# Duplicate CBSE Marksheets for Passport Verification > Can a duplicate CBSE marksheet be used for passport verification? Understand DigiLocker, college-held originals and the Non-ECR rule in plain, practical terms. Source: https://sudhirrao.com/insights/duplicate-cbse-marksheet-passport-verification Author: Sudhir Rao — Advocate, Supreme Court of India Category: Other Published: 2026-09-15 --- #### One of my clients recently had #### One of my clients recently had the question that everybody in that position asks first — do I actually have to go? ## Do you have to appear when the police send you a notice? Yes. In practice, you do. A notice to appear is not an invitation and it is not a formality. If you are named in one and you do nothing, you hand the officer a reason to come and find you instead. Everything below is about how to respond to that notice without making the case worse than it already is. The version of events the police are working from is the complainant's. You have not seen it yet. Keep that in mind before you decide what to say. ## What the notice actually is Indian law changed on 1 July 2023, when the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure. The provision that governs a police notice of appearance is now Section 35(3) of the BNSS. It applies across India. Under that provision, where an officer is investigating a complaint and decides an arrest is not necessary, he can issue a written notice asking the person named to appear before him. The officer is required to record his reasons for going down this route rather than arresting. - **It is not an FIR.** Being sent a notice does not mean a case has been registered against you as an accused in the way a formal FIR does. - **It is not an arrest.** You are not in custody, and you are free to leave after the appearance unless something changes on the day. - **It usually carries a date, a time and a police station.** Read all three carefully. Short dates are common. - **Non-compliance matters.** Refusing or failing to attend without a reason can be treated as grounds for arrest. - **It can come from anywhere.** A cyber crime cell in another state can send one to your address in your own city. ## What happens if you ignore it Nothing good. The officer will record that you did not comply. Depending on how the investigation is going, that can convert a routine appearance into a request for a warrant, or into a decision to arrest you the next time you surface. It also looks bad later, when a court is deciding whether to grant you bail or whether you are the sort of person who cooperates. There is a narrow exception. If the notice is defective on its face — wrong name, no indication of what the complaint is about, no FIR reference — your lawyer can write back asking for those particulars before the date. That is a letter, not silence. The date still matters. ## The first 48 hours ### Do not go alone You have the right to consult a lawyer, and there is nothing improper about walking in with one. An advocate who does this regularly knows what an officer is entitled to ask and what he is not. If the notice is from another state, appearing through counsel with a written application is often the practical route. ### Ask what the complaint is about Before you answer anything, find out what you are being asked about. Ask for the substance of the allegation and the sections under consideration. You are entitled to know the grounds, and a request for that is not obstruction. ### Do not sign what you have not read Speak in your own words, in your own language. If you are asked to give something in writing, read it before you sign. Anything you hand over becomes part of the record and will be read back to you months later in a different room. ### Say less, not more The protection against self-incrimination is in Article 20(3) of the Constitution. Statements made to a police officer during investigation are, as a rule, not signed and cannot be proved against you at trial — but that rule has exceptions, and it does not cover everything you say, everything you write, and everything you produce. Volunteers are not a special category. ## If the notice comes from a cyber crime cell in another state This is where most of the confusion sits. A complaint registered in one state can produce a notice delivered to your door in another state. The officer investigating has no business travelling to your city and picking you up in the ordinary course without following process — but he does not need to. He can route the request through the police in your state, and the notice reaches your address regardless. So the question is not whether he can send it. It is what you do about it. There are three realistic routes, and which one applies depends on the complaint. - **Appear in person.** Expensive if the state is far, but sometimes the only way to get a straight answer about what is actually being alleged. - **Appear through an advocate with a written application.** Many officers accept this, particularly where the person lives in another state. It is not a right — it is at the officer's discretion — so put the request in writing and get it received, not just acknowledged on a phone call. - **Move the court before the date.** If you have reason to fear arrest, an anticipatory bail application before the sessions court or the High Court in the state where the complaint is registered. If the complaint reads like a civil or family dispute dressed up as a crime, an application to the High Court invoking its inherent power to quash. Both take weeks, and the notice date does not pause while you file. Do not assume the notice will quietly lapse because it came from far away. Officers follow up. ## What to bring when you go Keep it factual and keep it thin. - The notice itself, original and a photocopy. - A government photo ID. - A short typed note of two or three lines: your name, the date of the notice, and a request to be told the substance of the complaint and the sections under consideration. - Any document you already have that is directly relevant. Not the whole file, and not six pages setting out your version of events. - Your advocate's name and number, if you are going alone. Carry nothing you cannot explain on the spot. ## How long does a police notice take to resolve? The appearance itself is usually a few hours. What stretches is everything after it. - **One visit is rarely the end.