Section 484 BNSS: Amount of bond and reduction thereof (Formerly Section 440 CrPC)

Section 484 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Amount of bond and reduction thereof

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) The amount of every bond executed under this Chapter shall be fixed with due regard to the circumstances of the case and shall not be excessive.

(2) The High Court or the Court of Session may direct that the bail required by a police officer or Magistrate be reduced.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Inquiry Sec 2(1)(g) Investigation Sec 2(1)(h) Victim Sec 2(1)(w)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 484

Section 484 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 regulates the quantum of bail bonds and empowers superior courts to reduce excessive or onerous surety conditions.

Core Legal Standard: Section 484 provides that the amount of every bond executed under this Chapter shall be fixed with due regard to the circumstances of the case and shall not be excessive.
Bail & Custodial Standards: Sub-section (2) confers express jurisdiction on the High Court or Court of Session to direct that the bail required by a police officer or Magistrate be reduced.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Moti Ram v. State of M.P. (1978) 4 SCC 47: Justice Krishna Iyer delivered a monumental ruling that fixing excessively high or onerous financial sureties violates constitutional justice and discriminates against the poor, turning bail into a bourgeois luxury; courts must accept personal bonds and local sureties freely.
Keshab Narayan Banerjee v. State of Bihar (AIR 1985 SC 1666): Held that imposing condition of furnishing heavy cash security or property title deeds of distant locations as bail conditions is impermissible and amounts to denial of bail.

Legal Commentary:

Section 484 embodies constitutional equality in the administration of bail. Whenever a lower court imposes onerous conditions—such as exorbitant cash deposits or immovable property sureties from another district—counsel should immediately apply to the Sessions Court or High Court under Section 484(2) for modification.