Sections 383, 384 and 385 CrPC: Procedure for Appeals by Prisoners, Summary Dismissal and Hearing of Criminal Appeals
Sections 383, 384 and 385 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 governed three connected stages of a criminal appeal: presentation of an appeal by an appellant in jail, the power of the Appellate Court to dismiss an appeal summarily, and the procedure for hearing an appeal that is not summarily dismissed.
| Provision | Subject | Core rule |
|---|---|---|
| Section 383 CrPC | Procedure when appellant is in jail | The prisoner may submit the appeal and accompanying copies to the officer in charge of the jail for forwarding to the proper Appellate Court. |
| Section 384 CrPC | Summary dismissal of appeal | The Appellate Court may summarily dismiss an appeal where it finds no sufficient ground for interference, subject to statutory hearing safeguards and other conditions. |
| Section 385 CrPC | Hearing where appeal is not summarily dismissed | The Court gives prescribed notice, obtains the record where required, and hears the parties. |
Section 383 CrPC - Procedure when appellant is in jail
Section 383 provided a practical method for a person in custody to exercise the statutory right of appeal. Instead of requiring the prisoner personally to present the appeal before the Appellate Court, the provision permitted the petition of appeal and accompanying copies to be delivered to the officer in charge of the jail. That officer was required to forward them to the proper Appellate Court.
Text and effect of Section 383
If the appellant is in jail, the appellant may present the petition of appeal and the accompanying copies to the officer in charge of the jail, who must forward the petition and copies to the proper Appellate Court.
State amendment noted in the earlier law
For Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands, the page historically records a special arrangement where weather, transport or other difficulties prevent direct forwarding to the proper Appellate Court. In that situation, the papers could be forwarded through the Administrator or an Executive Magistrate not below the rank of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, with the date of receipt recorded before onward transmission.
Section 384 CrPC - Summary dismissal of appeal
Section 384 empowered the Appellate Court, after examining the petition of appeal and the copy of the judgment received under Section 382 or Section 383, to dismiss the appeal summarily if it considered that there was no sufficient ground for interference. The power was subject to safeguards designed to preserve a reasonable opportunity of hearing.
Main safeguards under Section 384
- An appeal presented under Section 382 could not be summarily dismissed unless the appellant or the appellant's pleader had a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
- An appeal presented by a prisoner under Section 383 ordinarily required a reasonable opportunity of hearing. The statutory exception concerned an appeal considered frivolous or a situation where producing the accused in custody would involve disproportionate inconvenience.
- An appeal presented under Section 383 could not be summarily dismissed until the period allowed for preferring the appeal had expired.
- The Court could call for the record before dismissing the appeal.
- Where a Court of Session or Chief Judicial Magistrate summarily dismissed an appeal, reasons were required to be recorded.
- If a jail appeal under Section 383 had been summarily dismissed but another duly presented appeal under Section 382 for the same appellant had not been considered, the Court could, where necessary in the interests of justice, hear and dispose of that appeal in accordance with law notwithstanding Section 393.
Section 385 CrPC - Procedure for hearing appeals not dismissed summarily
Where the Appellate Court did not dismiss the appeal summarily, Section 385 moved the matter to a regular hearing. The provision dealt with notice of the hearing, supply of the grounds of appeal to specified persons, calling for the trial court record, and the scope of hearing in a sentence-only appeal.
Notice and hearing procedure
The Court was required to give notice of the time and place of hearing to the appellant or the appellant's pleader and to the officer appointed by the State Government for that purpose. Where the appeal arose from a conviction in a complaint case, notice was also required to the complainant. In an appeal under Section 377 or Section 378, notice was required to the accused. The specified officer, complainant and accused were also to receive a copy of the grounds of appeal.
The Appellate Court was then to call for the record, if it was not already before the Court, and hear the parties. If the appeal concerned only the extent or legality of the sentence, the Court could dispose of it without calling for the record.
Where the only ground of appeal against conviction was alleged severity of sentence, the appellant could not urge another ground without leave of the Court.
How Sections 383, 384 and 385 worked together
The three provisions formed a sequence. Section 383 enabled a prisoner to lodge an appeal through the jail administration. Section 384 governed the preliminary scrutiny of an appeal and imposed safeguards before summary dismissal. If the appeal survived that stage, Section 385 prescribed notice and the procedure for its substantive hearing.
CrPC and the transition to BNSS
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is the current central criminal procedure legislation from 1 July 2024. Section numbering under the BNSS is different, so a present-day reader should not assume that BNSS Sections 383, 384 and 385 correspond to CrPC Sections 383, 384 and 385. For a case instituted, appeal filed, investigation commenced or proceeding pending around the transition, the applicable repeal and savings provisions should be checked before deciding which procedural code governs the matter.
Note: This page is a general explanation of the statutory provisions and is not a substitute for the text of the applicable law, amendments, rules or binding judicial decisions.