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CrPC · Chapter XXIV · General provisions as to inquiries and trials

CrPC section 318 in the BNSS

CrPC 318BNSS 357

CrPC section 318, “Procedure where accused does not understand proceedings”, is now BNSS section 357 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 318 to BNSS 357

Now BNSS section 357, with the same procedure.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 318 Procedure where accused does not understand proceedings

If the accused, though not of unsound mind, cannot be made to understand the proceedings, the Court may proceed with the inquiry or trial; and, in the case of a Court other than a High Court, if such proceedings result in a conviction, the proceedings shall be forwarded to the High Court with a report of the circumstances of the case, and the High Court shall pass thereon such order as it thinks fit.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 357 Procedure where accused does not understand proceedings

If the accused, though not a person of unsound mind, cannot be made to understand the proceedings, the Court may proceed with the inquiry or trial; and, in the case of a Court other than a High Court, if such proceedings result in a conviction, the proceedings shall be forwarded to the High Court with a report of the circumstances of the case, and the High Court shall pass thereon such order as it thinks fit.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)).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