One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details. Names, cities and dates are changed, and the order of events is kept deliberately thin. What I can set out plainly is the law that applies to anybody who opens a door to a process server, or picks up a call from an unknown number and hears a police station on the other end of the line. Those two things look similar to a frightened person and are treated very differently by the law. Most of the damage I see begins with somebody treating one as the other.
First, identify what you have actually received
Read the paper before you react to it. The heading, the name of the person who signed it and the sections printed at the bottom tell you almost everything about how urgent it is.
Broadly, it will be one of these.
- A legal notice from an advocate on behalf of a private party — a loan recovery, a matrimonial dispute, a cheque that bounced, an employer, a builder, a former business partner. This is a civil step. It does not, by itself, mean a case has been filed.
- A written notice from a police officer requiring you to appear. Under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, a police officer can issue a written notice directing a person to appear before him instead of arresting him. This is not an arrest, and it is not a summons from a court. It is a direction to attend.
- A court summons or notice, which carries a court's seal, a case number and a date of hearing.
- A departmental or regulatory letter — a bank, a tax authority, a licensing body, an employer's show-cause.
Key facts
- The date that matters is the date you received the notice, not the date printed on it.
- A police notice under BNSS Section 35 must state the reason and the place and time to appear. If it does not, that is itself worth writing back about.
- A notice is a claim. It is not proof. Nothing in it has been tested by anybody.
- You are entitled to know which provision you are being called under before you decide how to respond.
- Time limits run from receipt, and they do not pause because you were travelling or unwell.
The clocks that will not wait for you
Different notices run on different clocks, and this is where people lose cases they could have defended.
For a cheque dishonour notice, the timeline is tight and unforgiving. A notice must ordinarily be issued within thirty days of the dishonour. The person who issued the cheque then has fifteen days from receipt of the notice to pay. Only after those fifteen days pass without payment does the offence arise, and a complaint must then be filed within one month. Get any of these steps wrong and the complaint collapses. That cuts both ways — it is a defence as often as it is a weapon.
For ordinary civil claims, the outer limit is generally three years from the date the cause of action arose, under the Limitation Act, 1963. If a suit is filed against you, the limitation question is one of the first things to look at, because limitation can end a matter without any argument on the merits at all.
If anybody is taken into custody, the Constitution gives twenty-four hours. Article 22(2) requires that an arrested person be produced before a Magistrate within that period, excluding travel time. That is not a guideline.
Any notice that states a deadline — seven days, fifteen days, thirty days — should be treated as a real deadline even where the consequence of missing it is not spelled out.
What to do in the first day or two
- Photograph or scan the entire document, including the envelope, the speed post label and any courier slip.
- Write down the date you actually received it, and keep the proof of that date. In a notice sent by post, the postal record often becomes the whole argument.
- If a police officer has telephoned, note his name, designation, police station, the number he called from and what he said. A short contemporaneous note is worth a great deal later.
- Do not attend a police station alone if you can avoid it, and prefer a daytime visit.
- Carry photo identification and a copy of whatever notice or communication brought you there.
- Before you send any reply, have somebody read the notice who is not emotionally involved in it.
What not to do
Do not sign anything you have not read, and never sign a blank or partly blank paper. Statements recorded at a police station during investigation are not meant to be signed at all, and if you are asked to sign one, that in itself is worth pausing over and noting.
Do not hand over original documents. Provide copies, keep a written list of exactly what you gave, to whom, and get an acknowledgment. Originals that go into a file have a way of becoming difficult to retrieve.
Do not ignore the notice because it arrived by post from a small firm or looks informal. Do not reply in anger, and do not reply at length over email or social media. Once a matter has turned legal, everything you write can be produced later.
And do not contact the other side directly. That is what the advocate is for, and a well-meant phone call often becomes an allegation of threat or inducement.
Your position when the police want to speak to you
Article 20(3) of the Constitution says that no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. That is a real protection and it is frequently misunderstood in both directions. It protects you against being forced to give testimonial evidence against yourself. It does not mean you may refuse to attend when lawfully required to, and it does not put every document or object out of reach.
Article 22 gives you the grounds of arrest, a right to consult a legal practitioner of your choice, and the twenty-four-hour production rule. A BNSS Section 35 notice is not an arrest, and attending in response to one is not the same as being in custody.
