Sections 260 and 261 CrPC: Power to Try Summarily and Summary Trial by Magistrate of the Second Class

Chapter XXI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) dealt with summary trials. Sections 260 and 261 identified the Magistrates who could exercise summary-trial powers and the categories of offences that could be tried in that manner.

Pre-BNSS law: This article explains Sections 260 and 261 CrPC as they operated before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) came into force. The CrPC has since been repealed, subject to the saving of pending appeals, applications, trials, inquiries and investigations under the repeal-and-savings provision of the BNSS.

What is a summary trial?

A summary trial is a simplified criminal trial procedure intended for specified offences where the law permits a shorter form of record and an expedited process. Under the CrPC, Chapter XXI contained the special provisions governing summary trials. The power was statutory: a Magistrate could use the summary procedure only within the classes of cases and authority prescribed by the Code.

Section 260 CrPC - Power to try summarily

Section 260 empowered specified Magistrates, if they thought fit, to try certain offences summarily. The Magistrates covered were:

Offences covered by Section 260(1)

The provision permitted summary trial of, among other specified matters:

  1. offences not punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment exceeding two years;
  2. theft under Sections 379, 380 or 381 IPC where the value of the stolen property did not exceed Rs. 2,000;
  3. receiving or retaining stolen property under Section 411 IPC where the value did not exceed Rs. 2,000;
  4. assisting concealment or disposal of stolen property under Section 414 IPC where the value did not exceed Rs. 2,000;
  5. offences under Sections 454 and 456 IPC;
  6. insult intended to provoke breach of peace under Section 504 IPC and the specified form of criminal intimidation under Section 506 IPC;
  7. abetment of the foregoing offences;
  8. an attempt to commit any of the foregoing offences where the attempt itself was an offence; and
  9. an offence constituted by an act in respect of which a complaint could be made under Section 20 of the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871.

When the case should cease to be tried summarily

Section 260(2) protected against inappropriate use of the summary procedure. If, during a summary trial, the Magistrate considered the nature of the case unsuitable for summary disposal, the Magistrate was required to recall witnesses already examined and rehear the case according to the ordinary procedure prescribed by the CrPC.

Section 261 CrPC - Summary trial by Magistrate of the second class

Section 261 dealt with a narrower power. The High Court could confer summary-trial authority on a Magistrate invested with the powers of a Magistrate of the second class. Such a Magistrate could summarily try an offence punishable only with fine, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months with or without fine, as well as an abetment of or attempt to commit such an offence.

Difference between Sections 260 and 261 CrPC

Section 260: applied to Chief Judicial Magistrates, Metropolitan Magistrates and specially empowered first-class Magistrates, and contained a specific list and category of offences that could be tried summarily.

Section 261: enabled the High Court to confer a more limited summary-trial power on a second-class Magistrate, confined to offences carrying the comparatively lower punishment specified in that section.

Related procedure under Sections 262 to 265 CrPC

Sections 260 and 261 should be read with the succeeding provisions of Chapter XXI. Section 262 prescribed the procedure for summary trials and applied the summons-case procedure subject to the special rules in the Chapter. Sections 263 and 264 dealt with the record and judgment in summary cases, while Section 265 addressed the language of the record and judgment.

Important: The original page incorrectly labelled the text of Section 260 as "Section 261 - Power to try summarily." The correct provision for "Power to try summarily" is Section 260; Section 261 concerns summary trial by a Magistrate of the second class.

Legal position after commencement of BNSS

The BNSS repealed the CrPC. Its repeal-and-savings clause preserves the CrPC for proceedings that were already pending immediately before commencement of the BNSS, subject to the terms of that saving provision. Accordingly, Sections 260 and 261 remain relevant when examining qualifying legacy proceedings and the pre-BNSS procedural law.

This page is an explanatory legal reference and should be read with the applicable statutory text, amendments and case-specific procedural history.