Sections 355 and 356 CrPC: Metropolitan Magistrate Judgment and Notification of Address by Previously Convicted Offender

Sections 355 and 356 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 formed part of Chapter XXVII dealing with judgments. Section 355 prescribed a simplified form of judgment for a Metropolitan Magistrate, while Section 356 empowered specified courts, in qualifying repeat-conviction cases, to require a released convict to notify residence and changes or absence from residence.

Pre-BNSS law: This article explains the CrPC position applicable before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. The CrPC was repealed by BNSS, subject to the repeal-and-savings provisions for matters already pending at commencement.
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Section 355 CrPC - Metropolitan Magistrate's judgment

Meaning: Section 355 created a special, concise form in which a Metropolitan Magistrate could record a judgment instead of using the fuller form otherwise contemplated by the preceding judgment provisions.

A Metropolitan Magistrate was required to record these particulars:

  1. serial number of the case;
  2. date of commission of the offence;
  3. name of the complainant, if any;
  4. name, parentage and residence of the accused;
  5. offence complained of or proved;
  6. plea of the accused and examination of the accused, if any;
  7. final order;
  8. date of the order; and
  9. where an appeal lay from the final order under Section 373 or Section 374(3), a brief statement of reasons for the decision.

The provision therefore did not dispense with a judicial decision. It prescribed the particulars that constituted the recorded judgment of a Metropolitan Magistrate under the CrPC framework.

Section 356 CrPC - order for notifying address of previously convicted offender

Meaning: Section 356 was a post-conviction preventive provision. In the circumstances specified by the section, a court could direct a repeat offender to notify his residence, and any change of or absence from that residence after release, for a limited period.

When could the court make the order?

Under Section 356(1), the power arose where a person had an earlier conviction by a court in India for one of the offences or groups of offences specified in the provision, carrying imprisonment for three years or more, and was again convicted of a qualifying offence carrying imprisonment for three years or more. The later conviction had to be by a court other than a Magistrate of the second class.

At the time of imposing imprisonment, the court could, if it considered it appropriate, additionally order notification of the offender's residence and any change of or absence from that residence after release. The period could not exceed five years from expiry of the sentence.

Conspiracy, abetment and attempt

Section 356(2) extended the provision, with reference to the offences named in sub-section (1), to criminal conspiracy to commit those offences, abetment of those offences and attempts to commit them.

Effect if the conviction is set aside

Under Section 356(3), if the conviction on which the notification order depended was set aside on appeal or otherwise, the notification order became void.

Appellate and revisional powers

Section 356(4) also permitted such an order to be made by an Appellate Court, or by the High Court or Court of Session while exercising revisional powers.

State Government rules

Sections 356(5) and 356(6) authorised the State Government to make rules concerning notification of residence, changes of residence and absence from residence by released convicts. Such rules could prescribe punishment for breach, with trial by a competent Magistrate in the district where the last notified residence was situated.

Difference between Sections 355 and 356 CrPC

Section 355 dealt with the form and essential particulars of a Metropolitan Magistrate's judgment. Section 356 dealt with a distinct additional order following specified repeat convictions, directed at notification of the released offender's residence for a period of up to five years. The two sections appeared consecutively in the CrPC chapter on judgments but served different purposes.

Position after commencement of BNSS

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. Its Section 531 repeals the CrPC but preserves the application of the old Code to appeals, applications, trials, inquiries and investigations that were pending immediately before commencement, as specified in the savings clause.

For current law, the BNSS judgment provisions are in Chapter XXIX. Section 393 deals with language and contents of judgment, and Section 394 contains the current provision titled "Order for notifying address of previously convicted offender." The BNSS does not reproduce the former Section 355 CrPC as a separately titled provision for a Metropolitan Magistrate's judgment.

Legal note: This page explains the statutory framework and is intended for general legal information. For a particular proceeding, the applicable law may depend on the date of commencement and the savings provision governing pending matters.