Section 337 BNSS: Person once convicted or acquitted not to be tried for same offence (Formerly Section 300 CrPC)

Section 337 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Person once convicted or acquitted not to be tried for same offence

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) A person who has once been tried by a Court of competent jurisdiction for an offence and convicted or acquitted of such offence shall, while such conviction or acquittal remains in force, not be liable to be tried again for the same offence, nor on the same facts for any other offence for which a different charge from the one made against him might have been made under sub-section (1) of section 244, or for which he might have been convicted under sub-section (2) thereof.

(2) A person acquitted or convicted of any offence may be afterwards tried, with the consent of the State Government, for any distinct offence for which a separate charge might have been made against him at the former trial under sub-section (1) of section 243.

(3) A person convicted of any offence constituted by any act causing consequences which, together with such act, constituted a different offence from that of which he was convicted, may be afterwards tried for such last-mentioned offence, if the consequences had not happened, or were not known to the Court to have happened, at the time when he was convicted.

(4) A person acquitted or convicted of any offence constituted by any acts may, notwithstanding such acquittal or conviction, be subsequently charged with, and tried for, any other offence constituted by the same acts which he may have committed if the Court by which he was first tried was not competent to try the offence with which he is subsequently charged.

(5) A person discharged under section 281 shall not be tried again for the same offence except with the consent of the Court by which he was discharged or of any other Court to which the first-mentioned Court is subordinate.

(6) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of section 26 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 or of section 208 of this Sanhita.

Explanation — —The dismissal of a complaint, or the discharge of the accused, is not an acquittal for the purposes of this section.

Illustrations

(a) A is tried upon a charge of theft as a servant and acquitted. He cannot afterwards, while the acquittal remains in force, be charged with theft as a servant, or, upon the same facts, with theft simply, or with criminal breach of trust.

(b) A is tried for causing grievous hurt and convicted. The person injured afterwards dies. A may be tried again for culpable homicide.

(c) A is charged before the Court of Session and convicted of the culpable homicide of B. A may not afterwards be tried on the same facts for the murder of B.

(d) A is charged by a Magistrate of the first class with, and convicted by him of, voluntarily causing hurt to B. A may not afterwards be tried for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to B on the same facts, unless the case comes within sub-section (3) of this section.

(e) A is charged by a Magistrate of the second class with, and convicted by him of, theft of property from the person of B. A may subsequently be charged with, and tried for, robbery on the same facts.

(f) A, B and C are charged by a Magistrate of the first class with, and convicted by him of, robbing D. A, B and C may afterwards be charged with, and tried for, dacoity on the same facts.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Inquiry Sec 2(1)(g) Investigation Sec 2(1)(h) Victim Sec 2(1)(w)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 337

Section 337 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (corresponding to Section 300 of the CrPC, 1973 and Article 20(2) of the Constitution) embodies the fundamental doctrine of autrefois acquit and autrefois convict, barring retrial of a person once convicted or acquitted for the same offence.

Competent Court Jurisdiction: The person must have been tried by a Court of competent jurisdiction for an offence and convicted or acquitted thereof.
Bar on Retrial: While such conviction or acquittal remains in force, the person is not liable to be tried again for the same offence, nor on the same facts for any other offence for which a different charge might have been made.
Exceptions and Separate Consequences: Distinct trials are permissible where consequences had not happened at the time of first conviction (e.g., hurt turning into murder after death), or where the court was not competent.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Maqbool Hussain v. State of Bombay, AIR 1953 SC 325: The Constitution Bench established the essential ingredients of the plea of double jeopardy: previous prosecution before a court of competent jurisdiction resulting in conviction or acquittal.
S.A. Venkataraman v. Union of India, AIR 1954 SC 375: Held that disciplinary or departmental proceedings do not constitute 'prosecution' before a criminal court and do not attract the bar of Section 300 CrPC / 337 BNSS.
Monica Kumar v. State of U.P., (2008) 8 SCC 781: Reiterated that the bar applies to the same offence on identical facts; a subsequent prosecution on distinct statutory ingredients is permissible.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

File an immediate plea in bar under Section 337 whenever a second FIR or supplementary complaint is lodged alleging the same factual transaction that resulted in a prior judicial acquittal or conviction.