Section 24 CrPC: Public Prosecutors
Section 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 governed the appointment and eligibility of Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors and Special Public Prosecutors before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force.
Meaning and scope of Section 24 CrPC
A Public Prosecutor under the CrPC is a person appointed under Section 24 and includes a person acting under the directions of a Public Prosecutor. Section 24 established the statutory framework for prosecution representation before High Courts and district courts and prescribed the qualifications for appointment.
The provision distinguished between Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors and Special Public Prosecutors. It also addressed preparation of a district panel, appointment from a regular cadre of prosecuting officers where such a cadre existed, and the experience required for appointment.
Section 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Public Prosecutors
(1) For every High Court, the Central Government or the State Government shall, after consultation with the High Court, appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors, for conducting in such Court, any prosecution, appeal or other proceeding on behalf of the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be.
(2) The Central Government may appoint one or more Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case or class of cases in any district or local area.
(3) For every district, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors for the district:
Provided that the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor appointed for one district may be appointed also to be a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor, as the case may be, for another district.
(4) The District Magistrate shall, in consultation with the Sessions Judge, prepare a panel of names of persons, who are, in his opinion fit to be appointed as Public Prosecutors or Additional Public Prosecutors for the district.
(5) No person shall be appointed by the State Government as the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for the district unless his name appears in the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub-section (4).
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (5), where in a State there exists a regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor only from among the persons constituting such Cadre:
Provided that where, in the opinion of the State Government, no suitable person is available in such Cadre for such appointment that Government may appoint a person as Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor, as the case may be, from the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub-section (4).
Explanation. For the purposes of this sub-section:
(a) "regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers" means a Cadre of Prosecuting Officers which includes therein the post of a Public Prosecutor, by whatever name called, and which provides for promotion of Assistant Public Prosecutors, by whatever name called, to that post;
(b) "Prosecuting Officer" means a person, by whatever name called, appointed to perform the functions of a Public Prosecutor, an Additional Public Prosecutor or an Assistant Public Prosecutor under this Code.
(7) A person shall be eligible to be appointed as a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (6), only if he has been in practice as an advocate for not less than seven years.
(8) The Central Government or the State Government may appoint, for the purposes of any case or class of cases, a person who has been in practice as an advocate for not less than ten years as a Special Public Prosecutor:
Provided that the Court may permit the victim to engage an advocate of his choice to assist the prosecution under this sub-section.
(9) For the purposes of sub-section (7) and sub-section (8), the period during which a person has been in practice as a pleader, or has rendered, whether before or after the commencement of this Code, service as a Public Prosecutor or as an Additional Public Prosecutor or Assistant Public Prosecutor or other Prosecuting Officer, by whatever name called, shall be deemed to be the period during which such person has been in practice as an advocate.
Eligibility and appointment under Section 24
Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor
Under sub-section (7), the general minimum professional requirement was not less than seven years of practice as an advocate for appointments covered by sub-sections (1), (2), (3) and (6).
Special Public Prosecutor
Under sub-section (8), the Central Government or State Government could appoint an advocate with not less than ten years of practice as a Special Public Prosecutor for a particular case or class of cases. The proviso also enabled the Court to permit the victim to engage an advocate of the victim's choice to assist the prosecution.
Counting prosecutorial service
Sub-section (9) treated specified prior practice as a pleader and service as a Public Prosecutor, Additional Public Prosecutor, Assistant Public Prosecutor or other Prosecuting Officer as qualifying practice for the experience requirements in sub-sections (7) and (8).
Legislative notes
Section 24 was substituted by Act 45 of 1978, section 8, with effect from 18 December 1978. The explanation to sub-section (6) was inserted by Act 25 of 2005, section 3, with effect from 23 June 2006. The proviso concerning an advocate engaged by the victim was inserted by Act 5 of 2009, section 3, with effect from 31 December 2009.
State amendments to Section 24 CrPC
Section 24 was subject to State-specific amendments. The following amendments are retained from the source page because they can affect the manner of appointment in the concerned State or Union Territory.
Karnataka
In sub-section (1), the words and punctuation mark "or the State Government shall" were omitted, and for the words "appoint a Public Prosecutor" the words "or the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor" were substituted.
Vide Karnataka Act 20 of 1982, section 2.
Maharashtra
In sub-section (6), the proviso was deleted. Sub-section (6-A) permits the State Government, subject to sub-sections (4) and (5), to appoint a person who has been in practice as an advocate for not less than seven years as Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for the district.
Vide Maharashtra Act 33 of 2014, section 2.
Madhya Pradesh
The State amendment modified sub-section (6), inserted sub-section (6-A), and made consequential changes to sub-sections (7) and (9). Sub-section (6-A) permits appointment of an advocate with not less than seven years of practice as Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for the district without requiring appointment from the State cadre of Prosecuting Officers, subject to the State amendment.
Vide Madhya Pradesh Act 21 of 1995, section 3.
West Bengal
State amendments altered sub-section (6), including substitution of the words concerning appointment from the regular cadre and omission of the proviso.
Vide West Bengal Act 26 of 1990, section 3, and West Bengal Act 25 of 1992, section 3.
Jammu and Kashmir
Sub-section (6A) was inserted to permit the Government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to appoint an advocate with not less than seven years of practice as Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for the High Court and District Courts, without the requirements specified in that amendment concerning consultation and appointment from the prosecution cadre.
Vide Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Order, 2020, S.O. 1123(E), dated 18 March 2020.
CrPC to BNSS transition
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaced the CrPC framework from 1 July 2024. The subject of Public Prosecutors is contained in Section 18 BNSS. This page is maintained as a reference to Section 24 CrPC for the pre-BNSS legal position and for matters in which the earlier Code continues to be relevant under applicable saving or transition provisions.