Section 327 BNSS: Identification Report of Magistrate
Section 327 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with the evidentiary use of an identification report made under the hand of an Executive Magistrate in respect of a person or property.
Text of Section 327 BNSS
327. Identification report of Magistrate.
(1) Any document purporting to be a report of identification under the hand of an Executive Magistrate in respect of a person or property may be used as evidence in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Sanhita, although such Magistrate is not called as a witness:
Provided that where such report contains a statement of any suspect or witness to which the provisions of section 19, section 26, section 27, section 158 or section 160 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, apply, such statement shall not be used under this sub-section except in accordance with the provisions of those sections.
(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on the application of the prosecution or of the accused, summon and examine such Magistrate as to the subject-matter of the said report.
What Section 327 BNSS means
The provision permits an identification report signed by an Executive Magistrate, concerning a person or property, to be used as evidence in a criminal inquiry, trial or other proceeding without automatically requiring the Magistrate to appear as a witness.
This is an evidentiary rule. It does not make every statement contained in an identification report automatically admissible. The proviso expressly preserves the safeguards contained in specified provisions of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
Key points
- The report must purport to be an identification report under the hand of an Executive Magistrate.
- The identification may relate to a person or to property.
- The report may be used in an inquiry, trial or other proceeding under the BNSS even if the Magistrate is not initially called as a witness.
- Statements of suspects or witnesses remain subject to the evidentiary restrictions and rules referred to in the proviso.
- The Court may summon the Magistrate on its own if it considers examination necessary.
- If either the prosecution or the accused applies for the Magistrate to be summoned and examined on the report, the section states that the Court shall do so.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam provisions referred to in Section 327
The proviso to Section 327 specifically refers to Sections 19, 26, 27, 158 and 160 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. These provisions address, respectively, proof and use of admissions, certain statements by unavailable persons, use of evidence from earlier proceedings, impeachment of a witness's credit, and use of former statements for corroboration.
Practical effect: the identification report can be received in evidence without the Magistrate being routinely called, but the report cannot be used to bypass the separate statutory rules governing the admissibility or evidentiary use of statements contained in it.
Power to summon and examine the Magistrate
Sub-section (2) protects the right to test the report in court. The Court has discretion to summon the Executive Magistrate if it thinks fit. More importantly, when the prosecution or the accused applies for such examination, Section 327 directs that the Magistrate shall be summoned and examined regarding the subject-matter of the report.
Commencement of the BNSS
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 was enacted as Act 46 of 2023. The Central Government appointed 1 July 2024 as the date on which the BNSS came into force, subject to the notified exception relating to the First Schedule entry concerning Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Related BNSS sections
Deposition of medical witness Section 327
Identification report of Magistrate Section 328
Evidence of officers of Mint Section 329
Reports of certain Government scientific experts Section 330
No formal proof of certain documents BNSS index
Browse Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Legal note
This page provides the statutory provision and a general explanation for reference. For a pending criminal case, the evidentiary value of an identification report depends on the facts, the manner in which identification was conducted, the contents of the report and other applicable provisions of the BNSS and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.