CrPC · Chapter VI · Processes to compel appearance
CrPC section 61, “Form of summons”, is now BNSS section 63 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Now BNSS section 63. A summons may now also be issued in encrypted or other electronic form, bearing the image of the Court’s seal or a digital signature.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
Every summons issued by a Court under this Code shall be in writing, in duplicate, signed by the presiding officer of such Court or by such other officer as the High Court may, from time to time, by rule direct, and shall bear the seal of the Court.
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Every summons issued by a Court under this Sanhita shall be,—
(i) in writing, in duplicate, signed by the presiding officer of such Court or by such other officer as the High Court may, from time to time, by rule direct, and shall bear the seal of the Court; or
(ii) in an encrypted or any other form of electronic communication and shall bear the image of the seal of the Court or digital signature.
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.
The BNSS repealed the CrPC from 1 July 2024 (section 531(1)).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.
