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Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC) MCQs for Judiciary

Judiciary Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC) questions 1-25 of 275, with answer keys and explanations covering criminal courts, arrest, investigation, bail, charge, trial, evidence procedure, appeal, revision, and the BNSS.

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Practice judiciary exam MCQs with answers and explanations across substantive law, procedure, evidence, constitutional law, and state judicial service subjects.

  • Anticipatory Bail10
  • Arrest, Search, Seizure and Remand11
  • Bail in Bailable and Non-Bailable Offences10
  • Bail, Bonds and Liberty8
  • Bail, Cancellation, and Post-Charge-Sheet Liberty5
  • BNSS Foundations and Court Structure7
  • BNSS Mixed Practice8
  • BNSS Reforms and Contemporary Criminal Procedure10
  • Compounding, Quashing and Revision3
  • Default Bail10
  • Default Bail and Timing Traps5
  • FIR and Early Recording5
  • FIR and Registration10
  • FIR, Investigation and Police Reports12
  • Inherent Powers and Compounding10
  • Initiation of Criminal Process10
  • Investigation10
  • Investigation and Police Statements5
  • Lalita Kumari and Preliminary Inquiry10
  • Lalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny5
  • Magistrate Stage Nuances5
  • Magistrate-Ordered Investigation10
  • Notice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards5
  • Quashing and Settlement5
  • Remand and Custody15
  • Rights of the Accused10
  • Search, Seizure, and Digital Process5
  • Search, Seizure, and Related Powers10
  • Technology and Contemporary BNSS Reforms2
  • Trial Process10
  • Trial, Charges and Court Procedure14
  • Victim Rights, Witnesses and Sentencing10
  • Victim Rights, Witnesses, and Fair Trial10
Question 1HardFIR and Early Recording

A woman reports sexual assault at Police Station A. The occurrence happened in another district. Station A refuses to record because of territorial lack of jurisdiction. Which response is most legally sound?

  1. A

    The refusal is proper because only the local police station can register

  2. B

    The station should ordinarily record the information and take steps according to zero-FIR logic rather than turn the informant away

  3. C

    The informant must first obtain a Magistrate's written order

  4. D

    The station may wait until the accused appears voluntarily

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The station should ordinarily record the information and take steps according to zero-FIR logic rather than turn the informant away

Zero-FIR logic exists to prevent territorial questions from defeating prompt access to criminal process. Especially in grave offences, immediate recording and transfer later is the sounder legal response.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 2HardFIR and Early Recording

If the earliest telephonic message merely states that 'there has been an accident, please come quickly', the most accurate statement is:

  1. A

    It is always a complete FIR because it came first in time

  2. B

    It may not amount to an FIR if it only seeks police presence without disclosing the essential commission of a cognizable offence

  3. C

    It automatically becomes a dying declaration

  4. D

    It is equivalent to a charge-sheet

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. It may not amount to an FIR if it only seeks police presence without disclosing the essential commission of a cognizable offence

The legal test is not chronology alone. Courts ask whether the communication disclosed the occurrence in a manner intended to set criminal law in motion. A bare call for help often does not.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 3HardFIR and Early Recording

An FIR and a subsequent complaint by the same side both concern the same incident. The later document adds details and names more accused. The best principle is:

  1. A

    The later complaint automatically supersedes the FIR in all respects

  2. B

    The law generally discourages multiple FIRs for the same transaction, but later statements may still be relevant within investigation depending on their nature

  3. C

    Every later statement must be treated as a fresh FIR

  4. D

    The first FIR becomes inadmissible once a supplementary version is given

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The law generally discourages multiple FIRs for the same transaction, but later statements may still be relevant within investigation depending on their nature

The doctrine against successive FIRs prevents procedural abuse. At the same time, investigation can lawfully receive later details through statements, supplementary material, or further evidence without treating each as a fresh FIR.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 4HardFIR and Early Recording

Which proposition is the strongest reason why an FIR need not contain minute details?

