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Section339
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Delivery of lunatic to care of relative or friend

Repealed From 01 Apr 1974 Act 2 of 1974 As on 17 Oct 2026

Act 2 of 1974 Ministry Home Affairs Enacted 25 Jan 1974 In force 01 Apr 1974

This provision is repealed. Repealed by section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024. It is reproduced because conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 deals with delivery of lunatic to care of relative or friend. Whenever any relative or friend of any person detained under the provisions of section 330 or section 335 desires that he shall be delivered to his care and custody, the State Government may, upon the application of such relative or friend and on his giving security to the satisfaction of such State 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 Repealed by section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried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.

(1) Whenever any relative or friend of any person detained under the provisions of section 330 or section 335 desires that he shall be delivered to his care and custody, the State Government may, upon the application of such relative or friend and on his giving security to the satisfaction of such State Government, that the person delivered shall-

(a) be properly taken care of and prevented from doing

injury to himself or to any other person;

(b) be produced for the inspection of such officer, and at such time and places, as the State Government may direct;

(c) in the case of a person detained under sub-section (2) of section 330, be produced when required before such Magistrate or Court,

order such person to be delivered to such relative or friend.

(2) If the person so delivered is accused of any offence, the trial of which has been postponed by reason of his being of unsound mind and incapable of making his defence, and the inspecting officer referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1), certifies at any time to the Magistrate or Court that such person is capable of making his defence, such Magistrate or Court shall call upon the relative or friend to whom such accused was delivered to produce him before the Magistrate or Court ; and, upon such production the Magistrate or Court shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of section 332, and the certificate of the inspecting officer shall be receivable as evidence.

CHAP

PROVISIONS AS TO OFFENCES AFFECTING THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

CHAPTER XXVI

PROVISIONS AS TO OFFENCES AFFECTING THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Section 339, The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).

Now in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita

BNSS 378 Delivery of person of unsound mind to care of relative or friend Text carried over almost unchanged 86%

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

  1. s. 330 Release of lunatic pending investingaion or trial
  2. s. 332 Procedure on accused appearing before Magistrate or Court
  3. s. 335 Person acquitted on such ground to be detained in safe custody

Questions about Section 339

What does Section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure deal with?

Section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is headed "Delivery of lunatic to care of relative or friend". Whenever any relative or friend of any person detained under the provisions of section 330 or section 335 desires that he shall be delivered to his care and custody, the State Government may, upon the application of such relative or friend and on his giving security to the satisfaction of such State

How do I find court cases under Section 339 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 339, section 339 CRPC, section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. People searching for it also type crpc 339 in bnss and crpc 339b. 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 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 330 (Release of lunatic pending investingaion or trial), section 332 (Procedure on accused appearing before Magistrate or Court), section 335 (Person acquitted on such ground to be detained in safe custody), 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 378 (Delivery of person of unsound mind to care of relative or friend), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.

When did Section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure come into force?

Section 339 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cited as CRPC 339, 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

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.