Chapter XXXVI
Section 484 CrPC: Repeal and savings
New Law Update (2024)
Section 531 BNSS
TRIAL COURT
Punishment
Procedural – Investigation / Inquiry
Cognizable?
Bailable?
Compoundable?
Bare Act Text
(1) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal,-
(a) if, immediately before the date on which this Code comes into force, there is any appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation pending, then, such appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation shall be disposed of, continued, held or made, as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), as in force immediately before such commencement (hereinafter referred to as the Old Code), as if this Code had not come into force:
Provided that every inquiry under Chapter XVIII of the Old Code, which is pending at the commencement of this Code, shall be dealt with and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this Code;
(b) all notifications published, proclamations issued, powers conferred, forms prescribed, local jurisdictions defined, sentences passed and orders, rules and appointments, not being appointments as Special Magistrates, made under the Old Code and which are in force immediately before the commencement of this Code, shall be deemed, respectively, to have been published, issued, conferred, prescribed, defined, passed or made under the corresponding provisions of this Code;
(c) any sanction accorded or consent given under the Old Code in pursuance of which no proceeding was commenced under that Code, shall be deemed to have been accorded or given under the corresponding provisions of this Code and proceedings may be commenced under this Code in pursuance of such sanction or consent;
(d) the provisions of the Old Code shall continue to apply in relation to every prosecution against a Ruler within the meaning of Article 363 of the Constitution.
(3) Where the period prescribed for an application or other proceeding under the Old Code had expired on or before the commencement of this Code, nothing in this Code shall be construed as enabling any such application to be made or proceeding to be commenced under this Code by reason only of the fact that a longer period therefor is prescribed by this Code or provisions are made in this Code for the extension of time.
Important Sub-Sections Explained
Section 484(1)
This sub-section formally repeals the old Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, signifying its replacement by the CrPC, 1973.
Section 484(2)
This crucial ‘savings’ clause ensures a smooth transition by providing that most ongoing legal processes (like appeals, trials, or investigations) initiated under the old 1898 Code will continue to be governed by its provisions, with specific exceptions for certain inquiries and validations for past actions, notifications, and sanctions.
Landmark Judgements
State of Punjab v. Mohar Singh, AIR 1955 SC 104:
This landmark judgment laid down the fundamental principle that when an enactment is repealed and substituted by new legislation, any legal proceeding or remedy may be continued under the old law unless a different intention is expressly or impliedly conveyed by the new enactment. This principle forms the bedrock of ‘savings’ clauses like Section 484.
Mahadeo Parashram v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1980 SC 1618:
The Supreme Court clarified the application of the proviso to Section 484(2)(a), holding that all inquiries under Chapter XVIII of the CrPC, 1898 (which dealt with committal proceedings) that were pending when the CrPC, 1973 came into force, must be dealt with and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the 1973 Code, thereby overriding the general savings clause for such specific proceedings.