Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 507
Irregularities which vitiate proceedings
If any Magistrate, not being empowered by law in this behalf, does any of the following things, namely:—
(a) attaches and sells property under section 85;
(b) issues a search-warrant for a document, parcel or other things in the custody of a postal authority;
(c) demands security to keep the peace;
(d) demands security for good behaviour;
(e) discharges a person lawfully bound to be of good behaviour;
(f) cancels a bond to keep the peace;
(g) makes an order for maintenance;
(h) makes an order under section 152 as to a local nuisance;
(i) prohibits, under section 162, the repetition or continuance of a public nuisance;
(j) makes an order under Part C or Part D of Chapter XI;
(k) takes cognizance of an offence under clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 210;
(l) tries an offender;
(m) tries an offender summarily;
(n) passes a sentence, under section 364, on proceedings recorded by another Magistrate;
(o) decides an appeal;
(p) calls, under section 438, for proceedings; or
(q) revises an order passed under section 491, his proceedings shall be void.
Why this exists
Some judicial powers -- like trying a case, deciding an appeal, or ordering someone's property attached -- are so consequential that acting without authority to exercise them cannot be excused as a mere technicality, unlike the milder defects covered in section 506. This section draws a firm line: these categories of unauthorized action are void outright, protecting people from being bound by decisions from someone who genuinely had no power to make them. It corresponds to section 461 of the earlier CrPC.
How courts read it
Courts interpreting the equivalent CrPC provision have consistently treated this as a jurisdictional bar going to the root of the proceeding -- unlike curable irregularities, a complete absence of power to try an offence or decide an appeal renders the resulting order a nullity, regardless of good faith.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Good faith always saves a Magistrate's unauthorized action from being invalidated.
Fact: For the serious list of actions in this section, unauthorized proceedings are void regardless of good faith; only the milder list in section 506 gets that protection.