Power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals
Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals. Whenever it is made to appear to the High Court--- (a) that a fair and impartial inquiry or trial cannot be had in any Criminal Court subordinate thereto; The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
(1) Whenever it is made to appear to the High Court---
(a) that a fair and impartial inquiry or trial cannot be had in any Criminal Court subordinate thereto; or
(b) that some question of law of unusual difficulty is likely to arise; or
(c) that an order under this section is required by any provision of this Sanhita, or will tend to the general convenience of the parties or witnesses, or is expedient for the ends of justice,
it may order---
(i) that any offence be inquired into or tried by any Court not qualified under sections 197 to 205 (both inclusive), but in other respects competent to inquire into or try such offence;
(ii) that any particular case or appeal, or class of cases or appeals, be transferred from a Criminal Court subordinate to its authority to any other such Criminal Court of equal or superior jurisdiction;
(iii) that any particular case be committed for trial to a Court of Session; or
(iv) that any particular case or appeal be transferred to and tried before itself.
(2) The High Court may act either on the report of the lower Court, or on the application of a party interested, or on its own initiative:
Provided that no application shall lie to the High Court for transferring a case from one Criminal Court to another Criminal Court in the same sessions division, unless an application for such transfer has been made to the Sessions Judge and rejected by him.
(3) Every application for an order under sub-section (1) shall be made by motion, which shall, except when the applicant is the Advocate-General of the State, be supported by affidavit or affirmation.
(4) When such application is made by an accused person, the High Court may direct him to execute a bond or bail bond for the payment of any compensation which the High Court may award under sub-section (7).
(5) Every accused person making such application shall give to the Public Prosecutor notice in writing of the application, together with a copy of the grounds on which it is made; and no order shall be made on the merits of the application unless at least twenty-four hours have elapsed between the giving of such notice and the hearing of the application.
(6) Where the application is for the transfer of a case or appeal from any subordinate Court, the High Court may, if it is satisfied that it is necessary so to do in the interest of justice, order that, pending the disposal of the application the proceedings in the subordinate Court shall be stayed, on such terms as the High Court may think fit to impose:
Provided that such stay shall not affect the subordinate Court's power of remand under section 346.
(7) Where an application for an order under sub-section (1) is dismissed, the High Court may, if it is of opinion that the application was frivolous or vexatious, order the applicant to pay by way of compensation to any person who has opposed the application such sum as it may consider proper in the circumstances of the case.
(8) When the High Court orders under sub-section (1) that a case be transferred from any Court for trial before itself, it shall observe in such trial the same procedure which that Court would have observed if the case had not been so transferred.
(9) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect any order of the Government under section 218.
Section 447, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure
CRPC 407 Power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals Text carried over almost unchanged 99%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Haji Mahboob Ahmad vs Kalyan Singh
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The Supreme Court of India has the constitutional power under Article 142 to transfer criminal proceedings from one court to another to remedy procedural defects and ensure complete justice, even when the High Court has statutory power under Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code to do so. This power can be exercised when crimes that shake the secular fabric of the Constitution have allegedly been committed and the accused persons have not been brought to book largely because of procedural defects and the conduct of the investigating agency. The transfer does not violate Article 21 of the Constitution because the procedure established by law itself contemplates such transfers under Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the absence of a non-obstante clause in Section 11(1) proviso of the Criminal Procedure Code distinguishes this case from cases where substantive rights are infringed. Additionally, criminal conspiracy charges already contained in a joint charge sheet cannot be separated from the accused persons by discharging them, and all offences committed in the course of the same transaction to accomplish a conspiracy must be tried jointly.
On this section: Power of High Court to transfer cases - the Court held that while the High Court has this power, the Supreme Court can also exercise Article 142 to achieve the same end
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C. Muniappan vs State of Tamil Nadu
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The ratio decidendi of this judgment is multi-faceted: (1) Charges under Section 188 IPC cannot be framed without written complaint by competent public servant as mandated by Section 195 CrPC, and absence of such complaint renders those charges void ab initio. However, such procedural defect does not vitiate the entire prosecution case or other charges if sufficient evidence exists for those charges. (2) Test identification parade is primarily an investigative tool and corroborative evidence, not substantive evidence. Actual evidence is the court testimony of witnesses. Identification parade is reliable when conducted properly without prior exposure of accused to witnesses, and when witnesses have direct observation opportunity. (3) Evidence of hostile witnesses cannot be rejected in toto; relevant parts consistent with prosecution or defence case can be relied upon after close scrutiny. (4) Defective investigation does not automatically lead to acquittal; court must examine evidence independently of investigation lapses to determine reliability. (5) Death sentence is warranted in rarest of rare cases involving planned, brutal crimes with exceptional depravity targeting helpless victims, where collective conscience is shocked, and no mitigating circumstances exist. Life imprisonment is the rule; death penalty is exception. (6) Two separate FIRs arising from same incident can be clubbed into one charge sheet if they are part of continuous sequence of events.
On this section: Transfer of case - discussed grounds for transfer of trial from Krishnagiri to Coimbatore
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Babu Velleriyan v. State of Kerala
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Final Order order-1.pdf 2020-07-15 DATE VERIFIED. Tr.P(Crl.) 32/2020. V.G. Arun J. Isolates CrPC 407: quotes 407(a)(b)(c); a High Court correction of the trial judge’s earlier order does not create deemed prejudice for transfer; no specific instance of prejudice was shown. Map crpc 407 cited + bnss 447 successor (near-identical 0.9867). Famous Amarinder Singh SC PDF remains ROP-only.
