Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 283
Power to try summarily
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Sanhita—
(a) any Chief Judicial Magistrate;
(b) Magistrate of the first class, shall try in a summary way all or any of the following offences:—
(i) theft, under sub-section (2) of section 303, section 305 or section 306 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 where the value of the property stolen does not exceed twenty thousand rupees;
(ii) receiving or retaining stolen property, under sub-section (2) of section 317 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, where the value of the property does not exceed twenty thousand rupees;
(iii) assisting in the concealment or disposal of stolen property under sub-section (5) of section 317 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, where the value of such property does not exceed twenty thousand rupees;
(iv) offences under sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 331 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023;
(v) insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, under section 352, and criminal intimidation, under sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023;
(vi) abetment of any of the foregoing offences;
(vii) an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offences, when such attempt is an offence;
(viii) any offence constituted by an act in respect of which a complaint may be made under section 20 of the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871).
(2) The Magistrate may, after giving the accused a reasonable opportunity of being heard, for reasons to be recorded in writing, try in a summary way all or any of the offences not punishable with death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term exceeding three years: Provided that no appeal shall lie against the decision of a Magistrate to try a case in a summary way under this sub-section.
(3) When, in the course of a summary trial it appears to the Magistrate that the nature of the case is such that it is undesirable to try it summarily, the Magistrate shall recall any witnesses who may have been examined and proceed to re-hear the case in the manner provided by this Sanhita.
Why this exists
Summary trials exist to clear India's enormous backlog of minor, repetitive cases, small thefts, petty threats, small-value stolen-goods handling, quickly, without the delay of a full trial. This provision comes from the old Criminal Procedure Code's summary-trial chapter, updated in the BNSS to refer to the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's offence sections and to raise the monetary threshold for theft-related offences to twenty thousand rupees to reflect current values.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: A summary trial means no evidence is looked at.
Fact: Evidence is still recorded and a judgment is still given; the process is only shorter and simpler, with lower maximum sentences.