** Expect to be called two, three, sometimes more times over several months. - **The investigation runs on its own clock.** A final report is filed when the officer finishes. There is no date you can hold him to, and asking for one repeatedly does not speed it up. - **Court steps add weeks.** Filing, listing, service of notice on the state, a counter-affidavit, then a hearing. Courts in different states move at different speeds, and I cannot tell you how fast yours will. Practically: treat this as a process, not an appointment. Block a working day for the first appearance and expect to lose parts of others. ## Can you be arrested after you appear? In principle, yes. Appearing does not make you immune. The provision that governs these notices is built on the idea that arrest should not be routine, and it expects an officer who has decided to arrest a compliant person to record his reasons in writing first. That protection is real, but it is procedural, not absolute. An officer who records reasons can still act. The risk rises sharply if you are evasive, if you hand over documents that contradict what you told him, or if the agency concludes you will not come back. It drops if you appear on the date, say what you actually know, and stay reachable afterwards. ## Where there may be nothing to argue Sometimes there is not much, and it is better to say so. If the notice is properly issued, names you, and asks you to appear on a complaint where you were in fact involved — as a buyer, a seller, someone who lent an account, someone who signed a document — the appearance is unavoidable and the work is damage control rather than defence. The job then is to make sure your statement is accurate, that you do not volunteer characterisations of other people's conduct, and that you give the officer what you actually have rather than what you think sounds helpful. If the notice is vague about what the complaint concerns, if the same dispute is already before a civil or family court, or if it reads like pressure, that is a different case and there may be something to file. ## The date on the notice is not a suggestion If you genuinely cannot attend — you are abroad, you are in hospital — say so in writing, through your advocate, before the date, and ask for a fresh one. A written request with a reason is read very differently from silence. So is a phone call that leaves no record. Put it on paper and keep proof that it was received. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do I need a lawyer to respond to a police notice? Not as a legal requirement. But walking into a questioning session about a complaint you have not read is a bad idea. A lawyer can ask for the substance of the allegation before you say anything, and can put your request on the record so there is no later argument about whether you cooperated. ### Can the police arrest me on the day I appear? They can. The statute expects reasons to be recorded first where you have complied, but that is a safeguard, not a bar. In most matters the greater risk sits later in the investigation rather than on the first day. ### What if the notice came from a cyber crime cell in another state? This is common. Send the notice to a lawyer before the date rather than after. Depending on what it says, the response may be a written application seeking the substance of the complaint, an appearance through counsel, or a bail application filed in the state where the complaint is registered. What you should not do is ignore it because it arrived from far away. ### Will the case be closed if I cooperate? No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. Cooperation affects how you are treated inside the investigation — it does not end it. Closure happens when the officer files a report, or when a court quashes the proceeding, or when the complainant withdraws in a matter where withdrawal is legally possible. ### How many times will I have to appear? The statute sets no ceiling. Realistically, as many times as the investigating officer considers necessary before he files his report. ### Should I delete messages or reset my phone? No. Do not delete, do not factory reset, do not remove anything from an email account or a cloud drive. If a device or an account is part of the complaint, destruction of evidence is treated far more seriously than whatever was on it. If you are unsure what to keep, ask before you touch anything. ## If you have received a notice Send three things: clear photographs of every page of the notice, including the reverse; the date mentioned on it; and a two-line note on what you understand the complaint to be about and whether anyone else is named. If there is an FIR reference on the notice, include it. If there is not, say so — that absence matters. Two lines is enough to start. Do not send your whole account by email. First consultation is usually short and the only question being answered is what the next step should be and by when. Write to **[/contact-us](/contact-us)** or book a slot at **[/book](/book)**. Or call **+91 97295 06771**. Chambers: Lawyers' Chamber, Chamber No. 86, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi – 110001. Email: **me@sudhirrao.com**. *This is general information about Indian law, not legal advice on your situation. A notice has to be read before anything sensible can be said about it.* *Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India* --- _This is the AI-readable Markdown version of an article published by the Chambers of Sudhir Rao. It is general legal information, not legal advice. Canonical page: https://sudhirrao.com/insights/duplicate-cbse-marksheet-passport-verification_