Object Purpose and History of the Criminal Procedure Code

A phone is snatched outside Dadar station. The thief is caught by passers-by and handed to a constable. Everyone knows snatching is an offence, but a different set of questions now takes over: who may arrest him, how long can he be held, which court hears the case, and what rights does he have? Those questions are not answered by the law that defines the offence. They are answered by the code of criminal procedure. What is that code for, where did it come from, and why does your syllabus call it the CrPC when the statute in force today has a different name?

In two minutes

A criminal procedure code is the rulebook that tells police, magistrates and judges how to investigate, inquire into and try offences fairly; since 1 July 2024 that rulebook is the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS), which repealed the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Criminal Procedure Code 1973, Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and POCSO Act 2012 on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.