Trial of Warrant Cases | Section 261 to 273 BNSS

Trial of Warrant Cases by Magistrates: Chapter XX of the BNSS, 2023, Sections 261 to 273, the Two Branches, Discharge, Charge and Compensation

A warrant case is one relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years. Chapter XX of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 governs its trial by a Magistrate, and it does so in two separate branches. Sections 261 to 266 apply where the case was instituted on a police report; sections 267 to 270 where it was instituted otherwise. Sections 271 to 273 are common to both.

The difference between the branches is not a matter of detail. In a police-report case the charge is framed on the documents and the evidence follows. In a case instituted otherwise, all the prosecution evidence is taken before the charge is framed, and the charge is framed on the evidence. A complainant in a warrant case must therefore prove his case before the accused is put on trial at all.

1. The Two Branches

Figure 1: The two branches, and how both end

1.1 On a police report: sections 261 to 266

Provision	Content
Section 261	When the accused appears or is brought before the Magistrate at the commencement of the trial, the Magistrate shall satisfy himself that he has complied with the provisions of section 230 — that is, that the police report, the first information report, the statements under section 180, the confessions under section 183 and the documents have been furnished to the accused
Section 262	Discharge. If, upon considering the police report and the documents sent with it, and making such examination of the accused as the Magistrate thinks necessary, and after giving the prosecution and the accused an opportunity of being heard, the Magistrate considers the charge against the accused to be groundless, he shall discharge him and record his reasons. The accused may file an application for discharge within sixty days from the date of supply of copies under section 230 — and that period is new
Section 263	Framing of charge. If the Magistrate is of opinion that there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an offence triable under the Chapter which he is competent to try and could adequately punish, he shall frame a charge in writing, which is read and explained to the accused, who is asked whether he pleads guilty or claims to be tried
Section 264	Conviction on a plea of guilty. If the accused pleads guilty, the Magistrate shall record the plea and may in his discretion convict him on it
Section 265	Evidence for the prosecution. The Magistrate fixes a date for the examination of witnesses, may issue process to compel attendance, and takes all such evidence as may be produced. He may permit cross-examination to be deferred or recall a witness for further cross-examination
Section 266	Evidence for the defence. The accused is called on to enter on his defence and produce his evidence; any written statement is filed with the record; and process to compel attendance issues unless the Magistrate considers, for reasons recorded, that the application is for vexation or delay or to defeat the ends of justice

📖 Ratilal Bhanji Mithani v. State of Maharashtra, (1979) 2 SCC 179

Facts: After a charge had been framed in a warrant case, an application was made to the Magistrate to discharge the accused on the ground that the material did not disclose an offence. The question was whether a Magistrate who has framed a charge retains any power to discharge the accused thereafter.

Held: The Supreme Court held that once a charge is framed, the Magistrate has no power to discharge the accused. The provisions dealing with discharge operate at a stage before the framing of a charge; once the charge is framed, the case proceeds to trial and can end only in a conviction or an acquittal. The Court explained that an order of discharge and an order of acquittal are different in kind: a discharge is made before the evidence is taken and does not decide guilt, whereas an acquittal follows a trial. The remedy of an accused who contends that the charge should not have been framed is to approach the superior court, not to ask the Magistrate to undo it. The Court added that the framing of a charge is therefore a decision to be made with care, because it is not revisable by the court that made it.

Ratio: A Magistrate who has framed a charge cannot thereafter discharge the accused. The case must proceed to conviction or acquittal, and the remedy against an improper charge lies in the superior court.

1.2 Instituted otherwise: sections 267 to 270

Sections 267 and 268, BNSS 2023

Section 267(1). When, in any warrant-case instituted otherwise than on a police report, the accused appears or is brought before a Magistrate, the Magistrate shall proceed to hear the prosecution and take all such evidence as may be produced in support of the prosecution.

Section 267(2). The Magistrate may, on the application of the prosecution, issue a summons to any of its witnesses directing him to attend or to produce any document or other thing.

Section 268. If, upon taking all the evidence referred to in section 267, the Magistrate considers, for reasons to be recorded, that no case against the accused has been made out which, if unrebutted, would warrant his conviction, the Magistrate shall discharge him.

Provided that the Magistrate may discharge the accused at any previous stage of the case if, for reasons to be recorded by such Magistrate, he considers the charge to be groundless.

📖 Rosy v. State of Kerala, (2000) 2 SCC 230

Facts: In a warrant case instituted on a complaint, questions arose as to the nature of the pre-charge stage: what evidence the Magistrate must take before considering discharge, what the position of the accused is at that stage, and how the stage differs from the corresponding stage in a police-report case.

