CrPC Section 25 is now BNSS 19: Assistant Public prosecutors
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 · applies to offences and proceedings before 1 July 2024
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: The time line of fourteen days for notice to the state government for the appointment of Assistant Public Prosecutor is mentioned. Proviso is reframed but the meaning is same.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
CrPC 25: Assistant Public prosecutors
Before 1 July 2024
(1) The State Government shall appoint in every district one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for conducting prosecutions in the Courts of Magistrates. [(1A) The Central Government may appoint one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case or class of cases in the Courts of Magistrates.]
(2) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (3), no police officer shall be eligible to be appointed as an Assistant Public Prosecutor.
(3) Where no Assistant Public Prosecutor is available for the purposes of any particular case, the District Magistrate may appoint any other person to be the Assistant Public Prosecutor in charge of that case:
Provided that a police officer shall not be so appointed—
(a) if he has taken any part in the investigation into the offence with respect to which the accused is being prosecuted; or
(b) if he is below the rank of Inspector.
BNSS 19: Assistant Public Prosecutors
From 1 July 2024
(1) The State Government shall appoint in every district one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for conducting prosecutions in the Courts of Magistrates.
(2) The Central Government may appoint one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case or class of cases in the Courts of Magistrates.
(3) Without prejudice to provisions contained in sub-sections (1) and (2), where no Assistant Public Prosecutor is available for the purposes of any particular case, the District Magistrate may appoint any other person to be the Assistant Public Prosecutor in charge of that case after giving notice of fourteen days to the State Government:
Provided that no police officer shall be eligible to be appointed as an Assistant Public Prosecutor, if he—
(a) has taken any part in the investigation into the offence with respect to which the accused is being prosecuted; or
(b) is below the rank of Inspector.
Which one applies
Procedure follows the proceeding. Under section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS, an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation already pending on 1 July 2024 continues under the CrPC; one begun on or after that date proceeds under the BNSS.
Read BNSS section 531 →Judgments decided under CrPC 25
They remain the law on CrPC 25. Where the provision changed in the move, read what changed before relying on one for an offence after 1 July 2024.
Sources
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, page 3.
- Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 21.
- The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974), as amended, India Code, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
BPR&D is the Bureau of Police Research & Development (Ministry of Home Affairs); NCRB the National Crime Records Bureau. Their correspondence tables are training aids, not law. This page is general information, not legal advice on any case; the bare Acts as published by the Government of India are the authority.