Sections 37, 38 and 39 CrPC: Public Duty to Assist Magistrates and Police
Sections 37 to 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 formed part of Chapter IV, Part B, titled Aid to the Magistrates and the Police. They dealt with three related public responsibilities: assisting a Magistrate or police officer in specified situations, helping a person executing a warrant, and reporting specified serious offences.
Section 37 CrPC - Public when to assist Magistrates and police
Meaning: Section 37 imposed a legal duty on every person to provide assistance when a Magistrate or police officer reasonably demanded aid for one of the purposes specified in the section.
The duty applied to assistance reasonably demanded:
- for taking, or preventing the escape of, a person whom the Magistrate or police officer was authorised to arrest;
- for preventing or suppressing a breach of the peace; or
- for preventing attempted injury to a railway, canal, telegraph or public property.
The expression reasonably demanding his aid is important. The statutory obligation was connected to a lawful demand for assistance and to the purposes specifically stated in Section 37.
Section 38 CrPC - Aid to person other than police officer executing warrant
Meaning: Section 38 addressed a warrant directed to a person other than a police officer. Another person could aid in executing that warrant when the person to whom the warrant was directed was nearby and was actually acting in execution of it.
Unlike Section 37, which used mandatory language when lawful aid was reasonably demanded, Section 38 stated that another person may aid the person executing the warrant, subject to the conditions stated in the provision.
Section 39 CrPC - Public to give information of certain offences
Meaning: Section 39 required a person who knew of the commission, or intended commission, of specified serious offences to give information forthwith to the nearest Magistrate or police officer, unless the person had a reasonable excuse. Under the provision, the burden of proving such reasonable excuse lay on the person relying on it.
Offences covered by Section 39 before commencement of BNSS
The specified IPC provisions included offences against the State; certain offences against public tranquillity; specified offences concerning adulteration of food and drugs; murder and culpable homicide; kidnapping for ransom; specified theft, robbery and dacoity offences; criminal breach of trust by a public servant and related persons; specified mischief and house-trespass offences; and offences relating to currency notes and bank notes.
The original clause referring to IPC Sections 161 to 165A concerning illegal gratification was omitted following the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Accordingly, it should not be presented as part of the operative pre-BNSS text of Section 39.
Section 39(2) further provided, for the purposes of Section 39, that the term offence included an act committed outside India which would constitute an offence if committed in India.
Difference between Sections 37, 38 and 39 CrPC
Section 37 concerned assistance demanded by a Magistrate or police officer in specified situations. Section 38 concerned voluntary aid to a non-police person who was executing a warrant and was near at hand. Section 39 created a duty to communicate information about specified offences or intended offences to the nearest Magistrate or police officer, subject to reasonable excuse.
Practical significance under the pre-BNSS law
These provisions reflected the principle that criminal procedure did not place responsibility for maintaining public order and reporting grave offences exclusively on public authorities. In the circumstances defined by the Code, members of the public could be required to assist lawful authority or communicate information. The exact statutory conditions remained important; the provisions did not create an unrestricted power to demand assistance for purposes outside their terms.
Official legal reference
For authoritative historical text, consult the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on India Code. For matters arising after commencement of the new criminal procedure law, refer to the applicable provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and its savings provisions.
This article is for legal information and statutory reference. Application of repeal and savings provisions can depend on the date and procedural stage of a particular proceeding.