Held: The Court explained the scheme of the branch. In a case instituted otherwise than on a police report, the Magistrate must hear the prosecution and take all such evidence as may be produced in support of it before he can consider whether to discharge; the exercise is not confined to the documents, because in such a case there are no investigation documents to consider. The pre-charge evidence is evidence in the case, recorded in the presence of the accused, and the accused is present and represented, though the section does not contemplate his leading evidence at that stage. The Court emphasised that the requirement to take all the evidence is a safeguard for the accused, because the decision whether to put him on trial is made on tested material rather than on an untested allegation; and that the corresponding safeguard in a police-report case is supplied by the investigation and the supply of documents.

Ratio: In a complaint warrant case the Magistrate must take all the prosecution evidence before considering discharge. The pre-charge evidence is evidence in the case, and it performs the function that the investigation performs in a police-report case.

Section 269 provides that where the accused is not discharged and the Magistrate is of opinion that there is ground for presuming that he has committed an offence triable under the Chapter, he shall frame a charge in writing. The charge is read and explained and he is asked whether he pleads guilty or claims to be tried. And sub-section (4) supplies what makes the branch fair: the accused is asked whether he wishes to cross-examine any witness whose evidence has been taken, and if he says he does, those witnesses shall be recalled and, after cross-examination and re-examination, discharged. Section 270 then provides for the evidence for the defence.

⚠ Why the recall right exists

The prosecution witnesses in this branch were examined before any charge existed. The accused therefore did not know, when they gave their evidence, what case he was being asked to meet, and any cross-examination at that stage would have been conducted in the dark.

Section 269(4) answers that by entitling him to have them recalled and cross-examined once the charge is framed. It is the counterpart of section 240, which confers the same right where a charge is altered during a trial.

It follows that a Magistrate who frames a charge in this branch and proceeds without asking the accused whether he wishes to cross-examine has omitted a step that goes to the fairness of the trial, not merely to its form.

2. How Both Branches End

Provision	Content
Section 271	Acquittal or conviction. If the Magistrate finds the accused not guilty, he shall record an order of acquittal. If he finds him guilty, he shall, unless he proceeds under the provisions for release on probation or after admonition, hear the accused on the question of sentence and pass sentence according to law. Where a previous conviction is charged and not admitted, the Magistrate may take evidence of it after convicting him
Section 272	Absence of the complainant. When the proceedings have been instituted upon complaint, and on any day fixed for the hearing the complainant is absent, and the offence may be lawfully compounded or is not a cognizable offence, the Magistrate may, at any time before the charge has been framed, discharge the accused
Section 273	Compensation for accusation without reasonable cause. Where a case instituted otherwise than on a police report ends in a discharge or acquittal, and the Magistrate is of opinion that there was no reasonable ground for making the accusation, he may order the complainant or informant to pay compensation

Section 272 is confined by two conditions and one timing rule. The offence must be compoundable or non-cognizable; and the discharge may be made only before the charge has been framed. Once a charge has been framed, the complainant’s absence does not permit a discharge, and the case must proceed — which is consistent with the rule that a Magistrate cannot discharge after framing a charge.

3. Compensation under Section 273

Figure 2: The compensation provision

Section 273(1) and (2), BNSS 2023

(1) If, in any case instituted upon complaint or upon information given to a police officer or to a Magistrate, one or more persons is or are accused before a Magistrate of any offence triable by a Magistrate, and the Magistrate by whom the case is heard discharges or acquits all or any of the accused, and is of opinion that there was no reasonable ground for making the accusation against them or any of them, the Magistrate may, by his order of discharge or acquittal, if the person upon whose complaint or information the accusation was made is present, call upon him forthwith to show cause why he should not pay compensation to such accused or to each of them; or, if such person is not present, issue a summons to him to appear and show cause.

(2) The Magistrate shall record and consider any cause which such complainant or informant may show, and if he is satisfied that there was no reasonable ground for making the accusation, may, for reasons to be recorded, make an order that compensation to such amount not exceeding the amount of fine he is empowered to impose be paid by such complainant or informant.

