Section 13: Probation officers

(1) A probation officer under this Act shall be—

(a) a person appointed to be a probation officer by the State Government or recognised as such by the State Government; or

(b) a person provided for this purpose by a society recognised in this behalf by the State Government; or

(c) In any exceptional case, any other person who, in the opinion of the court, is fit to act as a probation officer in the special circumstances of the case.

(2) A court which passes an order under section 4 or the district magistrate of the district in which the offender for the time being resides may, at any time, appoint any probation officer in the place of the person named in the supervision order.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, a presidency town shall be deemed to be a district and chief presidency magistrate shall be deemed to be the district magistrate of that district.

(3) A probation officer, in the exercise of his duties under this Act, shall be subject to the control of the district magistrate of the district in which the offender for the time being resides.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 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.