Section 18 BNSS: Public Prosecutors

Section 18 BNSS Bare Act Text

(1) For every High Court, the Central Government or the State Government shall, after consultation with the High Court, appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors, for conducting in such Court, any prosecution, appeal or other proceeding on behalf of the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be:

Provided that for National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Central Government shall, after consultation with the High Court of Delhi, appoint the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutors for the purposes of this sub-section.

(2) The Central Government may appoint one or more Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case in any district or local area.

(3) For every district, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors for the district:

Provided that the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor appointed for one district may be appointed also to be a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor, as the case may be, for another district.

(4) The District Magistrate shall, in consultation with the Sessions Judge, prepare a panel of names of persons, who are, in his opinion fit to be appointed as Public Prosecutors or Additional Public Prosecutors for the district.

(5) No person shall be appointed by the State Government as the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for the district unless his name appears in the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub-section (4).

(6) Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (5), where in a State there exists a regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor only from among the persons constituting such Cadre:

Provided that where, in the opinion of the State Government, no suitable person is available in such Cadre for such appointment, that Government may appoint a person as Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor, as the case may be, from the panel of names prepared by the District Magistrate under sub-section (4).

Explanation.

For the purposes of this sub-section,—

(a) "regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers" means a Cadre of Prosecuting Officers which includes therein the post of Public Prosecutor, by whatever name called, and which provides for promotion of Assistant Public Prosecutors, by whatever name called, to that post;

(b) "Prosecuting Officer" means a person, by whatever name called, appointed to perform the functions of a Public Prosecutor, Special Public Prosecutor, Additional Public Prosecutor or Assistant Public Prosecutor under this Sanhita.

(7) A person shall be eligible to be appointed as a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) or sub-section (6), only if he has been in practice as an advocate for not less than seven years.

(8) The Central Government or the State Government may appoint, for the purposes of any case or class of cases, a person who has been in practice as an advocate for not less than ten years as a Special Public Prosecutor:

Provided that the Court may permit the victim to engage an advocate of his choice to assist the prosecution under this sub-section.

(9) For the purposes of sub-section (7) and sub-section (8), the period during which a person has been in practice as an advocate, or has rendered (whether before or after the commencement of this Sanhita) service as a Public Prosecutor or as an Additional Public Prosecutor or Assistant Public Prosecutor or other Prosecuting Officer, by whatever name called, shall be deemed to be the period during which such person has been in practice as an advocate.

Source: Section 18, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 18 BNSS in Simple Words

When Section 18 BNSS Applies

• Under Section 18(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for every High Court, the Central Government or the State Government shall, after consultation with the High Court, appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors. A proviso to Section 18(1) BNSS provides that for the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Central Government shall, after consultation with the High Court of Delhi, appoint the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutors.
• Under Section 18(2) BNSS, the Central Government may appoint one or more Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case in any district or local area.
• Under Section 18(3) BNSS, for every district, the State Government shall appoint a Public Prosecutor and may also appoint one or more Additional Public Prosecutors for the district. Under Section 18(4) BNSS, the District Magistrate, in consultation with the Sessions Judge, prepares the panel of names of persons fit to be appointed, and a proviso to Section 18(3) BNSS allows a prosecutor appointed for one district to be appointed also for another district.
• Where a regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers exists in a State, Section 18(6) BNSS requires the State Government to appoint a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor only from among the persons constituting that Cadre, except that a proviso permits appointment from the District Magistrate panel where, in the opinion of the State Government, no suitable person is available in such Cadre.
• Under Section 18(8) BNSS, the Central Government or the State Government may appoint, for the purposes of any case or class of cases, a person who has practised as an advocate for not less than ten years as a Special Public Prosecutor, and a proviso allows the Court to permit the victim to engage an advocate of the victim's choice to assist the prosecution.

Time Limits Under Section 18 BNSS

• Under Section 18(7) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, a person is eligible to be appointed as a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor under Section 18(1) BNSS, Section 18(2) BNSS, Section 18(3) BNSS or Section 18(6) BNSS only if that person has practised as an advocate for not less than seven years.Act text: “only if he has been in practice as an advocate for not less than seven years”
• Under Section 18(8) BNSS, a person appointed as a Special Public Prosecutor must have practised as an advocate for not less than ten years.Act text: “a person who has been in practice as an advocate for not less than ten years as a Special Public Prosecutor”
• Under Section 18(9) BNSS, for the purposes of Section 18(7) BNSS and Section 18(8) BNSS, the period during which a person has practised as an advocate, or has rendered service, whether before or after the commencement of the Sanhita, as a Public Prosecutor, Additional Public Prosecutor, Assistant Public Prosecutor or other Prosecuting Officer, is deemed to be the period during which that person has practised as an advocate.Act text: “shall be deemed to be the period during which such person has been in practice as an advocate”

Example of Section 18 BNSS

When Section 18 BNSS Does Not Apply

• Under Section 18(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the State Government shall not appoint a person as the Public Prosecutor or Additional Public Prosecutor for a district unless the name of that person appears in the panel prepared by the District Magistrate under Section 18(4) BNSS. This is subject to the cadre rule in Section 18(6) BNSS.
• Where a regular Cadre of Prosecuting Officers exists in a State, the State Government shall not appoint a person from outside that Cadre as a Public Prosecutor or an Additional Public Prosecutor under Section 18(6) BNSS, unless, in the opinion of the State Government, no suitable person is available in that Cadre.

Section 18 BNSS in the CrPC (Previous Law)

FAQs on Section 18 BNSS

Section 18 BNSS: Sub-sections Explained

Sections Related to Section 18 BNSS