Element	Position
When it arises	On a discharge or acquittal in a case instituted upon complaint or upon information — not in a case instituted on a police report
The test	That there was no reasonable ground for making the accusation. It is not enough that the prosecution failed; the Magistrate must be satisfied that there was no reasonable ground for making it at all
The safeguard	The person must be called upon to show cause, and the Magistrate must record and consider the cause shown, and must give reasons for the order
The amount	Not exceeding the amount of fine which the Magistrate is empowered to impose. Where more than one accused is discharged or acquitted, compensation may be ordered to each or any of them
Recovery	Recoverable as if it were a fine; and in default, simple imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty days
Appeal	Where the order is made by a Magistrate in a case triable by him, the person ordered to pay may appeal against it in the circumstances the section specifies
Effect on a civil suit	The order is no bar to a civil suit for compensation, but any amount paid is taken into account in awarding damages in such a suit

⚠ Section 273 compared with section 399

Both provide compensation against a person who set an unfounded prosecution in motion, and both are directed at the private complainant or informant rather than at the police.

Section 399 applies where a person caused a police officer to arrest another without sufficient ground, and its ceiling is one thousand rupees, unchanged since 1974.

Section 273 applies on a discharge or acquittal in a warrant or other case instituted on complaint or information, and its ceiling is the amount of fine the Magistrate is empowered to impose — which is very much higher.

Of the two, section 273 is therefore the substantial remedy, and it is the provision to invoke where a prosecution on a private complaint has failed and the accusation was baseless.

4. Key Takeaways

The position stated shortly

1. A warrant case relates to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment exceeding two years. Chapter XX has two branches, according to how the case was instituted.

2. On a police report (ss.261 to 266): the Magistrate first satisfies himself that the documents were supplied under section 230; then considers discharge; then frames the charge on the documents; then takes the evidence.

3. Section 262 now permits an application for discharge to be filed within sixty days of the supply of copies — that period is new.

4. Instituted otherwise (ss.267 to 270): the Magistrate takes all the prosecution evidence first, then considers discharge under section 268, then frames the charge on the evidence.

5. The test for discharge differs between the branches: “groundless” on the documents in a police-report case; “no case which, if unrebutted, would warrant a conviction” after all the evidence in a complaint case.

6. The Magistrate must take all the prosecution evidence before considering discharge in the complaint branch; the pre-charge evidence performs the function that an investigation performs in a police-report case: Rosy.

7. Section 269(4): on the framing of a charge in the complaint branch, the accused may have the witnesses already examined recalled for cross-examination. That is what makes the sequence fair.

8. Once a charge is framed, the Magistrate cannot discharge the accused. The case must end in a conviction or an acquittal, and the remedy lies in the superior court: Ratilal Bhanji Mithani.

9. Section 272: where the complainant is absent and the offence is compoundable or non-cognizable, the Magistrate may discharge — but only before the charge is framed.

10. Section 273: on a discharge or acquittal in a case instituted on complaint or information, where there was no reasonable ground for the accusation, the Magistrate may order compensation up to the amount of fine he is empowered to impose, after calling on the complainant to show cause and recording reasons.

5. Frequently Asked Questions

What is a warrant case?

A case relating to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term exceeding two years: section 2(1)(z). Any other case is a summons case.

Why are there two procedures for warrant cases?

Because the material differs. In a police-report case the allegation has been investigated and reduced to a report with documents, so the charge can be framed on that material. In a case instituted otherwise there is only an allegation, and the statute requires the complainant to prove his case in evidence before the accused is put on trial.

When is the charge framed in each branch?

In a police-report case, after considering the report and documents and hearing the parties: section 263. In a case instituted otherwise, only after all the prosecution evidence has been taken: sections 267 and 269.

Can a Magistrate discharge the accused after framing a charge?

No. The discharge provisions operate before the charge is framed; once it is framed the case can end only in a conviction or an acquittal, and the remedy against an improper charge lies in the superior court: Ratilal Bhanji Mithani.

Can the accused cross-examine witnesses examined before the charge?

Yes. Section 269(4) entitles him, on the framing of the charge, to have any witness already examined recalled for cross-examination. The right exists because those witnesses were examined before there was any charge for him to meet.

What compensation can be ordered against a false complainant?

Under section 273, on a discharge or acquittal where the Magistrate is of opinion that there was no reasonable ground for the accusation, compensation not exceeding the amount of fine he is empowered to impose, after calling on the complainant to show cause and recording his reasons. It is recoverable as a fine, with simple imprisonment up to thirty days in default.

Related Topics

Police-Report Case and Complaint Warrant Case Compared
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The Charge under the BNSS, 2023: Sections 234 to 247
Trial before a Court of Session: Sections 248 to 260, BNSS
Summons Case and Warrant Case under the BNSS, 2023
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