CrPC · Chapter XXIII · Evidence in inquiries and trials

CrPC section 297 in the BNSS

CrPC 297BNSS 333

CrPC section 297, “Authorities before whom affidavits may be sworn”, is now BNSS section 333 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 297 to BNSS 333

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 297 Authorities before whom affidavits may be sworn

(1) Affidavits to be used before any Court under this Code may be sworn or affirmed before—

(a) any Judge or Judicial or Executive Magistrate, or

(b) any Commissioner of Oaths appointed by a High Court or Court of Session, or

(2) Affidavits shall be confined to, and shall state separately, such facts as the deponent is able to prove from his own knowledge and such facts as he has reasonable ground to believe to be true, and in the latter case, the deponent shall clearly state the grounds of such belief. (3) The Court may order any scandalous and irrelevant matter in the affidavit to be struck out or amended.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 333 Authorities before whom affidavits may be sworn

(1) Affidavits to be used before any Court under this Sanhita may be sworn or affirmed before—

(a) any Judge or Judicial or Executive Magistrate; or

(b) any Commissioner of Oaths appointed by a High Court or Court of Session; or

(3) The Court may order any scandalous and irrelevant matter in the affidavit to be struck out or amended.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)).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