CrPC · Chapter XXXI · Transfer of criminal cases

CrPC section 408 in the BNSS

CrPC 408BNSS 448

CrPC section 408, “Power of Sessions Judge to transfer cases and appeals”, is now BNSS section 448 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From CrPC 408 to BNSS 448

Now BNSS section 448, with the same power; the compensation a Sessions Judge may award for a frivolous transfer application is capped at ₹10,000 (CrPC: ₹250).

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 408 Power of Sessions Judge to transfer cases and appeals

(1) Whenever it is made to appear to a Sessions Judge that an order under this sub-section is expedient for the ends of justice, he may order that any particular case be transferred from one Criminal Court to another Criminal Court in his sessions division.

(2) The Sessions Judge may act either on the report of the lower Court, or on the application of a party interested, or on his own initiative. (3) The provisions of sub-sections (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) and (9) of section 407 shall apply in relation to an application to the Sessions Judge for an order under sub-section (1) as they apply in relation to an application to the High Court for an order under sub-section (1) of section 407, except that sub-section (7) of that section shall so apply as if for the words “one thousand rupees” occurring therein, the words “two hundred and fifty rupees” were substituted.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 448 Power of Sessions Judge to transfer cases and appeals

(2) The Sessions Judge may act either on the report of the lower Court, or on the application of a party interested, or on his own initiative.

(3) The provisions of sub-sections (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) and (9) of section 447 shall apply in relation to an application to the Sessions Judge for an order under sub-section (1) as they apply in relation to an application to the High Court for an order under sub-section (1) of section 447, except that sub-section (7) of that section shall so apply as if for the word “sum” occurring therein, the words “sum not exceeding ten thousand rupees” were substituted.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.