Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter II: Constitution of Criminal Courts and Offices
Section 13: Subordination of Judicial Magistrates
In plain words
The Chief Judicial Magistrate is subordinate to the Sessions Judge, and other Judicial Magistrates are subordinate to the Chief Judicial Magistrate. The Chief Judicial Magistrate can distribute work among them.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
(1) Every Chief Judicial Magistrate shall be subordinate to the Sessions Judge; and every other Judicial Magistrate shall, subject to the general control of the Sessions Judge, be subordinate to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
(2) The Chief Judicial Magistrate may, from time to time, make rules or give special orders, consistent with this Sanhita, as to the distribution of business among the Judicial Magistrates subordinate to him
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 12 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 13
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.