eCourtsIndia
IndiaCode Laws
Section291
Crpc 1973

Deposition of medical witness

Repealed Act 2 of 1974 As on 17 Oct 2026

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so the text below was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Act 2 of 1974

This is a second copy of a Central Act. India Code files it on Rajasthan's shelf as well as under Parliament, and the text is the same enactment. Read it at The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which is the record this site keeps current.

Read from the scanned gazette. India Code publishes no text for this Act, so this text was read from the Government's own scan by machine and split into sections by its numbering. It has not been checked against the page word by word. Where it matters, read the scan. Read the scan.

Section 291 of Crpc 1973 deals with deposition of medical witness. The deposition of civil surgeon or other medical witness, taken and attested by a Magistrate in the presence of the accused, or taken on commission under this Chapter, may be given in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, although the deponent is not called as a witness.

(1) The deposition of civil surgeon or other medical witness, taken and attested by a Magistrate in the presence of the accused, or taken on commission under this Chapter, may be given in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, although the deponent is not called as a witness.

(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, summon and examine any such deponent as to the subject-matter of his deposition. STATE AMENDMENT Gujarat In the principal Act, in section 291, in sub-section (1), after the words "in the presence of accused", the words "or, as the case may be through the medium of Electronic Video Linkage" shall be inserted. [Vide Gujarat Act 31 of 2017, sec. 5.] 1[291A. Identification report of Magistrate .- (1) Any document purporting to be a report of identification under the hand of an Executive Magistrate in respect of a person or property may be used as evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, although such Magistrate is not called as a witness:

Provided that where such report contains a statement of any suspect or witness to which the provisions of section 21, section 32, section 33, section 155 or section 157, as the case may be, of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), apply, such statement shall not be used under this sub-section except in accordance with the provisions of those sections.

(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on the application of the prosecution or of the accused, summon and examine such Magistrate as to the subject-matter of the said report.]

Section 291, Crpc 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. s. 21 Special Executive Magistrates
  2. s. 32 Mode of conferring powers
  3. s. 33 Powers of officers appointed
  4. s. 155 Information as to non-cognizable cases and investigation of such cases
  5. s. 157 Procedure for investigation

Questions about Section 291

What does Section 291 of the Crpc 1973 deal with?

Section 291 of the Crpc 1973 is headed "Deposition of medical witness". The deposition of civil surgeon or other medical witness, taken and attested by a Magistrate in the presence of the accused, or taken on commission under this Chapter, may be given in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, although the deponent is not called as a witness.

How do I find court cases under Section 291 of the Crpc 1973?

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: CRPC 1973 291, section 291 CRPC 1973, section 291 of the Crpc 1973. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome.

What should I read with Section 291 of the Crpc 1973, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 21 (Special Executive Magistrates), section 32 (Mode of conferring powers), section 33 (Powers of officers appointed), section 155 (Information as to non-cognizable cases and investigation of such cases), and on 1 further provision, so none of them can safely be read on its own.

When was the Crpc 1973 enacted?

Crpc 1973 was enacted in 1974 as Act 2 of 1974. India Code records no commencement date for it. It is no longer in force.

Other sections of this Act

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. Read from the Government's own scanned gazette with Azure Document Intelligence, then split into sections by their numbering. India Code publishes no text for this Act. The scan itself is mirrored into our own storage and served at /scan/d6704d19-8614-4131-9317-7b9b9809d0c5.pdf, so the reading here can be checked against the page it came from without depending on India Code's own copy staying where it is (it was at https://indiacode.gov.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/e65f6054-803f-42a5-9f41-bd7fbeabcb51/content). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.