Sections 91 and 92 CrPC: Summons to Produce Documents and Procedure for Postal Articles
Sections 91 and 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 formed part of Chapter VII dealing with processes to compel the production of things. This article explains the law as it stood immediately before the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024.
Section 91 CrPC - Summons to Produce Document or Other Thing
Text of Section 91 as applicable before BNSS
(1) Whenever any Court or any officer in charge of a police station considers that the production of any document or other thing is necessary or desirable for the purposes of any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code by or before such Court or officer, such Court may issue a summons, or such officer a written order, to the person in whose possession or power such document or thing is believed to be, requiring him to attend and produce it, or to produce it, at the time and place stated in the summons or order.
(2) Any person required under this section merely to produce a document or other thing shall be deemed to have complied with the requisition if he causes such document or thing to be produced instead of attending personally to produce the same.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed -
(a) to affect sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, or the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891; or
(b) to apply to a letter, postcard, telegram, or other document or any parcel or thing in the custody of the postal or telegraph authority.
Who could issue the process?
A Court could issue a summons. An officer in charge of a police station could issue a written order. The statutory test was whether production was considered necessary or desirable for an investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under the Code.
Was personal attendance always necessary?
No. Where a person was required only to produce the document or thing, Section 91(2) treated the requirement as satisfied if the person caused it to be produced. Personal attendance was therefore not automatically required merely because a production process had been issued.
Important exclusions under Section 91(3)
The provision preserved the operation of Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which dealt with specified official communications and unpublished official records, and it did not displace the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891. It also excluded articles in the custody of postal or telegraph authorities because those articles were governed by the special procedure in Section 92.
Section 92 CrPC - Procedure as to Letters and Telegrams
Text of Section 92 as applicable before BNSS
(1) If any document, parcel or thing in the custody of a postal or telegraph authority is, in the opinion of the District Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court of Session or High Court wanted for the purpose of any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, such Magistrate or Court may require the postal or telegraph authority, as the case may be, to deliver the document, parcel or thing to such person as the Magistrate or Court directs.
(2) If any such document, parcel or thing is, in the opinion of any other Magistrate, whether Executive or Judicial, or of any Commissioner of Police or District Superintendent of Police, wanted for any such purpose, he may require the postal or telegraph authority, as the case may be, to cause search to be made for and to detain such document, parcel or thing pending the order of a District Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate or Court under sub-section (1).
Who could order delivery under Section 92(1)?
The power to require actual delivery was vested in the District Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court of Session or High Court. The provision required the article to be wanted for an investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under the Code.
Who could require search and detention under Section 92(2)?
Other Executive or Judicial Magistrates, a Commissioner of Police, or a District Superintendent of Police could require the postal or telegraph authority to search for and detain the article. That detention was interim in nature and continued pending an order by the authority competent under Section 92(1).
Meaning and Practical Effect of Sections 91 and 92 CrPC
The two sections created a structured method for securing material relevant to criminal proceedings. Section 91 was the general production provision for documents and things believed to be in a person's possession or power. Section 92 applied where the material was held by a postal or telegraph authority. The special treatment of postal custody explains why Section 91(3)(b) expressly excluded such material from the ordinary Section 91 process.
Difference Between Section 91 and Section 92 CrPC
Section 91: General power to compel production of a document or other thing from the person believed to possess or control it.
Section 92: Special mechanism for a document, parcel or thing in the custody of a postal or telegraph authority.
Authority: Under Section 91, a Court could summon and a police-station officer in charge could issue a written order. Under Section 92, the power depended on whether delivery or only interim search and detention was sought.
Related CrPC Provisions
Sections 91 and 92 were followed by Section 93, which dealt with circumstances in which a search warrant could be issued. The remaining provisions in Chapter VII addressed searches, production, seizure, impounding and related processes. The links in the sidebar continue the sequence.
Legal status note: The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was replaced for current criminal procedure by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024, subject to applicable saving and transitional provisions. This page intentionally explains Sections 91 and 92 CrPC in their pre-BNSS setting.