Chapter XXXV
Section 466 CrPC: Defect or error not to make attachment unlawful
New Law Update (2024)
Section 504 BNSS
TRIAL COURT
Punishment
Procedural – Warrant / Summons Process
Cognizable?
Bailable?
Compoundable?
Bare Act Text
No attachment made under this Code shall be deemed unlawful, nor shall any person making the same be deemed a trespasser, on account of any defect or want of form in the summons, conviction, writ of attachment or other proceedings relating thereto. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to certain economic offences; for details, refer to section 2 and the Schedule of the Economic Offences (Inapplicability of Limitation Act, 1974 (12 of 1974)).
Important Sub-Sections Explained
Landmark Judgements
Kasturilal Harlal V/s. The State of U.P. And Ors. (1987):
This Allahabad High Court case clarified that for an attachment to be deemed unlawful, the defect must be substantial, not merely a minor irregularity or defect in the form of the documentation. Section 466 CrPC prevents otherwise valid attachments from being nullified due to trivial procedural errors.
N.B. Babulal Jain v. State of Maharashtra (1960):
The Bombay High Court held that minor defects in a proclamation issued under the CrPC (then Section 87, now Section 82) would not, by themselves, make the subsequent attachment unlawful, reinforcing the principle of Section 466 that mere defects in form do not vitiate the attachment.