Law relating to Criminal Procedure in India.
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
[Act 2 of 1974] [25th January, 1974]
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to Criminal Procedure
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
Statement of objects and reasons.—(1) The law relating to criminal procedure applicable to all criminal proceedings in India (except those in the States of Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland and the tribal areas in Assam) is contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The Code has been amended from time to time by various Acts of the Central and State Legislatures. The more important of these were the amendments brought about by Central Legislation in 1923 and 1955. The amendments of 1955 were extensive and were intended to simplify procedures and speed up trials as far as possible. In addition, local amendments were made by State Legislatures, of which the most important were those made to bring about separation of the Judiciary from the Executive. Apart from these amendments, the provisions of the Code of 1898 have remained practically unchanged through these decades and no attempt was made to have a comprehensive revision of this old Code till the Central Law Commission was set up in 1955.
(2) The First Law Commission presented its Report (the Fourteenth Report) on the Reform of Judicial Administration, both civil and criminal, in 1958; it was not concerned with detailed scrutiny of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, but it did make some recommendations in regard to the law of criminal procedure, some of which required amendments to the Code. A systematic examination of the Code was subsequently undertaken by the Law Commission not only for giving concrete form to the recommendations made in the Fourteenth Report but also with the object of attempting a general revision. The main task of the Commission was to suggest measures to remove anomalies and ambiguities brought to light by conflicting decisions of the High Courts or otherwise, to consider local variations with a view to securing and maintaining uniformity, to consolidate laws wherever possible and to suggest improvements where necessary. Suggestions for improvements received from various sources were considered by the Commissions. A comprehensive report for the revision of the Code, namely, the Forty-first Report, was presented by the Law Commission in September, 1969. This report took into consideration the recommendations made in the earlier Reports of the Commission dealing with specific matters namely, the Fourteenth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-sixth, Thirty-seventh and Fortieth Reports.
(3) The recommendations of the Commission were examined carefully by the Government, keeping in view, among others, the following basic considerations—
(i) an accused person should get a fair trial in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice;
(ii) every effort should be made to avoid delay in investigation and trial which is harmful not only to individuals involved but also to society; and
(iii) the procedure should not be complicated and should, to the utmost extent possible, ensure fair deal to the poorer sections of the community.
The occasion has been availed of to consider and adopt where appropriate suggestions received from other quarters, based on practical experience of investigation and the working of criminal courts.
(4) One of the main recommendations of the Commission is to provide for the separation of the Judiciary from the Executive on an all-India basis in order to achieve uniformity in this matter. To secure this, the Bill seeks to provide for a new set-up of criminal courts. In addition to ensuring fair deal to the accused, separation as provided for in the Bill would ensure improvement in the quality and speed of disposal, as all Judicial Magistrates would be legally qualified and trained persons working under close supervision of the High Court.
(5) Some of the more important changes proposed to be made with a view to speeding up the disposal of criminal cases are—
(a) the preliminary inquiry which precedes the trial by a Court of Session, otherwise known as committal proceedings, is being abolished as it does not serve any useful purpose and has been the cause of considerable delay in the trial of offences;
(b) provision is being made to enable adoption of the summons procedure for the trial of offences punishable with imprisonment up to two years instead of up to one year as at present; this would enable a larger number of cases being disposed of expeditiously;
(c) the scope of summary trials is being widened by including offences punishable with imprisonment up to one year instead of six months as at present; summons procedure will be adopted for all summary trials;
(d) the powers of revision against interlocutory orders are being taken away, as it has been found to be one of the main contributing factors in the delay of disposal of criminal cases;
(e) the provision for compulsory stoppage of proceedings by a subordinate court on the mere intimation from a party of his intention to move a higher court for transfer of the case is being omitted and a further provision is being made to the effect that the court hearing the transfer application shall not stay proceedings unless it is necessary to do so in the interests of justice;
(f) when adjournments are granted at the instance of either party, the court is being empowered to order costs to be paid by the party obtaining the adjournment to the other party;
(g) provision is being made for the service of summons by registered post in certain cases;
(h) in petty cases, the accused is being enabled to plead guilty by post and to remit the fine specified in the summons;
(i) if a court of appeal or revision discovers that any error, omission or irregularity in respect of a charge has occasioned failure of justice, it need not necessarily order retrial;
(j) the facility of part-heard cases being continued by successors in office now available in respect of Courts of Magistrates is being extended to Courts of Session.
