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Section439
Crpc 1973

Special powers of High Court or Court of Session regarding bail

Repealed Act 2 of 1974 As on 21 Oct 2026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 Cited by 2 provisions

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 439 of Crpc 1973 deals with special powers of High Court or Court of Session regarding bail. A High Court or Court of Session may direct,- (a) that any person accused of an offence and in custody be released on bail, and if the offence is of the nature specified in sub-section (3) of section 437, may impose any condition which it considers necessary for the purposes mentioned in that sub-se

(1) A High Court or Court of Session may direct,- (a) that any person accused of an offence and in custody be released on bail, and if the offence is of the nature specified in sub-section (3) of section 437, may impose any condition which it considers necessary for the purposes mentioned in that sub-section;

(b) that any condition imposed by a Magistrate when releasing any person on bail be set aside or modified:

Provided that the High Court or the Court of Session shall, before granting bail to a person who is accused of an offence which is triable exclusively by the Court of Session or which, though not so triable, is punishable with imprisonment for life, give notice of the application for bail to the Public Prosecutor unless it is, for reasons to be recorded in writing, of opinion that it is not practicable to give such notice. [Provided further that the High Court or the Court of Session shall, before granting bail to a person who is accused of an offence triable under sub-section (3) of section 376 or section 376AB or section 376DA or section 376DB of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), give notice of the application for bail to the Public Prosecutor within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice of such application.] 1[(1A) The presence of the informant or any person authorised by him shall be obligatory at the time of hearing of the application for bail to the person under sub-section (3) of section 376 or section 376AB or section 376DA or section DB of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).] (2) A High Court or Court of Session may direct that any person who has been released on bail under this Chapter be arrested and commit him to custody. STATE AMENDMENT opde Assam .- 439-A. Power to grant bail .- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, no person- (a) who, being accused or suspected of committing an offence under any of the following Sections, namely, -Sections 120B, 121, 121A, 122, 123, 124A, 153A, 302, 303, 304, 307, 326, 333, 363, 364, 365, 367, 368, 392, 394, 395, 396, 399, 412, 431, 436, 449 and 450 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Indian Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and Sections 25,26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 of the Arms Act, 1959, is arrested or appears or is brought before a court; or (b) who, having any reason to believe that he may be arrested on an accusation of committing an offence as specified in clause (a), has applied to the High Court or the Court of Sessions for a direction for his release on bail in the event of his arrest, shall be released on bail or as the case may be, directed to be released on bail, except on one or more of the following grounds, namely: - (i) that the Court including the High Court or the Court of Session for reasons to be recorded in writing is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that such person is not guilty of any offence specified in clause (a);

(ii) that such person is under the age of sixteen years or a woman or a sick or an infirm person;

(iii) that the court including the High Court or the Court of Sessions for reasons to be recorded in writing is satisfied that there are exceptional and sufficient grounds to release or direct the release of the accused on bail." [Vide Assam Act 3 of 1984, s. 5.]

Section 439, 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. 376 No appeal in petty cases
  2. s. 437 When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence
  3. Indian Penal Code s. 120B Punishment of criminal conspiracy
  4. Indian Penal Code s. 121 Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India
  5. Indian Penal Code s. 121A Conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121
  6. Indian Penal Code s. 122 Collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war against the Government of India
  7. Indian Penal Code s. 123 Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war
  8. Indian Penal Code s. 124A Sedition
  9. Indian Penal Code s. 153A Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony
  10. Indian Penal Code s. 302 Punishment for murder
  11. Indian Penal Code s. 303 Punishment for murder by life-convict
  12. Indian Penal Code s. 304 Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder
  13. Indian Penal Code s. 307 Attempt to murder
  14. Indian Penal Code s. 326 Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means
  15. Indian Penal Code s. 333 Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty
  16. Indian Penal Code s. 363 Punishment for kidnapping
  17. Indian Penal Code s. 364 Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder
  18. Indian Penal Code s. 365 Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person
  19. Indian Penal Code s. 367 Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc
  20. Indian Penal Code s. 368 Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person
  21. Indian Penal Code s. 392 Punishment for robbery
  22. Indian Penal Code s. 394 Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery
  23. Indian Penal Code s. 395 Punishment for dacoity
  24. Indian Penal Code s. 396 Dacoity with murder
  25. Indian Penal Code s. 399 Making preparation to commit dacoity
  26. Indian Penal Code s. 412 Dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity
  27. Indian Penal Code s. 431 Mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel
  28. Indian Penal Code s. 436 Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc
  29. Indian Penal Code s. 449 House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death
  30. Indian Penal Code s. 450 House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment for life

Referred to by 2

  1. s. 9 Court of Session
  2. s. 39 Public to give information of certain offences

Questions about Section 439

What does Section 439 of the Crpc 1973 deal with?

Section 439 of the Crpc 1973 is headed "Special powers of High Court or Court of Session regarding bail". A High Court or Court of Session may direct,- (a) that any person accused of an offence and in custody be released on bail, and if the offence is of the nature specified in sub-section (3) of section 437, may impose any condition which it considers necessary for the purposes mentioned in that sub-se

How do I find court cases under Section 439 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 439, section 439 CRPC 1973, section 439 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 439 of the Crpc 1973, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 376 (No appeal in petty cases), section 437 (When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence), Indian Penal Code 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy), Indian Penal Code 121 (Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), and on 26 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.

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.