  1. A

    Because police records are always incomplete

  2. B

    Because the FIR is an initial trigger and not a full evidentiary brief

  3. C

    Because evidence law never looks at FIR contents

  4. D

    Because courts do not care about spontaneity

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Because the FIR is an initial trigger and not a full evidentiary brief

The FIR is expected to be the earliest narrative, often given under stress. Its legal role is to trigger process and record the earliest version, not to narrate the entire prosecution case with courtroom precision.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 5HardFIR and Early Recording

An unexplained delay in lodging the FIR is most dangerous to the prosecution when it:

  1. A

    Shows only that the police station was far away

  2. B

    Reasonably suggests embellishment or deliberation on material facts with no satisfactory contextual explanation

  3. C

    Occurs in all traumatic offences

  4. D

    Is less than twenty-four hours

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Reasonably suggests embellishment or deliberation on material facts with no satisfactory contextual explanation

Delay is never judged mechanically. The serious concern is whether the interval indicates invention, tutoring, or redesign of the prosecution narrative. If the delay is well explained, that concern weakens.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 6HardLalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny

After Lalita Kumari, a preliminary inquiry is least justified where the information:

  1. A

    Plainly narrates rape with time, place, and immediate complaint

  2. B

    Raises a commercial cheating dispute requiring scrutiny on whether criminality is disclosed

  3. C

    Mentions medical negligence in broad terms

  4. D

    Arrives after an unusual delay and requires limited threshold scrutiny

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: A. Plainly narrates rape with time, place, and immediate complaint

Where the information plainly discloses a cognizable offence, registration is ordinarily mandatory. The categories in which limited preliminary inquiry may be allowed are exceptions, not the rule.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 7HardLalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny

The critical doctrinal mistake in converting a preliminary inquiry into a mini-trial is that it:

  1. A

    Improves police accuracy too much

  2. B

    Confuses the stage of registration with the later stage of proof and adjudication

  3. C

    Makes every offence bailable

  4. D

    Eliminates Magistrate jurisdiction forever

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Confuses the stage of registration with the later stage of proof and adjudication

The point of Lalita Kumari is to preserve stage integrity. Registration asks whether cognizable information is disclosed. Truth-testing belongs to investigation and trial, not to informal station-level adjudication.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 8HardLalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny

A police officer says, 'I will register only after checking whether the complainant is telling the truth.' The statement is legally weak because:

  1. A

    Truth never matters in criminal law

  2. B

    The officer is ordinarily expected to register first if cognizable allegations are disclosed, not insist on prior proof of truth

  3. C

    Only courts may read complaints

  4. D

    Registration is voluntary in all cognizable matters

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The officer is ordinarily expected to register first if cognizable allegations are disclosed, not insist on prior proof of truth

The police can investigate truth, but they cannot ordinarily make prior belief in truth a condition precedent to registration when cognizable facts are disclosed.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 9HardLalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny

The most persuasive policy justification behind Lalita Kumari is that non-registration often harms:

  1. A

    Only wealthy complainants

  2. B

    Access to criminal justice, especially for vulnerable complainants facing intimidation or institutional reluctance

  3. C

    Only the trial court's statistics

  4. D

    Only the prosecution's final arguments

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Access to criminal justice, especially for vulnerable complainants facing intimidation or institutional reluctance

Registration is not a mere clerical formality. It is the threshold by which the State acknowledges that an allegation deserves formal legal engagement. Refusal can bury the complaint entirely.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 10HardLalita Kumari and Threshold Scrutiny

A complaint of dowry harassment, received after prolonged family negotiations and mediation attempts, is best treated by the police as:

  1. A

    Automatically false because of delay

  2. B

    Possibly suitable for limited preliminary scrutiny on whether cognizable allegations are disclosed, while keeping Lalita Kumari's narrow approach in view

  3. C

    Necessarily non-cognizable

  4. D

    A civil matter in every case

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Possibly suitable for limited preliminary scrutiny on whether cognizable allegations are disclosed, while keeping Lalita Kumari's narrow approach in view

Some family and matrimonial disputes may justify threshold scrutiny in limited form, but the inquiry remains narrow. The police cannot use that category to indefinitely postpone action.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 11HardNotice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards

The strongest conceptual role of notice of appearance in lesser-custody cases is to:

  1. A

    Replace the entire criminal process

  2. B

    Achieve cooperation without unnecessary arrest where statutory and factual conditions allow

  3. C

    Prevent all future arrests in the case forever

  4. D

    Guarantee acquittal if complied

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Achieve cooperation without unnecessary arrest where statutory and factual conditions allow

