CrPC · Chapter X · Maintenance of public order and tranquillity

CrPC section 132 in the BNSS

CrPC 132BNSS 151

CrPC section 132, “Protection against prosecution for acts done under preceding sections”, is now BNSS section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 132 to BNSS 151

Now BNSS section 151, with the same protection; “military” becomes “army”.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 132 Protection against prosecution for acts done under preceding sections

(1) No prosecution against any person for any act purporting to be done under section 129, section 130 or section 131 shall be instituted in any Criminal Court except—

(a) with the sanction of the Central Government where such person is an officer or member of the armed forces;

(b) with the sanction of the State Government in any other case.

(2) (a) No Executive Magistrate or police officer acting under any of the said sections in good faith;

(b) no person doing any act in good faith in compliance with a requisition under section 129 or section 130;

(d) no member of the armed forces doing any act in obedience to any order which he was bound to obey, shall be deemed to have thereby committed an offence.

(3) In this section and in the preceding sections of this Chapter,—

(a) the expression “armed forces” means the military, naval and air forces, operating as land forces and includes any other armed forces of the Union so operating;

(b) “officer”, in relation to the armed forces, means a person commissioned, gazetted or in pay as an officer of the armed forces and includes a junior commissioned officer, a warrant officer, a petty officer, a non- commissioned officer and a non-gazetted officer;

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 151 Protection against prosecution for acts done under sections 148, 149 and 150

(1) No prosecution against any person for any act purporting to be done under section 148, section 149 or section 150 shall be instituted in any Criminal Court except—

(a) with the sanction of the Central Government where such person is an officer or member of the armed forces;

(b) with the sanction of the State Government in any other case.

(2) (a) No Executive Magistrate or police officer acting under any of the said sections in good faith;

(b) no person doing any act in good faith in compliance with a requisition under section 148 or section 149;

(d) no member of the armed forces doing any act in obedience to any order which he was bound to obey, shall be deemed to have thereby committed an offence.

(3) In this section and in the preceding sections of this Chapter,—

(a) the expression “armed forces” means the army, naval and air forces, operating as land forces and includes any other armed forces of the Union so operating;

The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.

Old law or new?

Which one applies to a case

The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)). Any appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation pending immediately before that date is disposed of under the CrPC as it then stood, as if the BNSS had not come into force (section 531(2)(a)). Anything not pending on that date follows the BNSS.