Types of Criminal Courts & Their Powers under the BNSS, 2023 Sections 6–25 & What Changed
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 did not merely renumber the court hierarchy — it deleted two entire classes of judicial officer. The Assistant Sessions Judge and the Metropolitan Magistrate no longer exist. Fines went up fivefold, community service entered the sentencing menu, and the whole country now runs on one uniform structure. This post maps every court, its establishing section and its exact sentencing power.
The New Hierarchy of Criminal Courts
Figure 1 — The criminal court hierarchy under the BNSS, 2023
Section 6 — Classes of Criminal Courts
Besides the High Courts and courts constituted under any law other than the Sanhita, there shall be in every State the following classes of Criminal Courts:
- Courts of Session
- Judicial Magistrates of the first class
- Judicial Magistrates of the second class
- Executive Magistrates
Neither is created by the BNSS. The Supreme Court exists under Article 124 and the High Courts under Article 214 — they are constitutional courts. That is precisely why Section 6 opens with the words "besides the High Courts". The BNSS merely defines "High Court" in Section 2(1)(j); it does not establish it. Every court below the High Court, by contrast, owes its existence to the Sanhita.
Two Classes of Officer That No Longer Exist
| Abolished | Position under Cr.PC, 1973 | Effect of the Change |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Sessions Judge | Existed under Section 28(3) with power to award imprisonment up to 10 years | The Court of Session is now only the Sessions Judge and Additional Sessions Judge, both with identical sentencing power |
| Metropolitan Magistrate & Chief Metropolitan Magistrate | Existed in "metropolitan areas" — towns with a population over one million | The metropolitan area concept is abolished. Mumbai, Delhi and a rural district now follow one uniform structure |
Establishment — Which Section Creates Which Court
| Court | Establishing Provision | Appointed / Established By |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Article 124, Constitution | Constitutional court — outside the BNSS |
| High Court | Article 214; defined in Section 2(1)(j) BNSS | Constitutional court — outside the BNSS |
| Court of Session | Section 8 | Established by the State Government for every sessions division; the Judge and Additional Sessions Judges are appointed by the High Court |
| Judicial Magistrate, first & second class | Section 9 | Established by the State Government after consultation with the High Court; presiding officers appointed by the High Court |
| Chief Judicial Magistrate & Additional CJM | Section 10 | The High Court appoints a Judicial Magistrate of the first class to be the CJM in every district |
| Special Judicial Magistrate | Section 11 | Conferred by the High Court on request of the Central or State Government |
| Executive Magistrate | Section 14 | Appointed by the State Government — District Magistrate, Additional DM, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and others |
Two different chapters answer two different questions, and mixing them up is the classic error. Sections 6 to 20 tell you which court exists and who creates it. Sections 21 to 25 tell you what that court may do. So the Court of Session is born under Section 8 but sentences under Section 22(2); the JMFC is born under Section 9 but sentences under Section 23(2).
Sentencing Powers — Section 22 and Section 23
Figure 2 — Sentencing ladder with the exact sub-section for each court
Section 22 — Sentences which High Courts and Sessions Judges may pass
- 22(1): A High Court may pass any sentence authorised by law
- 22(2): A Sessions Judge or Additional Sessions Judge may pass any sentence authorised by law; but any sentence of death passed by such a Judge shall be subject to confirmation by the High Court
Section 23 — Sentences which Magistrates may pass
- 23(1) — Chief Judicial Magistrate: may pass any sentence authorised by law except death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term exceeding seven years
- 23(2) — Magistrate of the first class: imprisonment not exceeding three years, or fine not exceeding ₹50,000, or both, or community service
- 23(3) — Magistrate of the second class: imprisonment not exceeding one year, or fine not exceeding ₹10,000, or both, or community service
- Explanation: "community service" means the work which the Court may order a convict to perform as a form of punishment that benefits the community, and for which he shall not be entitled to any remuneration
Old Cr.PC vs New BNSS — Side by Side
| Court | Cr.PC, 1973 | BNSS, 2023 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Any sentence authorised by law | Any sentence authorised by law | Unchanged |
| High Court | S. 28(1) — any sentence | S. 22(1) — any sentence | Renumbered only |
| Sessions / Addl. Sessions Judge | S. 28(2) — any sentence; death subject to confirmation under S. 368 | S. 22(2) — any sentence; death subject to confirmation under S. 409 | Renumbered only |
| Assistant Sessions Judge | S. 28(3) — up to 10 years | POST ABOLISHED | Deleted |
| Chief Judicial Magistrate | S. 29(1) — up to 7 years | S. 23(1) — up to 7 years | Power unchanged |
| Chief Metropolitan Magistrate | S. 29(4) — same as CJM | POST ABOLISHED | Deleted |
| Judicial Magistrate first class | S. 29(2) — 3 years, fine up to ₹10,000 | S. 23(2) — 3 years, fine up to ₹50,000, or community service | Fine ×5 + new punishment |
| Judicial Magistrate second class | S. 29(3) — 1 year, fine up to ₹5,000 | S. 23(3) — 1 year, fine up to ₹10,000, or community service | Fine ×2 + new punishment |
Community Service — The Sixth Punishment
- Introduced by Section 4(f) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 as the sixth form of punishment, alongside death, imprisonment for life, imprisonment, forfeiture of property and fine
- Only a Judicial Magistrate of the first or second class may award it under Section 23 BNSS — the CJM and Sessions courts are not given this option in the section
- The BNS prescribes it for six offences:
- Section 202 — public servant unlawfully engaging in trade
- Section 209 — non-appearance in response to a proclamation
- Section 226 — attempt to commit suicide to compel or restrain the exercise of lawful power
- Section 303(2) — petty theft, on first conviction, where the value is small and the property is restored
- Section 355 — misconduct in public by a drunken person
- Section 356 — defamation
Neither the BNS nor the BNSS specifies what community service actually consists of, how many hours may be ordered, or who supervises compliance. Courts have improvised — planting saplings, cleaning public spaces, service at hospitals. For a Mains answer this is the standard critique: a genuinely reformative, prison-decongesting idea introduced without an implementing framework, leaving States to build the machinery afterwards.