Notice mechanisms help shift the process away from reflexive arrest. Their value lies in balancing investigation needs with liberty when custody is not genuinely necessary.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 12HardNotice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards

Arnesh Kumar is most accurately understood as:

  1. A

    A decision abolishing arrest in all offences punishable up to seven years

  2. B

    A warning that police must justify arrest and comply with statutory safeguards instead of treating arrest as routine

  3. C

    A case about final conviction standards only

  4. D

    A ruling that anticipatory bail is mandatory in every matrimonial dispute

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. A warning that police must justify arrest and comply with statutory safeguards instead of treating arrest as routine

Arnesh Kumar did not eliminate arrest. It insisted that police must ask why arrest is needed and must respect the statutory discipline imposed on arrest powers.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 13HardNotice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards

Failure to comply with arrest memo and communication safeguards primarily raises concern about:

  1. A

    Tax administration

  2. B

    Secret detention, custodial abuse, and inability to challenge illegality in time

  3. C

    Territorial jurisdiction

  4. D

    Witness competence

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Secret detention, custodial abuse, and inability to challenge illegality in time

These safeguards are designed to make custody visible and reviewable. Their absence increases the risk of coercion and weakens the institutional paper trail that protects liberty.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 14HardNotice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards

A lawful arrest and a necessary arrest are related but distinct ideas because:

  1. A

    Every lawful arrest is automatically necessary in constitutional terms

  2. B

    The statute may authorise arrest, but constitutional and judicial scrutiny still ask whether custody was actually needed on the facts

  3. C

    Necessity matters only after conviction

  4. D

    Courts do not examine arrest reasons at all

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The statute may authorise arrest, but constitutional and judicial scrutiny still ask whether custody was actually needed on the facts

Modern criminal procedure increasingly tests not only the existence of power but the rationality of its exercise. That is why necessity, proportionality, and documented reasons matter.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 15HardNotice Before Arrest and Arrest Safeguards

In a challenge to unnecessary arrest, which argument is strongest for the accused?

  1. A

    The FIR was typed by a junior officer

  2. B

    The prosecution had means short of arrest to secure appearance and investigation, yet custody was used without specific reasons

  3. C

    The complainant was emotionally upset

  4. D

    The Magistrate later framed charges

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The prosecution had means short of arrest to secure appearance and investigation, yet custody was used without specific reasons

Where appearance could have been secured by notice and cooperation, unexplained resort to arrest may appear arbitrary. This goes directly to the principles emphasised in Arnesh Kumar and related cases.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 16HardInvestigation and Police Statements

A police statement recorded during investigation is restricted in evidentiary use mainly because the law fears:

  1. A

    Witness memory in every circumstance

  2. B

    Unsupervised investigative recording being treated as if it were formal testimony tested in court

  3. C

    That all witnesses lie

  4. D

    That judges cannot read documents

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Unsupervised investigative recording being treated as if it were formal testimony tested in court

The procedural structure preserves the difference between investigation and adjudication. Police statements assist inquiry, but courtroom proof depends on sworn testimony and cross-examination.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 17HardInvestigation and Police Statements

Which proposition best explains why a witness ordinarily does not sign the police statement recorded during investigation?

  1. A

    The law wishes to insult witnesses

  2. B

    It preserves the non-testimonial, investigatory character of the statement and reduces pressure associated with formal adoption

  3. C

    Signature is relevant only in civil cases

  4. D

    It allows police to change statements freely

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. It preserves the non-testimonial, investigatory character of the statement and reduces pressure associated with formal adoption

The unsigned structure reflects a deliberate procedural choice. The statement aids investigation, but the witness's legally tested version comes at trial under judicial supervision.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 18HardInvestigation and Police Statements

A fair investigation is most seriously compromised when the police:

  1. A

    Collect more evidence than expected

  2. B

    Suppress exculpatory material and pursue only evidence that confirms a predetermined theory

  3. C

    Record too many witness statements

  4. D

    Examine the scene more than once

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Suppress exculpatory material and pursue only evidence that confirms a predetermined theory

Investigation is supposed to discover truth, not merely build a partisan file. Withholding or ignoring exculpatory facts undermines the fairness of the entire process.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 19HardInvestigation and Police Statements

