Criminal Law Practice in Delhi: Cases by Offence and Agency

Which page fits my case?

Look at the paper you have. An FIR names the police station and the sections. A summons names the agency and the law it is issued under. A court notice names the court. Those three facts, agency, law and court, tell you which page below applies and how hard the road ahead is likely to be.

The broad divide is between ordinary police cases and agency cases under special laws. Ordinary cases follow the BNSS from start to finish, and bail is decided on the usual factors. Agency cases add their own procedure on top: an ED summons is not a police notice, an SFIO arrest needs written reasons from a senior officer, and a UAPA case changes the bail test itself. Getting the category right at the start avoids filing the wrong application in the wrong court.

Criminal cases by investigating agency

This table gives the usual pattern. A single transaction can involve more than one agency, which is common in large frauds.

Ordinary police cases, bail and cheque bounce

Most people meet the criminal law through the local police station: an FIR for cheating, assault, criminal intimidation, a matrimonial dispute or a property quarrel. These cases follow the ordinary BNSS procedure, and the first concern is usually arrest. Our bail page covers regular, anticipatory and default bail, the conditions courts impose and when bail can be cancelled.

Cheque bounce is different. It is a complaint case under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, filed by the payee before a magistrate after a legal notice and fixed time limits, and the police play no part. It is bailable and compoundable, and most cases end in settlement. Whether you have issued or received the cheque, our cheque bounce page explains the notice, the 15 days, the complaint and the defences.

Cheating, fraud and economic offences, including SFIO

Fraud cases start with the local police or the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing, under BNS sections for cheating (s.318), criminal breach of trust (s.316) and forgery (s.336). They are document cases: bank statements, agreements, emails and accounts decide them. Many are really commercial disputes, and the High Court quashes those that are civil at heart, especially after a settlement. Our economic offences page covers EOW investigations, investment and bank frauds, and quashing on settlement.

Where the fraud is inside a company and the Central Government orders an investigation, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office takes over under section 212 of the Companies Act. SFIO cases carry stricter bail conditions for fraud under section 447 and are tried by a special court. Directors, auditors and key managers are the people usually involved. See our SFIO case page.

Cyber crime: for victims and for the accused

Cyber cases go to the district cyber police stations, or to the Special Cell's IFSO unit for larger matters, under the IT Act and the BNS. For a victim of online fraud, speed matters more than anything: reporting on the 1930 helpline or the cybercrime.gov.in portal within hours can get the money frozen in the receiving accounts before it moves on.

The other side of these cases is less discussed. People whose bank accounts are frozen because money from a fraud passed through them, often without their knowledge, need a different remedy, usually an application to the police and then to the court for release. Accused persons in hacking, sextortion or impersonation cases face evidence that is almost entirely electronic, where Advocate B.K. Singh's MCA background helps in testing how the data was collected. Our cyber crime page covers both sides.

Sexual offences, POCSO and workplace harassment

These cases need care on both sides. For a complainant, the law provides statements before a woman officer and a magistrate, protection of identity under BNS s.72, special courts with child-friendly procedure under the POCSO Act, and compensation. For an accused, the allegation alone carries serious consequences, and bail, the medical and forensic evidence, and the consistency of statements need close attention from the first day.

Workplace complaints under the POSH Act 2013 run separately before the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, with a three-month time limit for filing and a 90-day inquiry. A POSH inquiry and a criminal case can run at the same time. Our page on sexual harassment and rape cases explains the procedure, written respectfully for complainants and accused alike.

Corruption cases: CBI and the Anti-Corruption Branch

Corruption cases against public servants are investigated by the CBI, for Central Government employees and public sector bodies, or by Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch, for Delhi Government employees. The main law is the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 as amended in 2018: bribery (s.7), giving a bribe (s.8) and disproportionate assets (s.13(1)(b)). Prior approval is needed before inquiring into decisions taken in official functions (s.17A), and sanction is needed to prosecute (s.19). Trap cases and disproportionate assets cases are the commonest.

The CBI also investigates bank frauds and other cases referred to it. In Delhi, a Union Territory, it does not need state consent; elsewhere it usually does. Our CBI cases page covers registration, summons, arrest, special courts and discharge, and our anti-corruption page deals with trap cases, sanction and the Rouse Avenue special courts.