Three Provisions That Cap Sentencing Power
Section 21 — Courts by which offences are triable
- Every offence under the BNS is tried by the court shown against it in the First Schedule of the BNSS
- Where a special law specifies a particular court, that court tries the offence
- New safeguard: offences under Sections 64 to 71 of the BNS — the sexual-offence cluster — shall be tried as far as practicable by a Court presided over by a woman
Section 24 — Imprisonment in default of fine
- A Magistrate may award imprisonment in default of payment of fine as authorised by law
- Such term shall not exceed the Magistrate's own powers under Section 23
- Where imprisonment has been awarded as part of the substantive sentence, the default term shall not exceed one-fourth of the term of imprisonment the Magistrate is competent to inflict
- Default imprisonment may be in addition to the substantive sentence
Section 25 — Conviction of several offences at one trial
- Where a person is convicted at one trial of two or more offences, the Court may sentence him for each, and direct the sentences to run consecutively or concurrently
- The person shall not be sentenced to imprisonment for a longer period than fourteen years
- The aggregate punishment shall not exceed twice the amount of punishment the Court is competent to inflict for a single offence
- It is not necessary to send the offender to a higher court merely because the aggregate exceeds that court's ordinary power
A Judicial Magistrate of the first class can normally award 3 years. If he convicts an accused of four offences at one trial, Section 25 lets him stack sentences up to twice his single-offence power — that is, a maximum aggregate of 6 years — without transferring the case upward. But he can never cross the absolute ceiling of 14 years, and that ceiling is irrelevant to him anyway because his doubled power stops well below it.
Death Sentence — The Confirmation Route
- A Sessions Judge or Additional Sessions Judge may pass a death sentence, but under Section 22(2) it is not self-executing
- Section 407 BNSS (Chapter XXX): when the Court of Session passes a sentence of death, the proceedings shall forthwith be submitted to the High Court, and the sentence shall not be executed unless confirmed. The convict is committed to jail custody under a warrant
- Section 409 BNSS: the High Court may confirm the sentence or pass any other sentence warranted by law, annul the conviction and convict of another offence or order a retrial, or acquit the accused
- Proviso: no order of confirmation shall be made until the period for preferring an appeal has expired, or, if an appeal is filed, until it is disposed of
The old table said death sentences were confirmed "under Section 368 Cr.PC". Under the new law: Cr.PC 366 → BNSS 407 (submission) and Cr.PC 368 → BNSS 409 (the High Court's power to confirm, annul or acquit). Chapter XXX of the BNSS, Sections 407 to 412, covers the whole process.
The One-Screen Revision Table
| Court | Established By | Sentencing Power | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Article 124 | Any sentence | — |
| High Court | Article 214 · defined in 2(1)(j) | Any sentence | 22(1) |
| Sessions Judge | Section 8 | Any sentence · death needs HC confirmation | 22(2) |
| Additional Sessions Judge | Section 8 | Any sentence · death needs HC confirmation | 22(2) |
| Chief Judicial Magistrate | Section 10 | Up to 7 years | 23(1) |
| JM First Class | Section 9 | 3 years | ₹50,000 | community service | 23(2) |
| JM Second Class | Section 9 | 1 year | ₹10,000 | community service | 23(3) |
The numbers are easy to confuse because they run in parallel. Establishment climbs — 8, 9, 10. Punishment climbs the other way — 22 for the higher courts, 23 for the magistracy. Learn them as two ladders leaning against the same wall, not as one list.
— Legacy IAS Faculty
Key Takeaways
- Section 6 BNSS lists four classes of criminal court in every State — Courts of Session, JM first class, JM second class and Executive Magistrates. The Supreme Court (Article 124) and High Courts (Article 214) sit outside it because they are constitutional courts.
- The BNSS abolished two posts: the Assistant Sessions Judge (who could award up to 10 years under Section 28(3) Cr.PC) and the Metropolitan Magistrate along with the entire metropolitan-area concept — giving India one uniform court structure.
- Establishment sections: Court of Session — 8 · Judicial Magistrates — 9 · Chief Judicial Magistrate — 10 · Executive Magistrates — 14.
- Sentencing sections: 22(1) High Court, any sentence · 22(2) Sessions and Addl. Sessions Judge, any sentence with death subject to High Court confirmation · 23(1) CJM, 7 years · 23(2) JMFC, 3 years / ₹50,000 / community service · 23(3) JMSC, 1 year / ₹10,000 / community service.
- Fines were raised: JMFC from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 (fivefold) and JMSC from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000. Community service enters as the sixth punishment under Section 4(f) BNS, prescribed for six offences but with no statutory framework for its content or supervision.
- Caps to remember: Section 24 — default imprisonment cannot exceed one-fourth of the term the Magistrate can inflict; Section 25 — aggregate at one trial cannot exceed twice the Court's single-offence power, and never more than 14 years. Death sentences travel to the High Court under Sections 407 and 409.
