Notice under section 160 of Cr.P.C.

Sec.160 of Cr.P.C.
T'olbce oficer's power to require attendance of witnesses
1 An polwr offieer making an imvestigatinn undor this
by
C'hapter may
order in writing. reqire the atfendance heforo himaelf of any
person being within the limits of his nwn or any adjoining atation who.
from the information given or otherwise.
appears to he acquainted
wth the facts and ireumstances of the case and auch
perarn ahall
attend as so required
Provided that no male person under the age of fifteen yeara or above
the age of
sixty five years or a woman or a mentally or physically
disabled person' shall be required to attend at any place other than
the place in which such male
person or woman resides.
2 The State Government may, by rules made in this be half. provide
for the payment by the police officer of the rea sonable expenses of
every person, attending under sub section (1) at any place other than
his residence.

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013

Points to note
Rank: Any police officer
Purpose: For investigation
Form of notice: Written
Requiring the attendance of any person being within the limits
of his own or any adjoining station who, from the information
given or otherwise
Witness to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the
case

The Police Office should not secure attendance of the tollowing

person at the Police Station
Male person under the age of fifteen years
oMale person above the age ofsixty-five years
A woman
A mentally or physically disabled person
oThey shall be required toattend at any place other than the
place in which such male person or woman resides

The Notice should necessarily contain the following details

o Name, address and parentage details of the witness
o Case Reference
Non conmplance of summons u/s 160 Cr.P.C. is an offence punisna
under Section 174 IPC of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Section 174 of IPC:

Non attendance in obedience to an order from publicservant.
Whoever, being legally bound to attend in person or by an agent at
certain place and time in obedience to a
summons, notice, order o
proclamation proceeding from any public servant legally competent, as
such public servant, to issue the same, intentionally omits to attend at
that place or time, or departs from the place where he is bound to
attend before the time at which it is lawful for him to depart, shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to
one month, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or

with both, or, if the summons, notice, order or proclamation is to attend

in person or by agent in a Court of Justice, with simple imprisonment
for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may
extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

Whether summon under Section 160 of Cr P.C can be served upon a

personresidingin other District/State?
I t is quite clear from the language used in Section 160 of the
Criminal Procedure Code, that a police officer making an
investigation has the power to summon only a person who is
within the limits of his own police station or within the limits of
anyadjoining police station.
A police officer has no power to summon a witness who is not
within the aforesaid limits of the same police station or any
adjoining police station.
different state or in a
Therefore, if a witness is residing in a

different district or is an outside witness, he cannot be

summoned by the police officer conducting the investigation, to
appear before him.
witness is, comes within
However, if the area, within which such
even if that may be in
the limits of the adjoining police station,
such witness may be summoned by
some other state or district,
is pertinent to point out that
the police officer. In this regard, it
Bhadur And Anr. vs The State Off
in the case of Krishan Bans
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 a t e and time f
appearanee
Addss nf th Palire hefor the Polire (ffre
Stntinn
Name of the
Investigating Officer
Contact details of the
Investignting Offirer
Non compliance with order under Section 160 of
Non comphance of summons n/s
160
Cr.P.C.
under Section 174 11C of 1he
Indian
CrPCis an offenee puniana ble
Penal Code, 1860.
Section 174 of IPC:
Non attendance in
obedience to
Whoever. being legally bound toan order from public servant.
certain place and attend in person or by an agent at a
time in obedience
to a summons,
proclamation proceeding notice, order vi

from any public

such servant legally competent, as
publie servant, to issue the same,
that place or time, intentionally omits to attend at

attend
or
departs from
before the time at which
the place where he is bound t
it is lawful for him to
punished with simple imprisonment for a depart, shall pe
one month, or
with fine which
term which may extend to
with both. or, if the may extend to five hundred rupees, or
summons, notice, order or
in person or
by agent in a Court of Justice, with proclamation is to attend
for a term which
may extend to six months, or with
simple imprison ment
extend to one thousand fine which may
rupees, or with both.

Whether summon under Section 160 of Cr.P.C. can be

person residing in other District / State? served upon a
I t is quite clear from the language used in Section 160
of the
Criminal Procedure Code, that a
police officer making an
investigation has the power to summon only a person who is
within the limits of his own police station or within the
limits of
any adjoining police station.
A police officer has no
power to summon a witness who is not
within the aforesaid limits of the same police station or
any
adjoining police station.
Therefore, if a witness is residing in a different state or in a
different district or is an outside witness, he cannot be
summoned by the police officer conducting the investigation, to
appear before him.
However, if the area, within which such witness is, comes within
thelimits of the adjoining police station, even if that may be in
some other state or district, such witness may be summoned by
the police officer. In this regard, it is pertinent to point out that
in the case of Krishan Bans Bhadur And Anr. vs The State Of
 imachnl 'radesh on 21 May, 1971 an order wa iNSod under
Sretion 160 of the Code of Criminal Proceduro requiring the
pofitioners to preRent themselvea nt Police Station Chhota Simla
Distriet Simla in connection with the investigation ofa case, Tho
rder was served on them nt New Delhi. The petitioners were
mable to attend at the Police Station in compliance with the
Order.
Consequently, a charge sheet wAs submitted against the
petitioners for an offence under Section 174 of the Indian Penial
Code.
n the circumstances, the Himachal Pradesh High Court held as
under:

"Clearly the petitioners are not guilty of any non compliance

with the orders issued under Section 160 ofthe Code of Criminal
Procedure. Section 160 empowers a police officer making an
investigation to require the attendance before himself of any
person being within the limits of his own or any adjoining
station" who from the information given or other wise appears to
be acquainted with the circumstances of the case and Section 160
adds, such person must attend as so required. From the record of
the present case it is apparent that when the orders under S. 160
of the Code of Criminal Procedure were issued the petitioners
were not within the limits ofthe police Station ofthe police ofticer
15Suing the order, nor ofany adjoining station. The address ofthe
petitioners mentioned in the order indicates that they were
present at New Delhi. There is no evidence whatever to show
that they were in Simla at all. Ex acie, the order under Section
160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is without jurisdiction.
The order did not proceed from a public servant legally
competent as such public servant to issue it. Accordingly, no
offence can be said to have been committed within the purview
of Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code."

Anirudha S.Bhagatva Ramnivas MeenaAnd Anr.on20 April, 2005

Bombay High Court
The petitioner challenges the summonses issued to the petitioner
by the Investigating Agency on two grounds, namely that the
Investigating Agency has no jurisdiction or power to issue
summons to a person residing or carrying on business beyond the
territorial limits of the police station to which the Investigating
Agency is attached and secondly that summons for production of
document can only be issued under Section 91 of the Codeof
Criminal Procedure and not under Section 160 thereof. On both