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CrPC · Chapter XXIII · Evidence in inquiries and trials

CrPC section 291 in the BNSS

CrPC 291BNSS 326

CrPC section 291, “Deposition of medical witness”, is now BNSS section 326 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 291 to BNSS 326

Now BNSS section 326, with the same rule.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 291 Deposition of medical witness

(1) The deposition of civil surgeon or other medical witness, taken and attested by a Magistrate in the presence of the accused, or taken on commission under this Chapter, may be given in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, although the deponent is not called as a witness.

(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, summon and examine any such deponent as to the subject-matter of his deposition.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 326 Deposition of medical witness

(1) The deposition of a civil surgeon or other medical witness, taken and attested by a Magistrate in the presence of the accused, or taken on commission under this Chapter, may be given in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Sanhita, although the deponent is not called as a witness.

(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, summon and examine any such deponent as to the subject-matter of his deposition.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)).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