BNSS 2023/110 CHAPTER VII Power to impound document, etc., produced.

BNSS 2023/110 CHAPTER VII Power to impound document, etc., produced.

(1) Where a Court in the territories to which this Sanhita extends (hereafter in this section referred to as the said territories) desires that—

(a) a summons to an accused person; or

(b) a warrant for the arrest of an accused person; or

(c) a summons to any person requiring him to attend and produce a document or other thing, or to produce it; or

(d) a search-warrant, issued by it shall be served or executed at any place,—
(i) within the local jurisdiction of a Court in any State or area in India outside the
aid territories, it may send such summons or warrant in duplicate by post or otherwise, to the presiding officer of that Court to be served or executed; and where any summons referred to in clause (a) or clause

(c) has been so served, the provisions of section 70 shall apply in relation to such summons as if the presiding officer of the Court to whom it is sent were a Magistrate in the said territories;

(ii) in any country or place outside India in respect of which arrangements have been made by the Central Government with the Government of such country or place for service or execution of summons or warrant in relation to criminal matters (hereafter in this section referred to as the contracting State), it may send such summons or warrant in duplicate in such form, directed to such Court, Judge or Magistrate, and send to such authority for transmission, as the Central Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf.

(2) Where a Court in the said territories has received for service or execution—

(a) a summons to an accused person; or

(b) a warrant for the arrest of an accused person; or

(c) a summons to any person requiring him to attend and produce a document or other thing, or to produce it; or

(d) a search-warrant, issued by—

(I) a Court in any State or area in India outside the said territories;

(II) a Court, Judge or Magistrate in a contracting State,

it shall cause the same to be served or executed as if it were a summons or warrant received by it from another Court in the said territories for service or execution within its local jurisdiction; and where—

(i) a warrant of arrest has been executed, the person arrested shall, so far as possible, be dealt with in accordance with the procedure specified by sections 82 and 83;

(ii) a search-warrant has been executed, the things found in the search shall, so far as possible, be dealt with in accordance with the procedure specified by section 104:

Provided that in a case where a summons or search-warrant received from a contracting State has been executed, the documents or things produced or things found in the search shall be forwarded to the Court issuing the summons or search-warrant through such authority as the Central Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf.

Read in “Simplified English”

Power to Impound Documents and Handle Summons/Warrants

1. Sending summons or warrants outside the local area –
   If a Court in the territories under this Sanhita wants a:
   • summons to an accused, or
   • arrest warrant, or
   • summons requiring someone to produce a document or thing, or
   • search warrant
   …to be served or executed somewhere: (i) Within India but outside these territories:
   • The Court can send a copy of the summons/warrant to the presiding officer of the Court in that area.
   • Once served, the rules of Section 70 apply as if the presiding officer were a Magistrate under this Sanhita.
   (ii) Outside India (in a “contracting State” where India has agreements):
   • The Court can send a copy of the summons/warrant to the appropriate Court, Judge, or Magistrate in that country.
   • The Central Government will specify the proper authority to transmit it.
2. Receiving summons or warrants from outside –
   If a Court in these territories receives a:
   • summons to an accused, or
   • arrest warrant, or
   • summons to produce a document/thing, or
   • search warrant
   …from:
   • another Court in India outside these territories, or
   • a Court/Judge/Magistrate in a contracting State,
   …the Court must serve or execute it as if it were issued locally. Special rules:
   • If an arrest warrant is executed, the arrested person must be handled according to Sections 82 and 83.
   • If a search warrant is executed, items found must be handled according to Section 104.
   • If the summons or search-warrant came from a contracting State, any documents or items produced or found must be sent back to the issuing Court via the authority specified by the Central Government.

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👉 In short:
Courts can send or receive summons, arrest warrants, and search warrants across India or to other countries (with government arrangements), and must follow proper procedures for arrests, searches, and returning items.

Example

                 ┌───────────────────────┐
                 │     Court wants       │
                 │ to serve/execute:     │
                 │ - Summons to accused  │
                 │ - Arrest warrant      │
                 │ - Summons to produce  │
                 │   document/thing      │
                 │ - Search warrant      │
                 └─────────┬─────────────┘
                           │
           ┌───────────────┴───────────────┐
           │                               │
   Within India outside                 Outside India
   Sanhita territories                   (Contracting State)
           │                               │

┌────────────▼───────────┐ ┌─────────▼───────────┐
│ Send duplicate copy │ │ Send duplicate copy │
│ to local Court officer │ │ to Court/Judge/ │
│ for service/execution │ │ Magistrate via │
│ │ │ authority specified │
│ Section 70 applies │ │ by Central Govt │
└─────────────┬───────────┘ └─────────┬───────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
Summons/Warrant served Summons/Warrant served
or executed locally or executed as per local
rules

│ │
│ │
┌────────▼────────┐ ┌─────────▼────────┐
│ Arrest executed │ │ Search executed │
│ → follow Sec 82/83 │ │ → follow Sec 104 │
└────────┬────────┘ └─────────┬─────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
Items/Persons handled Items/Documents found
according to rules → if from contracting State
→ send back to issuing Court
via Central Govt authority