In addition to the above specific measures, the Commission's recommendations which are intended to resolve conflicts of decisions on various matters or to remove ambiguities have been given effect to and these provisions may, by themselves, help in reducing the time taken in litigation.
(6) Some of the more important changes intended to provide relief to the poorer sections of the community are—
(a) provisions have been made for giving legal aid to an indigent accused in cases triable by a Court of Session; the State Governments may extend this facility to other categories of cases;
(b) the court has been empowered to order payment of compensation by the accused to the victims of crimes, to a larger extent than is now permissible under the Code;
(c) when a commission is issued for the examination of a witness for the prosecution, the cost incurred by the defence including pleader's fees may be ordered to be paid by the prosecution;
(d) the accused will be given an opportunity to make representation against the punishment before it is imposed.
In addition to these specific provisions, the steps taken to reduce delays would themselves automatically benefit the poorer sections, as it is they who particularly suffer by the prolongation of criminal cases.
Chapter I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(2) It extends to the whole of India [i][* * *]:
Provided that the provisions of this Code, other than those relating to Chapters VIII, X and XI thereof, shall not apply—
(a) to the State of Nagaland,
(b) to the tribal areas,
but the concerned State Government may, by notification, apply such provisions or any of them to the whole or part of the State of Nagaland or such tribal areas, as the case may be, with such supplemental, incidental or consequential modifications, as may be specified in the notification.
Explanation.—In this section, “tribal areas” means the territories which immediately before the 21st day of January, 1972, were included in the tribal areas of Assam, as referred to in Paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, other than those within the local limits of the municipality of Shillong.
(3) It shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 1974.
2. Definitions.
2. Definitions.—In this Code, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “bailable offence” means an offence which is shown as bailable in the First Schedule, or which is made bailable by any other law for the time being in force; and “non-bailable offence” means any other offence;
(b) “charge” includes any head of charge when the charge contains more heads than one;
(c) “cognizable offence” means an offence for which, and “cognizable case” means a case in which, a police officer may, in accordance with the First Schedule or under any other law for the time being in force, arrest without warrant;
(d) “complaint” means any allegation made orally or in writing to a Magistrate, with a view to his taking action under this Code, that some person, whether known or unknown, has committed an offence, but does not include a police report.
Explanation.—A report made by a police officer in a case which discloses, after investigation, the commission of a non-cognizable offence shall be deemed to be a complaint; and the police officer by whom such report is made shall be deemed to be the complainant;
(e) “High Court” means,—
(i) in relation to any State, the High Court for that State;
(ii) in relation to a Union Territory to which the jurisdiction of the High Court for a State has been extended by law, that High Court;
(iii) in relation to any other Union Territory, the highest Court of criminal appeal for that territory other than the Supreme Court of India;
(f) “India” means the territories to which this Code extends;
(g) “inquiry” means every inquiry, other than a trial, conducted under this Code by a Magistrate or Court;
(h) “investigation” includes all the proceedings under this Code for the collection of evidence conducted by a police officer or by any person (other than a Magistrate) who is authorised by a Magistrate in this behalf;
(i) “judicial proceeding” includes any proceeding in the course of which evidence is or may be legally taken on oath;
(j) “local jurisdiction”, in relation to a Court or Magistrate, means the local area within which the Court or Magistrate may exercise all or any of its or his powers under this Code [ii][and such local area may comprise the whole of the State, or any part of the State, as the State Government may, by notification, specify];
(k) “metropolitan area” means the area declared, or deemed to be declared, under Section 8, to be a metropolitan area;
(l) “non-cognizable offence” means an offence for which, and “non-cognizable case” means a case in which, a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant;
(m) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(n) “offence” means any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force and includes any act in respect of which a complaint may be made under Section 20 of the Cattle Trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871);
(o) “officer in charge of a police station” includes, when the officer in charge of the police station is absent from the station-house or unable from illness or other cause to perform his duties, the police officer present at the station-house who is next in rank to such officer and is above the rank of constable or, when the State Government so directs, any other police officer so present;
(p) “place” includes a house, building, tent, vehicle and vessel;
(q) “pleader”, when used with reference to any proceeding in any Court, means a person authorised by or under any law for the time being in force, to practise in such Court, and includes any other person appointed with the permission of the Court to act in such proceeding;
(r) “police report” means a report forwarded by a police officer to a Magistrate under sub-section (2) of Section 173;
(s) “police station” means any post or place declared generally or specially by the State Government, to be a police station, and includes any local area specified by the State Government in this behalf;
(t) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Code;
(u) “Public Prosecutor” means any person appointed under Section 24, and includes any person acting under the directions of a Public Prosecutor;
(v) “sub-division” means a sub-division of a district;
(w) “summons-case” means a case relating to an offence, and not being a warrant-case;
[iii][(wa) “victim” means a person who has suffered any loss or injury caused by reason of the act or omission for which the accused person has been charged and the expression “victim” includes his or her guardian or legal heir;]
(x) “warrant-case” means a case relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years;
(y) words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code.
