Section 25 CrPC: Assistant Public Prosecutors
Section 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 governed the appointment of Assistant Public Prosecutors for prosecutions before Magistrates' Courts. This article explains the provision as it operated before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force.
Meaning and purpose of Section 25 CrPC
An Assistant Public Prosecutor is a prosecuting officer appointed to conduct criminal prosecutions on behalf of the Government, principally in the Courts of Magistrates. Section 25 prescribed who appoints Assistant Public Prosecutors, where they conduct prosecutions, and the restrictions applicable to appointment of police officers.
Section 25 CrPC - statutory provision
Sub-section (1): The State Government shall appoint in every district one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for conducting prosecutions in the Courts of Magistrates.
Sub-section (1A): The Central Government may appoint one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for conducting any case or class of cases in the Courts of Magistrates.
Sub-section (2): Except as provided in sub-section (3), a police officer is not eligible to be appointed as an Assistant Public Prosecutor.
Sub-section (3): If no Assistant Public Prosecutor is available for a particular case, the District Magistrate may appoint another person as Assistant Public Prosecutor in charge of that case. A police officer cannot be appointed if that officer participated in investigation of the offence concerned or is below the rank of Inspector.
Sub-section (1A) was inserted by Act 45 of 1978, section 9, with effect from 18 December 1978.
Who appoints an Assistant Public Prosecutor?
The State Government has the statutory duty to appoint one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors in every district for prosecutions before Magistrates. The Central Government may separately appoint Assistant Public Prosecutors for a particular case or class of cases before Magistrates.
Can a police officer be appointed?
As a general rule under Section 25(2), a police officer cannot be appointed as an Assistant Public Prosecutor. Section 25(3) created a limited exception when no Assistant Public Prosecutor was available for a particular case. Even then, a police officer who participated in the investigation of that offence, or who was below the rank of Inspector, was expressly disqualified.
The restriction reflects the distinction between investigation by the police and prosecution before the court, while the exceptional provision ensured that a prosecution was not left without a prosecutor merely because an Assistant Public Prosecutor was unavailable.
Orissa State amendment
For Orissa (now Odisha), Orissa Act 6 of 1995 inserted a proviso to Section 25(2) stating that nothing in that sub-section shall be construed to prohibit the State Government from exercising its control over Assistant Public Prosecutors through police officers. The amendment concerns governmental control over Assistant Public Prosecutors and should be read with the applicable State law.
Section 25 CrPC and Section 19 BNSS
Section 19 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 now deals with Assistant Public Prosecutors. It retains the State Government's district-level appointment of Assistant Public Prosecutors and permits Central Government appointments. One notable change is that, where no Assistant Public Prosecutor is available for a particular case, Section 19(3) requires the District Magistrate to give fourteen days' notice to the State Government before appointing another person. The BNSS also frames the police-officer restriction within that provision.
Related CrPC provisions
Section 25 should be read with Section 24 CrPC on Public Prosecutors and Section 25A CrPC on the Directorate of Prosecution. These provisions formed part of the CrPC framework governing prosecution personnel and administration.