On this section: Successor of CrPC 407 (mapping.csv near-identical, score 0.9867). The High Court transfer holding carries to BNSS 447.
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Vishal Yadav v. State of U.P.
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Final Order order-1.pdf 2003-02-19 DATE VERIFIED. Crl.M.(M) 592/2003 & 593/2003. R.C. Chopra J. Nitish Katara trial. Isolates CrPC 407: mere adverse trial orders or observations are not a ground to transfer from the trial judge; a pending CrPC 406 petition in the Supreme Court does not bar a 407 petition about an intra-Delhi transfer. Map crpc 407 cited + bnss 447 successor (near-identical 0.9867). Do not pad crpc 406/408/482 (already filled).
On this section: Successor of CrPC 407 (mapping.csv near-identical, score 0.9867). The adverse-order-is-not-prejudice holding carries to BNSS 447.
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Avvaru Subbarayudu vs The State of A.p.
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The police will resort to arrest of the accused only when prima facie case is found against any of the accused. Till then, on mere report of the defacto-complainant, law does not permit arresting the named accused persons straight away without there being prima facie proof of the allegations made against them. Criminal petitions seeking to compel arrest and interrogation of accused persons without prima facie evidence constitute abuse of the process of the High Court and abuse of Section 482 CrPC and are not maintainable.
On this section: Transfer of cases - court held this section has no application as there is no enquiry or trial pending in any criminal court
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Indian Music Industry vs State
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A transfer application under Section 408 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, must be supported by an affidavit as mandated by Section 408(3) read with Section 407(3), and non-compliance with this mandatory requirement is fatal and renders the application not entertainable. Additionally, when a Sessions Judge exercises powers under Section 408 to transfer a case, he must record explicit reasons for such transfer as required by Section 412 of the CrPC, and mere reference to or reliance upon previous orders without independent reasoning does not satisfy this requirement.
On this section: Mandates that an application for transfer must be supported by an affidavit; this requirement is made applicable to Sessions Judge applications through Section 408(3)
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Manepalli Mohana Rao vs The State of Andhra Pradesh
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When similar criminal offences are registered against the same accused within a short period from different police stations, and there is evidence of potential abuse of process to prevent the accused from claiming procedural benefits, the High Court may exercise its discretionary power under Section 407 CrPC to transfer and consolidate such cases to a single court for simultaneous trial, particularly when such consolidation would promote judicial efficiency, prevent abuse of process, and ensure witness convenience.
On this section: Transfer of cases from one court to another - the primary procedural provision under which the High Court granted the transfer petition
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K. Velu vs Thyagarajan Kuppuswamy
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 407, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Language barrier and difficulty in deposing in court language do not constitute valid grounds for transfer of criminal case from a court of competent jurisdiction to another court, as Section 277 CrPC provides adequate statutory procedure for trial court to address such difficulties during the course of trial.
On this section: Provides authority for High Court to transfer criminal cases from one court to another; the statutory basis for the transfer petition filed by petitioner
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… Refuting objection as to maintainability of transfer petition raised by the learned Additional Government Advocate, it is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that under proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, this transfer petition is maintainable. Learned counsel appearing for the Petitioner has vehemently contended that the objection raised by the learned Additional Government Advocate has no foundation. 5. Considering the submissions …
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… MISHRA, J. 1. TRPCRL No.98 of 2024 has been filed by the Petitionerhusband, his parents and relatives under section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 for transfer of D.V. Misc. Case No.103 of 2024 filed by the Opposite Party-wife against the Petitioners under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 from the Court of JMFC (City), Balasore to the …
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… MISHRA, J. 1. TRPCRL No.98 of 2024 has been filed by the Petitionerhusband, his parents and relatives under section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 for transfer of D.V. Misc. Case No.103 of 2024 filed by the Opposite Party-wife against the Petitioners under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 from the Court of JMFC (City), Balasore to the …
Questions about Section 447
What have the courts held on Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
Haji Mahboob Ahmad vs Kalyan Singh (19 Apr 2017) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under CRPC 407, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Power of High Court to transfer cases - the Court held that while the High Court has this power, the Supreme Court can also exercise Article 142 to achieve the same end. Another 7 judgments on this section are set out below, 2 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2003 to 2020.
How do I find court cases under Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: BNSS 447, section 447 BNSS, section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. People searching for it also type 447 bnss in crpc and bns 447 section. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 8 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Haji Mahboob Ahmad vs Kalyan Singh (19 Apr 2017).
What should I read with Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 197 (Ordinary place of inquiry and trial), section 205 (Power to order cases to be tried in different sessions divisions), section 218 (Prosecution of Judges and public servants), section 346 (Power to postpone or adjourn proceedings), so none of them can safely be read on its own. 2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. It carries forward CrPC 407 (Power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita come into force?
Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, cited as BNSS 447, came into force on 01 Jul 2024, having been enacted on 25 Dec 2023. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 359. Compounding of offences1355 words
- 187. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours1122 words
- 2. Definitions956 words
- 243. Trial for more than one offence930 words
- 35. When police may arrest without warrant881 words
- 480. When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence823 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.