3. Construction of references.
3. Construction of references.—(1) In this Code,—
(a) any reference, without any qualifying words, to a Magistrate, shall be construed, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(i) in relation to an area outside a metropolitan area, as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate;
(ii) in relation to a metropolitan area, as a reference to a Metropolitan Magistrate;
(b) any reference to a Magistrate of the second class shall, in relation to an area outside a metropolitan area, be construed as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate of the second class, and, in relation to a metropolitan area, as a reference to a Metropolitan Magistrate;
(c) any reference to a Magistrate of the first class shall,—
(i) in relation to a metropolitan area, be construed as a reference to a Metropolitan Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in that area;
(ii) in relation to any other area, be construed as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate of the first class exercising jurisdiction in that area;
(d) any reference to the Chief Judicial Magistrate shall, in relation to a metropolitan area, be construed as a reference to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in that area.
(2) In this Code, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to the Court of a Judicial Magistrate shall, in relation to a metropolitan area, be construed as a reference to the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate for that area.
(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in any enactment passed before the commencement of this Code,—
(a) to a Magistrate of the first class, shall be construed as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate of the first class;
(b) to a Magistrate of the second class or of the third class, shall be construed as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate of the second class;
(c) to a Presidency Magistrate or Chief Presidency Magistrate, shall be construed as a reference, respectively, to a Metropolitan Magistrate or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate;
(d) to any area which is included in a metropolitan area, as a reference to such metropolitan area, and any reference to a Magistrate of the first class or of the second class in relation to such area, shall be construed as a reference to the Metropolitan Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in such area.
(4) Where, under any law, other than this Code, the functions exercisable by a Magistrate relate to matters—
(a) which involve the appreciation or shifting of evidence or the formulation of any decision which exposes any person to any punishment or penalty or detention in custody pending investigation, inquiry or trial or would have the effect of sending him for trial before any Court, they shall, subject to the provisions of this Code, be exercisable by a Judicial Magistrate; or
(b) which are administrative or executive in nature, such as, the granting of a licence, the suspension or cancellation of a licence, sanctioning a prosecution or withdrawing from a prosecution, they shall, subject as aforesaid, be exercisable by an Executive Magistrate.
4. Trial of offences under the Indian Penal Code and other laws.
4. Trial of offences under the Indian Penal Code and other laws.—(1) All offences under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the provisions hereinafter contained.
(2) All offences under any other law shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the same provisions, but subject to any enactment for the time being in force regulating the manner or place of investigating, inquiring into, trying or otherwise dealing with such offences.
5. Saving.
5. Saving.—Nothing contained in this Code shall, in the absence of a specific provision to the contrary, affect any special or local law for the time being in force, or any special jurisdiction or power conferred, or any special form of procedure prescribed, by any other law for the time being in force.
References
[i] The words “except the State of Jammu and Kashmir” omitted by Act 34 of 2019, Ss. 95 & 96 and Sch. V (w.e.f. 31-10-2019).
[ii] Added by Cr.P.C. (Amendment) Act, 1978, S. 2.
[iii] Ins. by Act 5 of 2009, S. 2 (w.e.f. 31-12-2009).
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