Section 10 CrPC - Subordination of Assistant Sessions Judges

Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 governed the administrative subordination of Assistant Sessions Judges to the Sessions Judge, the distribution of judicial business among them, and arrangements for urgent applications when the Sessions Judge was absent or unable to act.

Historical law note: This article explains Section 10 CrPC as it operated before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) came into force on 1 July 2024. For proceedings governed by the post-commencement criminal procedure law, the BNSS should be consulted. Transitional and saved proceedings require consideration of the applicable repeal and savings provisions.

Text of Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

10. Subordination of Assistant Sessions Judges.

(1) All Assistant Sessions Judges shall be subordinate to the Sessions Judge in whose Court they exercise jurisdiction.

(2) The Sessions Judge may, from time to time, make rules consistent with this Code, as to the distribution of business among such Assistant Sessions Judges.

(3) The Sessions Judge may also make provision for the disposal of any urgent application, in the event of his absence or inability to act, by an Additional or Assistant Sessions Judge, or, if there be no Additional or Assistant Sessions Judge, by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, and every such Judge or Magistrate shall be deemed to have jurisdiction to deal with any such application.

Meaning and scope of Section 10 CrPC

Section 10 formed part of Chapter II of the CrPC dealing with the constitution of criminal courts and offices. It regulated the internal judicial hierarchy within a Court of Session so far as Assistant Sessions Judges were concerned.

Sub-section (1): Subordination to the Sessions Judge

Under Section 10(1), every Assistant Sessions Judge was subordinate to the Sessions Judge in whose Court the Assistant Sessions Judge exercised jurisdiction. The provision identified the Sessions Judge as the controlling judicial authority for this purpose within the concerned Court of Session.

Sub-section (2): Distribution of business

Section 10(2) authorised the Sessions Judge to make rules from time to time for distributing business among Assistant Sessions Judges. Any such rules had to remain consistent with the CrPC. The provision therefore enabled orderly allocation of judicial work without permitting administrative rules contrary to the Code.

Sub-section (3): Disposal of urgent applications

Section 10(3) enabled the Sessions Judge to make arrangements for urgent applications during his or her absence or inability to act. Such an application could be dealt with by an Additional Sessions Judge or Assistant Sessions Judge. If neither was available, provision could be made for the Chief Judicial Magistrate to deal with the urgent application. The provision expressly deemed the Judge or Magistrate so authorised to possess jurisdiction for that purpose.

Practical effect: Section 10 was designed to maintain continuity in the functioning of the Sessions Court by establishing subordination, permitting distribution of work, and ensuring that urgent applications were not left unattended merely because the Sessions Judge was unavailable.

Related provision: Section 9 CrPC

Section 9 CrPC dealt with the Court of Session and, before the BNSS regime, empowered the High Court to appoint Additional Sessions Judges and Assistant Sessions Judges to exercise jurisdiction in a Court of Session. Section 10 complemented that structure by specifying the subordination and allocation of business of Assistant Sessions Judges.

Position after commencement of BNSS

The BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024. Its Chapter II reorganises the provisions concerning constitution of criminal courts and offices. Unlike the earlier CrPC structure, the BNSS provisions on the Court of Session do not reproduce Section 10 CrPC as a separate provision concerning the subordination of Assistant Sessions Judges. Readers dealing with current proceedings should therefore identify whether the CrPC continues to govern the matter under applicable savings or whether the BNSS applies.

This page is intended as a legal reference to the pre-BNSS CrPC provision. The applicable procedural law can depend on the date and nature of the proceeding.