Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 276
Conviction on plea of guilty in absence of accused in petty cases
(1) Where a summons has been issued under section 229 and the accused desires to plead guilty to the charge without appearing before the Magistrate, he shall transmit to the Magistrate, by post or by messenger, a letter containing his plea and also the amount of fine specified in the summons.
(2) The Magistrate may, in his discretion, convict the accused in his absence, on his plea of guilty and sentence him to pay the fine specified in the summons, and the amount transmitted by the accused shall be adjusted towards that fine, or where an advocate authorised by the accused in this behalf pleads guilty on behalf of the accused, the Magistrate shall record the plea as nearly as possible in the words used by the advocate and may, in his discretion, convict the accused on such plea and sentence him as aforesaid.
Why this exists
For very minor offences where the summons already specifies a fine, this saves the accused from having to travel to court entirely - he can simply admit guilt and pay by post, or send a lawyer to do so on his behalf, reducing the burden on both the accused and an overloaded court system for petty matters. It mirrors section 253 of the earlier Code of Criminal Procedure.