A closure report that concludes 'mistake of fact' is not the end of the matter because:

  1. A

    The Magistrate has no power in such situations

  2. B

    The complainant may challenge the conclusion and the Magistrate may adopt one of several recognised procedural responses

  3. C

    The police report is itself a decree

  4. D

    The accused is automatically entitled to compensation

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The complainant may challenge the conclusion and the Magistrate may adopt one of several recognised procedural responses

Judicial oversight remains meaningful after investigation. The police report is influential, but it does not conclusively bind the court.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 20HardInvestigation and Police Statements

Further investigation after a police report is filed is conceptually justified because:

  1. A

    The first report is always invalid

  2. B

    Fresh material may emerge and the law recognises that investigation is not necessarily frozen by the first concluding report

  3. C

    The police must continue indefinitely in every case

  4. D

    The Magistrate cannot read the earlier report

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Fresh material may emerge and the law recognises that investigation is not necessarily frozen by the first concluding report

The law allows further investigation because truth-discovery may continue after the initial report, though the process remains subject to legal discipline and court awareness where required.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 21HardMagistrate Stage Nuances

The most important practical difference between invoking the pre-cognizance investigation-directing route and proceeding with a complaint after cognizance is:

  1. A

    Whether the same court building is used

  2. B

    Whether the police or the court-controlled complaint mechanism primarily drives the next stage

  3. C

    Whether the Constitution applies

  4. D

    Whether the accused can seek bail

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Whether the police or the court-controlled complaint mechanism primarily drives the next stage

The distinction shapes the whole future structure of the case. One route turns immediately toward police investigation, while the other keeps the complaint proceeding within a judicially managed framework.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 22HardMagistrate Stage Nuances

A Magistrate's mechanical order saying only 'perused, investigate' is vulnerable because:

  1. A

    Short orders are always invalid

  2. B

    An order setting coercive process in motion should reflect at least minimal application of mind to facts and the chosen procedural route

  3. C

    Reasoning is forbidden in criminal procedure

  4. D

    Police may investigate only on oral instructions

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. An order setting coercive process in motion should reflect at least minimal application of mind to facts and the chosen procedural route

Even brief orders must show that the Magistrate has understood the nature of the allegation and the legal route being invoked. Reasoned justice is part of accountability.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 23HardMagistrate Stage Nuances

Priyanka Srivastava's insistence on affidavit-backed seriousness matters because such applications may otherwise become:

  1. A

    Too scholarly

  2. B

    Tools of private pressure or retaliatory litigation rather than responsible invocation of criminal process

  3. C

    Unavailable to all complainants

  4. D

    Equivalent to acquittal

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Tools of private pressure or retaliatory litigation rather than responsible invocation of criminal process

The decision recognised that criminal process can be weaponised. Requiring seriousness and responsibility helps screen out casual or manipulative use of the Magistrate's power.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 24HardMagistrate Stage Nuances

If the Magistrate has already taken cognizance and examined the complainant, the argument that the court should now simply send the matter under the classic pre-cognizance investigation route is weaker because:

  1. A

    Police investigation becomes unconstitutional

  2. B

    The procedural stage has shifted, and the court must remain faithful to the framework appropriate to the stage it has already entered

  3. C

    The complainant loses all remedies

  4. D

    No inquiry is ever permissible after cognizance

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. The procedural stage has shifted, and the court must remain faithful to the framework appropriate to the stage it has already entered

Stage discipline matters. Once the court moves into a cognizance-based complaint framework, it cannot casually pretend it is still at the earlier pre-cognizance stage.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

Question 25HardMagistrate Stage Nuances

The most precise function of judicial oversight at the pre-trial stage is to:

  1. A

    Take over all executive tasks

  2. B

    Ensure legality, fairness, and reasoned use of coercive powers while preserving the ordinary division between investigation and adjudication

  3. C

    Guarantee conviction

  4. D

    Replace every defence argument with a police report

View answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Ensure legality, fairness, and reasoned use of coercive powers while preserving the ordinary division between investigation and adjudication

Criminal procedure depends on institutional separation. Judicial oversight checks power, but it does not ordinarily collapse the distinction between court and investigating agency.

Source note: LexMentor Notes, Law of Crimes II (BNSS-CrPC); India Code BNSS 2023

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