BNSS 473 — Power to suspend or remit sentences.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Statutory text

(1) When any person has been sentenced to punishment
for an offence, the appropriate Government may, at any time, without conditions or upon any conditions
which the person sentenced accepts, suspend the execution of his sentence or remit the whole or any part
of the punishment to which he has been sentenced.
(2) Whenever an application is made to the appropriate Government for the suspension or remission of
a sentence, the appropriate Government may require the presiding Judge of the Court before or by which
the conviction was had or confirmed, to state his opinion as to whether the application should be granted or
refused, together with his reasons for such opinion and also to forward with the statement of such opinion
a certified copy of the record of the trial or of such record thereof as exists.
(3)  If  any  condition  on  which  a  sentence  has  been  suspended  or  remitted  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the
appropriate Government, not fulfilled, the appropriate Government may cancel the suspension or remission,
and thereupon the person in whose favour the sentence has been suspended or remitted may, if at large, be
arrested  by  any  police  officer,  without  warrant  and  remanded  to  undergo  the  unexpired  portion  of  the
sentence.

(4) The condition on which a sentence is suspended or remitted under this section may be one to be
fulfilled by the person in whose favour the sentence is suspended or remitted, or one independent of his
will.
(5)  The  appropriate  Government  may,  by  general  rules  or  special  orders,  give  directions  as  to  the
suspension of sentences and the conditions on which petitions should be presented and dealt with:
Provided that in the case of any sentence (other than a sentence of fine) passed on a person above the
age of eighteen years, no such petition by the person sentenced or by any other person on his behalf shall
be entertained, unless the person sentenced is in jail, and—
(a) where such petition is made by the person sentenced, it is presented through the officer in charge
of the jail; or
(b)  where  such  petition  is  made  by  any  other  person,  it  contains a  declaration  that  the  person
sentenced is in jail.
(6) The provisions of the above sub-sections shall also apply to any order passed by a Criminal Court
under any section of this Sanhita or of any other law, which restricts the liberty of any person or imposes
any liability upon him or his property.
(7) In this section and in section 474, the expression “appropriate Government” means,—
(a) in cases where the sentence is for an offence against, or the order referred to in sub-section (6)
is passed under, any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends, the
Central Government;
(b) in other cases, the Government of the State within which the offender is sentenced or the said
order is passed.

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