ED, money laundering and FEMA

The Enforcement Directorate works under two laws. Under the PMLA it investigates the proceeds of a scheduled offence: it records an ECIR (an internal record, not an FIR), summons people under section 50, searches, attaches property and can arrest under section 19. Under FEMA it adjudicates foreign exchange violations, which are civil matters ending in penalties, not arrests.

We have two pages because people ask two different questions. Our ED case page is about dealing with the agency: what a summons means, how statements are recorded, the right to written grounds of arrest, searches and FEMA proceedings. Our PMLA page is about the law itself: the link to the scheduled offence, provisional attachment and the Adjudicating Authority, and the twin conditions for bail under section 45. Statements recorded by the ED under section 50 can be used as evidence, unlike statements to the police, which is why preparation before an ED appearance matters.

Terrorism and national security: UAPA and NIA cases

Cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 are among the hardest in criminal law. Section 43D(5) bars bail if the accusation appears prima facie true, investigation can be extended from 90 to 180 days, and sanction is needed before the court takes cognizance. Long custody without trial can still justify bail under Article 21, as the Supreme Court recognised in K.A. Najeeb (2021). Our UAPA case page explains the law and the constitutional safeguards.

Many UAPA cases, along with other scheduled offences, are investigated by the National Investigation Agency and tried by special NIA courts. Appeals against final orders of an NIA court go to a Division Bench of the High Court within 30 days. Our NIA case page covers the agency, the special courts and the appeal route.

Organised crime and narcotics: MCOCA and NDPS

The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act 1999 has applied in Delhi since 2002. It requires a continuing unlawful activity, meaning more than one chargesheet for serious cognizable offences in the preceding ten years, along with senior-level approval and sanction. Bail is restricted under section 21(4), and certain confessions to senior police officers are admissible. Our MCOCA page explains how these cases are built and challenged.

Drug cases under the NDPS Act 1985 turn on quantity. Small quantity cases are treated relatively leniently; commercial quantity cases attract the twin conditions for bail under section 37. The safeguards on search (sections 42 and 50) and on sampling are where many cases are won or lost. Our NDPS and NCB page covers both NCB and police cases.

Stopped at the airport: look out circulars

A Look Out Circular is usually discovered at the immigration counter. It is issued at the request of an investigating agency, a court or, in some cases, a bank, and enforced by the Bureau of Immigration. It can exist even where no FIR has been served on you and no court has issued a warrant.

The remedies are an application to the trial court for permission to travel, where a case is pending, or a writ petition under Article 226 in the High Court to quash the LOC. Courts have repeatedly held that the right to travel abroad is part of personal liberty and that an LOC needs cogent reasons. Our LOC cancellation page explains how to find out whether one exists and how to challenge it.

What has happened to you, and where to start

If you are reading this in a hurry, find your situation here.

An agency has contacted you: what to do first

Whether the call is from the police, the CBI, the ED or the SFIO, the first steps are much the same.

1. Read the document carefully

   Note the agency, the law and section it is issued under, the date and time for appearance, and whether it asks for documents. A notice that names you as a witness is different from one that treats you as an accused.

2. Do not respond on the phone

   Officers sometimes call before a written notice. Ask for the notice in writing, note the officer's name and number, and do not discuss the facts on the call.

3. Collect and copy your documents

   Gather what the notice asks for and what supports your position. Make two sets: one to hand over, against a receipt, and one to keep.

4. Take advice before you appear

   An advocate can tell you what the agency is likely to ask, which questions touch on matters you are not obliged to answer, and whether anticipatory bail or another protective step is needed first.

5. Attend and keep a record

   Appear on time. Afterwards, write down the questions asked and the answers you gave while you remember them. If a further date is fixed, note it.

Whether your advocate can sit with you during questioning depends on the agency and on any court order. Agencies like the ED generally do not allow it as of right, which makes preparation beforehand all the more important.

Am I a witness or an accused?

Often the notice does not say, and the answer can change during the investigation. A summons asking you to produce a company's records may treat you as a witness today and as an accused once the documents are read. Look at the wording, the section it is issued under, and the FIR, ECIR or complaint itself. If you are named, prepare as an accused even if the notice is polite.

