Complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany policeofficer and not to be subjected to restraint
Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 deals with complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany policeofficer and not to be subjected to restraint. Complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany police officer and not to be subjected to restraint. The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1974. Repealed by section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany
police officer and not to be subjected to restraint. No complainant or witness on his way to any Court shall be required to accompany a police officer, or shall be subjected to unnecessary restraint or inconvenience, or required to give any security for his appearance other than his own bond:
Provided that, if any complainant or witness refuses to attend or to execute a bond as directed in section 170, the officer in charge of the police station may forward him in custody to the Magistrate, who may detain him in custody until he executes such bond, or until the hearing of the case is completed.-
Section 171, The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).
Now in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
BNSS 191 Complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany police officer and not to be subject to restraint Text carried over almost unchanged 89%
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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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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Smt Seema Devi vs State& ANR.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Where an allegation of false declaration in election nomination papers is not supported by evidence of document manipulation or interpolation in public registers, and the police investigation has found the declaration to be correct, the cognizance of non-cognizable offences cannot be sustained, and the revisional court is justified in quashing such cognizance. The High Court will not interfere with such revisional orders under Section 482 CrPC when the facts and circumstances are covered by established precedent.
On this section: Candidly conceded by petitioner's counsel that false declaration in nomination papers would give rise to only non-cognizable offence under this section
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.
Questions about Section 171
What have the courts held on Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?
Smt Seema Devi vs State& ANR. (01 Dec 2017) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Candidly conceded by petitioner's counsel that false declaration in nomination papers would give rise to only non-cognizable offence under this section.
How do I find court cases under Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?
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 171, section 171 CRPC, section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Smt Seema Devi vs State& ANR. (01 Dec 2017).
What should I read with Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 170 (Cases to be sent to Magistrate, when evidence is sufficient), so none of them can safely be read on its own. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNSS 191 (Complainant and witnesses not to be required to accompany police officer and not to be subject to restraint), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure come into force?
Section 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cited as CRPC 171, came into force on 01 Apr 1974, having been enacted on 25 Jan 1974. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
- 320. Compounding of offences1554 words
- 167. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty four hours1005 words
- 220. Trial for more than one offence962 words
- 360. Order to release on probation of good conduct or after admonition804 words
- 2. Definitions799 words
- 198. Prosecution for offences against marriage774 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. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 330a1099-77ad-4a2e-b22a-769b33398f9e). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.