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Section 445 BNSS: High Court Order to Be Certified to Lower Court

Section 445 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 governs what happens after a criminal revision is decided by the High Court or a Sessions Judge. The revisional decision or order must be certified to the court whose finding, sentence or order was revised, and that court must then pass consequential orders in conformity with the certified decision.

Text of Section 445 BNSS

445. High Court's order to be certified to lower Court. When a case is revised under this Chapter by the High Court or a Sessions Judge, it or he shall, in the manner provided by section 429, certify its decision or order to the Court by which the finding, sentence or order revised was recorded or passed, and the Court to which the decision or order is so certified shall thereupon make such orders as are conformable to the decision so certified, and, if necessary, the record shall be amended in accordance therewith.

What Section 445 Means

Section 445 creates the procedural link between the revisional court and the court whose order was examined in revision. Once the High Court or Sessions Judge decides the revision, the matter does not end merely with pronouncement of the revisional order. The decision must be formally certified to the concerned lower court so that the lower court can give effect to it.

The provision is mandatory in form. It uses the expression "shall" both for certification of the revisional decision and for the lower court's duty to make orders conforming to that decision. Where required, the lower court must also amend its record so that the record reflects the result of the revision.

How Section 429 Applies to Section 445

Section 445 expressly requires certification "in the manner provided by section 429." Section 429 deals with certification of a High Court judgment or order in appeal. In substance, it identifies the court to which the High Court's decision is to be sent and requires that court to make orders conformable to the High Court's judgment or order.

Under Section 429, where the concerned court is a Judicial Magistrate other than the Chief Judicial Magistrate, the High Court's judgment or order is sent through the Chief Judicial Magistrate. Where the concerned court is that of an Executive Magistrate, it is sent through the District Magistrate. Section 445 adopts this certification mechanism for revision proceedings.

Practical Effect of Section 445

  • The High Court or Sessions Judge decides the criminal revision.
  • The revisional decision or order is certified to the court that passed or recorded the finding, sentence or order under revision.
  • The lower court must make consequential orders consistent with the revisional decision.
  • If necessary, the record of the lower court must be corrected or amended to reflect the revisional outcome.

Why the Provision Is Important

Section 445 ensures that a revisional order is operationally implemented at the level of the original court. It avoids uncertainty about how the result of revision is to be reflected in the subordinate court record and makes the certified revisional decision the basis for any consequential order required from that court.

Legal context: The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is Act No. 46 of 2023. The Central Government appointed 1 July 2024 as the date on which the Sanhita came into force, subject to the notified exception concerning the First Schedule entry relating to Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Official Sources

India Code - BNSS, 2023 MHA - Commencement Notification

For connected provisions on revision, see Section 442 BNSS - High Court's powers of revision, Section 443 BNSS - transfer of revision cases, and Section 444 BNSS - option of Court to hear parties.