recording.
• A mobile phone is fine. The law itself says 'preferably mobile phone', so police cannot claim they had no special camera.
• The officer must forward the recording without delay to a magistrate.

Two things are worth remembering. First, this is not limited to big or serious crimes. The words cover every search and every seizure under the chapter, so it applies to a small theft case just as much as a large one. Second, this duty is nationwide. The BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024, so police across India have had this obligation since that date.

On 5 January 2026, the Allahabad High Court used Section 105 to grant bail in a theft case. The case was Shadab v. State of Uttar Pradesh, heard by Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, arising from Mansoorpur police station in Muzaffarnagar district.

The police claimed a recovery from the accused, but they had not videographed the search or the seizure. The court held that the audio and video recording of search and seizure under Section 105 is compulsory, not discretionary. It said that skipping the recording casts serious doubt on the whole recovery story, because this rule exists to protect innocent people from false recoveries. On that basis, along with other factors, the court granted bail.

The court also directed the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, to issue a Standard Operating Procedure so that every search and seizure is recorded and the recordings are uploaded to the e-Sakshya portal. It warned that officers who ignore this can face disciplinary action. That SOP direction is specific to Uttar Pradesh, but the Section 105 duty behind it binds police everywhere in the country.

e-Sakshya is the government's e-evidence mobile app, built by the National Informatics Centre and launched in August 2024. It lets an officer record the scene on a phone, with the location and time stamped in, and upload it to a secure government cloud. It is the tool the courts expect police to use for this recording.

You cannot force the police to switch on a camera, but you can watch, remember, and protect your record. Keep it calm and do not obstruct the search.

• Look whether any officer is recording the search on a phone or camera. You may politely ask if the search is being videographed.
• Note the time the search started and ended, and the names or numbers of the officers present.
• Note the names of the independent witnesses who are present, and whether they signed the seizure list.
• If nobody is recording, quietly make a mental note, or ask a family member to note it. Just observe, do not interfere.
• Keep your copy of the seizure memo, which is the list of seized items. You are entitled to it.
• As soon as you can, tell your lawyer exactly what was and was not recorded.

Knowing your wider rights helps here too. See our guides on arrest, FIR and police notice rights and the BNSS Section 35 notice before arrest.

When police skip the Section 105 recording, your lawyer has a clear, specific argument. The point is simple. If the law says the recovery must be filmed and it was not, then there is no reliable, independent proof of how or where the item was found. That weakness matters most at the bail stage, where the court is only deciding whether to keep you in jail while the case runs.

The Allahabad High Court has now backed this reasoning. A missing recording does not by itself prove innocence, but it takes away the strength of the recovery, and that can tip the balance towards bail. Your lawyer can raise this in a regular bail application in a non-bailable offence or, if arrest is feared, in an anticipatory bail application under BNSS Section 482. For a plain-English walkthrough of standing up for your rights, keep The RTI Playbook handy.

Kashvi Pathak's younger brother was picked up in a theft case in a small town. The police said they recovered a stolen mobile phone from his pocket during the search. But no officer recorded the search or the seizure on a phone or camera, and the seizure list was signed without any video.

When the family met their lawyer, Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, he did not argue about guilt or innocence first. He checked one thing. Was the recovery filmed? It was not. In the bail application, he pointed to Section 105 and to the Allahabad High Court view that this recording is compulsory, not optional. He argued that without the video, there was no reliable proof of how or where the phone was found.

The point created real doubt about the recovery. Along with the fact that Kashvi's brother was cooperating and the trial would take time, the court granted bail. The missing video did not prove innocence, but it removed the strength of the recovery, and that was enough at the bail stage. This is an illustration of how the rule works, not a decided case.

It applies to every search and every seizure under the chapter. The section does not set any limit based on how serious the offence is, so it covers a small theft case as much as a big one.

Stay calm and do not obstruct them. Note the time, the officers, and the witnesses present, and keep your copy of the seizure list. Then tell your lawyer exactly what was and was not recorded, so the point can be raised in court.

Not on its own automatically, but it is a strong point. Courts have treated a missing recording as a serious doubt over the recovery. Together with other factors, it can lead to bail, as the Allahabad High Court showed in January 2026.

e-Sakshya is the government's e-evidence mobile app, built by the National Informatics Centre and launched in August 2024. Police use it to record a scene on a phone, with the time and place stamped in, and upload it to a secure government cloud.

The BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024. Section 105 has applied to police across India from that date, so any search or seizure after it should have been recorded.

No. The section itself says 'preferably mobile phone'. A basic mobile phone recording is enough, which means police cannot excuse a missing video by saying they had no special equipment.

The section says the officer must forward the recording without delay to the District Magistrate, the Sub-divisional Magistrate, or the Judicial Magistrate of the first class. Courts also expect the recording to be uploaded to the e-Sakshya portal.

• BNSS Section 105 bare act text, ApniLaw: https://www.apnilaw.com/bare-act/bnss/section-105-bharatiya-nagarik-suraksha-sanhitabnss-recording-of-search-and-seizure-through-audio-video-electronic-means/
• Section 105 BNSS bare act, LatestLaws: https://www.latestlaws.com/bare-acts/central-acts-rules/bnss-section-105-recording-of-search-and-seizure-through-audio-video-electronic-means/
• Shadab v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad High Court, SCC Online Blog, 9 January 2026: https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/01/09/all-hc-failure-to-videograph-recovery-section-105-bnss/
• Allahabad HC videography ruling report, India Tomorrow, 9 January 2026: https://indiatomorrow.net/2026/01/09/allahabad-high-court-makes-videography-of-search-and-seizure-mandatory-grants-bail-to-accused-shadab/
• eSakshya app, National Informatics Centre, Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nic.esaakshya
• Status of e-Sakshya implementation, Press Information Bureau: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2226442

• Arrest, FIR and police notice rights in India
• BNSS Section 35 notice before arrest
• Bail in a non-bailable offence under BNSS Section 480
• Anticipatory bail under BNSS Section 482
• Compensation for wrongful arrest and illegal detention