Section 20 CrPC - Executive Magistrates

Section 20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ("CrPC") formed part of Chapter II dealing with the constitution of criminal courts and offices. It provided the statutory framework for appointment of Executive Magistrates, the District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrates and Sub-divisional Magistrates.

Legal position covered: This article explains Section 20 CrPC as applicable before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 ("BNSS") came into force on 1 July 2024. The CrPC text remains important for proceedings and legal questions governed by the earlier law, subject to applicable saving and transitional provisions.

Text and meaning of Section 20 CrPC

Sub-section (1): In every district and every metropolitan area, the State Government could appoint as many persons as it considered fit to be Executive Magistrates and was required to appoint one of them as the District Magistrate.

Sub-section (2): The State Government could appoint an Executive Magistrate as an Additional District Magistrate. Such Magistrate could exercise those powers of a District Magistrate under the CrPC or any other law that the State Government directed.

Sub-section (3): If the office of District Magistrate became vacant and an officer temporarily succeeded to the executive administration of the district, that officer could, pending State Government orders, exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed by the CrPC on the District Magistrate.

Sub-section (4): The State Government could place an Executive Magistrate in charge of a sub-division and relieve that Magistrate of the charge when required. The Magistrate placed in charge was called the Sub-divisional Magistrate.

Sub-section (4A): By general or special order, and subject to such control and directions as it considered appropriate, the State Government could delegate its power under sub-section (4) to the District Magistrate.

Sub-section (5): Section 20 did not prevent the State Government from conferring, under any law in force, all or any powers of an Executive Magistrate upon a Commissioner of Police in relation to a metropolitan area.

Who is an Executive Magistrate?

An Executive Magistrate under Section 20 was a person appointed by the State Government to exercise executive-magisterial powers conferred by the CrPC or other applicable law. The provision distinguished the executive magistracy from the judicial magistracy constituted under other provisions of Chapter II.

District Magistrate and Additional District Magistrate

The District Magistrate (DM) was the Executive Magistrate whom the State Government was required to appoint for a district. An Additional District Magistrate (ADM) was an Executive Magistrate appointed under sub-section (2). The ADM did not automatically receive every power of the DM; the provision tied the ADM's powers to the State Government's direction.

Sub-divisional Magistrate

A Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) was an Executive Magistrate placed in charge of a sub-division under Section 20(4). Section 20(4A), inserted by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005, permitted the State Government to delegate the power of placing an Executive Magistrate in charge of a sub-division to the District Magistrate, subject to specified control and directions.

Commissioner of Police in a metropolitan area

Section 20(5) preserved the State Government's ability, under another law for the time being in force, to confer all or any Executive Magistrate powers on a Commissioner of Police for a metropolitan area. The provision itself therefore operated as an enabling and saving clause rather than an automatic conferment of every such power.

Legislative amendments noted in Section 20

  • Act 45 of 1978 substituted the word "such" for "all or any" in sub-section (2), with effect from 18 December 1978.
  • The same 1978 amendment inserted the words making the ADM's powers subject to the direction of the State Government.
  • Act 25 of 2005 inserted sub-section (4A), with effect from 23 June 2006.

Section 20 CrPC before implementation of BNSS

For the pre-BNSS legal framework, Section 20 was the central provision identifying how the executive magistracy was constituted at district, metropolitan and sub-divisional levels. It should be read with the neighbouring CrPC provisions on Special Executive Magistrates, local jurisdiction and subordination of Executive Magistrates.

Related CrPC provisions

Section 19 - Subordination of Metropolitan Magistrates | Section 20 - Executive Magistrates