On whether your advocate can sit beside you through questioning — this is where I have to hedge, because practice varies from station to station and from officer to officer. Courts have generally taken the view that a lawyer may be present but cannot answer for you or interrupt the recording of a statement. Officers in practice often ask the lawyer to wait outside. There is no settled right to have counsel physically present through the whole of a witness examination during investigation, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overstating it.
On arrests of women, the rule under the criminal procedure law is that a woman ordinarily shall not be arrested after sunset and before sunrise, except with the prior permission of a Judicial Magistrate First Class, and the arrest is to be made by a woman officer. If that is being disregarded, it is a matter to raise immediately.
Being realistic about what is left to argue
Some notices arrive and there is very little room. If the limitation period is running comfortably, the transaction is documented, your signature is on the paper and the amount is admitted, the honest advice may be to negotiate rather than fight. Saying that early saves money and, more importantly, time.
Other times, the notice is defective on its face, the amount is disputed, the notice has gone to a wrong address, or the police notice names no provision at all. Those are cases where the reply itself does most of the work, and often ends the matter before a court sees it.
I cannot tell you which of the two you have without reading the document. Nobody can.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I simply ignore a legal notice?
You can, and people do. The consequence is that the sender proceeds on the assumption that you have nothing to say, and the next communication is usually a court case. A plain, short reply that puts your position on record — under protest if needed, without conceding anything — is almost always better than silence.
Do I have to go to the police station if a police officer calls me?
If you have received a written notice under BNSS Section 35, you are required to comply with it. A telephone call alone is a different thing; ask for the notice in writing, and ask which provision and which complaint it relates to. Most officers will provide it. If they will not, note the details of the call and consult somebody before going.
Is a legal notice the same as an FIR?
No. A legal notice from an advocate is a private communication. An FIR is the registration of information at a police station. They come from different sources and trigger completely different processes. People confuse them constantly, and the confusion causes unnecessary panic.
What if the notice went to my old address and I never received it?
This happens often and needs to be dealt with quickly. Presumption of service by post can operate against you even where you never physically saw the envelope, so the moment you learn of it, put your current address on record in writing and take the limitation dates from the date of the original notice, not the date you heard about it.
Should I draft the reply myself?
A reply is a pleading of sorts. It is read by the other side's advocate, and if the matter goes to court, it will be read by a judge. Anything you admit in it is difficult to withdraw. It is usually cheaper to have it drafted properly the first time than to repair it later.
Can this end in an arrest?
For most civil disputes, no. For cognisable offences, an arrest is legally possible, but it is not automatic, and BNSS Section 35 exists precisely so that appearance can be secured by notice rather than custody in a large category of cases. Whether arrest is a realistic risk depends entirely on the offence alleged and the material the police already have.
What to send me
If a notice or a call has landed on you, send the following and I will tell you where you stand:
- A clear photograph or scan of the entire notice — every page, front and back, including the envelope, the speed post or courier label and any date stamp on it.
- The date it actually reached you. One line is enough.
- A two-line note, in your own words, on what the dispute is about. Not a legal argument — just the facts as you know them.
- Any earlier correspondence with the other side, however informal. Emails, messages, a bank statement showing a payment, a receipt.
- If a police officer telephoned or visited, his name, designation, police station and what he said.
Send that to me@sudhirrao.com, or on +91 97295 06771. Keep it to what you have in hand. If a document is missing, say so rather than fill the gap from memory — a gap I know about is easier to work with than a fact that turns out to be wrong.
What happens next is usually this. I read the notice and tell you, in plain terms, whether there is a deadline you are already close to, whether there is anything worth arguing, and whether you need to reply at all. If a reply is needed, it is drafted and sent on the chamber's letterhead; you will see it before it goes out. If the matter only needs a short holding reply to protect your position while you gather documents, that is often the sensible first step. For matrimonial and family matters, the file will ordinarily be handled by Adv. Jyoti Rao, who practises in that area.
The chamber address is Lawyers' Chamber, Chamber No. 86, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi 110001. If you would rather set a time to speak first, use the booking page, or write through the contact form.
One practical thing before you close this page. Whatever the notice says, do not let it sit unopened in a drawer while you decide. Deadlines in this area run on the calendar, not on how ready you feel.
This article is general information about Indian law and is not legal advice on your own situation. Every notice turns on its own facts and its own dates.
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India