Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter XXIX: The Judgment
Section 402: Special reasons to be recorded in certain cases
In plain words
If a court could have released an accused on probation or admonition under section 401 or the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, or dealt with a youthful offender under juvenile justice law, but did not, it must record special reasons in its judgment.
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
Where in any case the Court could have dealt with,—-
(a) an accused person under section 401 or under the provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (20 of 1958); or
(b) a youthful offender under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (2 of 2016) or any other law for the time being in force for the treatment, training or rehabilitation of youthful offenders,
but has not done so, it shall record in its judgment the special reasons for not having done so.
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 402
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.