Sections 47 and 48 CrPC: Search of Place and Pursuit of Offenders
Sections 47 and 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 dealt with two connected powers relating to arrest: entry and search of a place where the person sought to be arrested is believed to be present, and pursuit of a person who may lawfully be arrested without warrant into another jurisdiction in India.
Section 47 CrPC - Search of place entered by person sought to be arrested
Definition and scope: Section 47 prescribed the procedure for gaining entry to and searching a place when a person acting under an arrest warrant, or a police officer having authority to arrest, had reason to believe that the person to be arrested had entered or was present there.
Sub-section (1): Duty to permit entry and search
If the authorised person or police officer had reason to believe that the person to be arrested had entered or was within a place, a resident or person in charge of that place was required, on demand, to allow free ingress and provide reasonable facilities for the search.
Sub-section (2): Entry where admittance is refused or cannot be obtained
Where entry could not be obtained under sub-section (1), the provision permitted entry and search in the circumstances specified by the section. To effect entry, an outer or inner door or window could be broken open after the officer or authorised person notified his authority and purpose, demanded admittance, and could not otherwise obtain entry.
The proviso contained a safeguard where the place was an apartment actually occupied by a female, other than the person to be arrested, who according to custom did not appear in public. Before entry, she had to be informed that she was at liberty to withdraw and given reasonable facilities to do so.
Sub-section (3): Release of a person lawfully inside
A police officer or other person authorised to make an arrest could break open a door or window to liberate himself or another person who had lawfully entered for the purpose of making an arrest and was detained inside.
Section 48 CrPC - Pursuit of offenders into other jurisdictions
Definition and scope: Section 48 authorised a police officer, for the purpose of arresting without warrant a person whom the officer was legally authorised to arrest, to pursue that person into any place in India.
The provision therefore prevented a person who was liable to lawful arrest without warrant from avoiding pursuit merely by crossing the territorial limits of the police officer's ordinary local jurisdiction.
Meaning and practical effect of Sections 47 and 48 CrPC
Section 47 concerned access to a particular place for effecting a lawful arrest. It first contemplated a demand for entry and reasonable search facilities and then specified the circumstances in which forcible entry could be made. Section 48, by contrast, dealt with territorial pursuit and permitted a police officer to continue pursuing throughout India a person whom the officer was authorised to arrest without warrant.
These provisions operated as procedural powers connected with an otherwise lawful authority to arrest. Section 47 did not itself create a general power to arrest, and Section 48 expressly concerned pursuit for an arrest without warrant that the officer was already authorised by law to make.
For current criminal procedure, consult the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the provisions applicable to the facts and date of the proceeding.