Section 40 CrPC: Duty of officers employed in connection with the affairs of a village to make certain report

What Section 40 CrPC Says

40. Duty of officers employed in connection with the affairs of a village to make certain report

(1) Every officer employed in connection with the affairs of a village and every person residing in a village shall forthwith communicate to the nearest Magistrate or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearer, any information which he may possess respecting—

(a) the permanent or temporary residence of any notorious receiver or vendor of stolen property in or near such village;

(b) the resort to any place within, or the passage through, such village of any person whom he knows, or reasonably suspects, to be a thug, robber, escaped convict or proclaimed offender;

(c) the commission of, or intention to commit, in or near such village any non-bailable offence or any offence punishable under section 143, section 144, section 145, section 147, or section 148 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860);

(d) the occurrence in or near such village of any sudden or unnatural death or of any death under suspicious circumstances or the discovery in or near such village of any corpse or part of a corpse, in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that such a death has occurred or the disappearance from such village of any person in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that a non-bailable offence has been committed in respect of such person;

(e) the commission of, or intention to commit, at any place out of India near such village any act which, if committed in India, would be an offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely, 231 to 238 (both inclusive), 302, 304, 382, 392 to 399 (both inclusive), 402, 435, 436, 449, 450, 457 to 460 (both inclusive), 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D;

(f) any matter likely to affect the maintenance of order or the prevention of crime or the safety of person or property respecting which the District Magistrate, by general or special order made with the previous sanction of the State Government, has directed him to communicate information.

(2) In this section,—

(i) “village” includes village-lands;

(ii) the expression “proclaimed offender” includes any person proclaimed as an offender by any Court or authority in any territory in India to which this Code does not extend, in respect of any act which if committed in the territories to which this Code extends, would be an offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely, 302, 304, 382, 392 to 399 (both inclusive), 402, 435, 436, 449, 450 and 457 to 460 (both inclusive);

(iii) the words “officer employed in connection with the affairs of the village” means a member of the panchayat of the village and includes the headman and every officer or other person appointed to perform any function connected with the administration of the village.

Source: Section 40, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 40 CrPC in Simple Words

When Section 40 CrPC Applies

• Under Section 40(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, every officer employed in connection with the affairs of a village and every person residing in a village shall forthwith communicate the listed information which he may possess to the nearest Magistrate or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearer. Under Section 40(2)(iii) CrPC, such an officer means a member of the panchayat of the village and includes the headman and every officer or other person appointed to perform any function connected with the administration of the village.
• Under Section 40(1)(a) CrPC, the information is respecting the permanent or temporary residence of any notorious receiver or vendor of stolen property in or near such village. Under Section 40(1)(b) CrPC, it is respecting the resort to any place within, or the passage through, such village of any person whom he knows, or reasonably suspects, to be a thug, robber, escaped convict or proclaimed offender.
• Under Section 40(1)(c) CrPC, the information is respecting the commission of, or intention to commit, in or near such village any non-bailable offence or any offence punishable under section 143, section 144, section 145, section 147, or section 148 of the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 40(1)(e) CrPC, it is respecting the commission of, or intention to commit, at any place out of India near such village any act which, if committed in India, would be an offence punishable under the sections of the Indian Penal Code listed in that clause.
• Under Section 40(1)(d) CrPC, the information is respecting the occurrence in or near such village of any sudden or unnatural death or of any death under suspicious circumstances, the discovery of any corpse or part of a corpse in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that such a death has occurred, or the disappearance from such village of any person in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that a non-bailable offence has been committed in respect of such person.
• Under Section 40(1)(f) CrPC, the information is respecting any matter likely to affect the maintenance of order or the prevention of crime or the safety of person or property respecting which the District Magistrate, by general or special order made with the previous sanction of the State Government, has directed him to communicate information.

Time Limits Under Section 40 CrPC

• Under Section 40(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the officer or person residing in the village shall forthwith communicate the information to the nearest Magistrate or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearer.Act text: “shall forthwith communicate to the nearest Magistrate or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearer”

Example of Section 40 CrPC

When Section 40 CrPC Does Not Apply

• Section 40(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 speaks of every officer employed in connection with the affairs of a village and every person residing in a village. It does not deal with a person who is neither.
• Section 40(1)(c) CrPC speaks of any non-bailable offence or any offence punishable under section 143, section 144, section 145, section 147, or section 148 of the Indian Penal Code. It does not deal with a bailable offence that is not punishable under any of those sections.

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