CrPC · Chapter XXII · Attendance of persons confined or detained in prisons

CrPC section 268 in the BNSS

CrPC 268BNSS 303

CrPC section 268, “Power of State Government to exclude certain persons from operation of section 267”, is now BNSS section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 268 to BNSS 303

Now BNSS section 303. The Central Government may also exclude persons from being moved from prison, in cases instituted by its central agencies.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 268 Power of State Government to exclude certain persons from operation of section 267

(1) The State Government may, at any time, having regard to the matters specified in sub-section (2), by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained, and thereupon, so long as the order remains in force, no order made under section 267, whether before or after the order of the State Government, shall have effect in respect of such person or class of persons.

(2) Before making an order under sub-section (1), the State Government shall have regard to the following matters, namely:—

(a) the nature of the offence for which, or the grounds on which, the person or class of persons has been ordered to be confined or detained in prison;

(b) the likelihood of the disturbance of public order if the person or class of persons is allowed to be removed from the prison;

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 303 Power of State Government or Central Government to exclude certain persons from operation of section 302

(1) The State Government or the Central Government, as the case may be, may, at any time, having regard to the matters specified in sub-section (2), by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained, and thereupon, so long as the order remains in force, no order made under section 302, whether before or after the order of the State Government or the Central Government, shall have effect in respect of such person or class of persons.

(2) Before making an order under sub-section (1), the State Government or the Central Government in the cases instituted by its central agency, as the case may be, shall have regard to the following matters, namely:—

(a) the nature of the offence for which, or the grounds on which, the person or class of persons has been ordered to be confined or detained in prison;

(b) the likelihood of the disturbance of public order if the person or class of persons is allowed to be removed from the prison;

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.