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CrPC · Chapter X · Maintenance of public order and tranquillity

CrPC section 139 in the BNSS

CrPC 139BNSS 158

CrPC section 139, “Power of Magistrate to direct local investigation and examination of an expert”, is now BNSS section 158 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 139 to BNSS 158

The words are the same as in the CrPC, apart from “Sanhita” for the Act’s own name and the new numbers of the sections it refers to.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 139 Power of Magistrate to direct local investigation and examination of an expert

The Magistrate may, for the purposes of an inquiry under section 137 or section 138—

(a) direct a local investigation to be made by such person as he thinks fit; or

(b) summon and examine an expert.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 158 Power of Magistrate to direct local investigation and examination of an expert

The Magistrate may, for the purposes of an inquiry under section 156 or section 157—

(a) direct a local investigation to be made by such person as he thinks fit; or

(b) summon and examine an expert.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)).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.

Sources

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