The difference matters for what you say. A witness is expected to answer fully. A person who may become an accused has protection against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution, though its reach varies with the law and the agency. Employees called about their employer's dealings are in a particularly awkward position, because their interests and the company's may not be the same. If you are an employee or a junior officer, it is reasonable to ask whether the company's advocate is acting for you or only for the company, and to take independent advice where the two could diverge.

Raids and searches: what to do on the day

Stay calm and do not obstruct. Ask to see the officers' identity cards and the search authority or warrant, and note their names and the agency. Under the BNSS, police searches and seizures are to be recorded on audio-video, and the seizure must be recorded in a memo signed by independent witnesses. Agencies such as the ED and the CBI follow their own search provisions, but a seizure memo and a list of items taken are always required.

Ask for a copy of the seizure memo before the officers leave. If phones, laptops or hard drives are taken, ask that the hash value of each device be recorded, because that is what later proves whether the data was altered. Call your advocate as soon as the search begins. Do not sign a statement you have not read, and do not destroy or hide anything; doing so is a separate offence and damages any later bail application.

Special courts and strict bail laws

Several laws reverse the usual bail approach by adding twin conditions: the court must have reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and is not likely to commit an offence while on bail. These appear in PMLA s.45, NDPS s.37 for commercial quantity, Companies Act s.212(6) for SFIO fraud cases, and in a stronger form in UAPA s.43D(5) and MCOCA s.21(4). The Supreme Court upheld the PMLA conditions in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (2022).

Bail in these cases is still possible, but it is argued differently. Procedural safeguards carry more weight: written grounds of arrest in ED cases following Pankaj Bansal (2023), the search procedure in NDPS cases, the requirement of a predicate offence in PMLA cases. Long custody with no prospect of an early trial is a ground the Supreme Court has accepted even under the strictest laws. And where the special court has taken cognizance of a PMLA complaint and the accused appears on summons, the ED cannot arrest without the court's permission, following Tarsem Lal (2024).

If you are the complainant or victim

Our criminal work is not only defence. We draft complaints for the EOW and the cyber police, follow up with IOs so evidence is collected before it disappears, assist the prosecutor at trial, oppose bail where the accused is threatening witnesses, and pursue compensation. Payees in cheque bounce cases and buyers defrauded by builders often need both a criminal and a civil route, and we explain which one is likely to get the money back.

Complainants should know the limits too. Police and agencies decide what to investigate, and a criminal case is not a debt recovery tool. Where the real dispute is commercial, we will tell you so, and suggest a civil suit, arbitration or a consumer complaint where it fits better. A complaint to the police that is plainly an attempt to pressure the other side into paying is likely to be quashed, and can expose the complainant to a claim for malicious prosecution.

Papers to keep ready in any criminal or agency matter

Keep these in one folder, physical and digital, from the day the matter starts.

Common mistakes in agency cases

Treating an agency summons like an informal chat is the first. Statements to the ED under the PMLA, and to customs and some other authorities under their own laws, can be used as evidence, unlike statements to the police. Going in unprepared, guessing at figures or dates, creates contradictions that are hard to undo.

Others include ignoring repeated summons until a non-bailable warrant follows, moving money or property after an investigation starts (which can look like laundering in itself), and fighting each agency separately without a single plan. When the police, the ED and a bank are all involved, the order of steps decides the outcome far more than any one hearing.

Time and costs in general terms

Agency cases usually take longer than ordinary police cases. Investigations under the PMLA, by the SFIO or by the CBI can run for a year or more before a chargesheet or complaint, and special court trials often take several years. Bail and quashing proceedings move faster but are often contested over several dates. We will not promise a timeline we cannot control.

Fees are discussed at the first meeting and agreed in writing, stage by stage: advice and appearance before the agency, bail, quashing, trial. Court fees are small in criminal matters. Certified copies, travel to courts outside Delhi NCR, associate counsel in other states and an Advocate-on-Record for the Supreme Court are separate costs, which we explain before they arise.

How we take on a criminal matter

Advocate Sadhna Singh usually takes the first call, collects the papers and identifies the urgent date. Advocate B.K. Singh then reads the FIR, summons or order and decides the order of steps: what must be done this week, what can wait, and what should not be filed at all. He appears in the hearings, in the district courts, the special courts and the Delhi High Court.

If you have a notice, an FIR or a hearing date, send it to us through the online enquiry form with the name of the agency or police station and the next date. We will tell you which of the pages above applies to your matter and what the first step should be.