Section 69 BNSS: Service of summons outside local limits (Formerly Section 67 CrPC)

Section 69 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Service of summons outside local limits

Official Bare Act Text

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

When a Court desires that a summons issued by it shall be served at any place outside its local jurisdiction, it shall ordinarily send such summons in duplicate to a Magistrate within whose local jurisdiction the person summoned resides, or is, to be there served.

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

Arrest Sec 35

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 69

Section 69 regulates the service of summons outside the local limits of the court's jurisdiction, directing that the court shall ordinarily send such summons in duplicate to a Magistrate within whose local jurisdiction the person summoned resides or is.

Outside Local Limits: Person summoned resides or works outside the territorial limits of the issuing court.
Magisterial Transmission: Sent in duplicate to the jurisdictional Magistrate of that remote area.
Execution as Local Summons: The remote Magistrate causes it to be served as if it were a summons issued by their own court.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Trisuns Chemical Industry v. Rajesh Agarwal (1999) 8 SCC 686: The Supreme Court explained the inter-magisterial coordination mechanisms for executing judicial process across district borders.
Bhaskar Industries Ltd. v. Bhiwani Denim & Apparels Ltd. (2001) 7 SCC 401: Affirmed procedural efficiency in inter-district service in commercial and criminal trials.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In inter-state or inter-district matters, if the complainant directly hands a summons to an out-of-district police station without routing through the local Magistrate under Section 69, object to procedural regularity.