Section 54: Identification of person arrested

Earlier law: CrPC section 54A (Identification of person arrested)

In plain words

If identification of an arrested person by witnesses is needed for the investigation, the court can, at the police's request, direct the person to take part in an identification process.

If the witness has a mental or physical disability, the process must be supervised by a Magistrate, use methods the witness is comfortable with, and be recorded on audio-video.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

Where a person is arrested on a charge of committing an offence and his identification by any other person or persons is considered necessary for the purpose of investigation of such offence, the Court, having jurisdiction may, on the request of the officer in charge of a police station, direct the person so arrested to subject himself to identification by any person or persons in such manner as the Court may deem fit:

Provided that if the person identifying the person arrested is mentally or physically disabled, such process of identification shall take place under the supervision of a Magistrate who shall take appropriate steps to ensure that such person identifies the person arrested using methods that person is comfortable with and the identification process shall be recorded by any audio-video electronic means.

Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 12 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 54

No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.