CrPC Section 91 - Summons To Produce Document Or Other Thing

Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”) prescribes the procedure under which a court or a police officer can summon one to bring documents or other things for the purpose of investigation, inquiry, trial or otherwise. Section 91 of the Code permits a person to cause someone else to produce the document on his behalf. The Section carves out some exceptions like exemptions of some documents or items involved in the custody of postal or telegraphic authorities.

Legal Provision: Section 91 - Summons To Produce Document Or Other Thing

“Section 91- Summons To Produce Document Or Other Things-

1. Whenever any Court or any officer-in-charge of a police station considers that the production of any document or other thing is necessary or desirable for the purposes of any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code by or before such Court or officer, such Court may issue a summons, or such officer a written order, to the person in whose possession or power such document or thing is believed to be, requiring him to attend and produce it, or to produce it, at the time and place stated in the summons or order.

2. Any person required under this section merely to produce a document or other thing shall be deemed to have complied with the requisition if he causes such document or thing to be produced instead of attending personally to produce the same.

3. Nothing in this section shall be deemed -

   1. to affect sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), or the Banker's Books Evidence Act, 1891(13 of 1891); or

   2. to apply to a letter, postcard, telegram or other document or any parcel or thing in the custody of the postal or telegram authority.”

Simplified Explanation Of CrPC Section 91

Section 91 of the Code provides as follows:

• Subsection (1): If any Court or a police officer in charge of a police station considers that any document or other thing is relevant to an investigation, inquiry, trial, or other proceeding, the Court or the police officer can issue a summons or order in writing. This summons or order shall be directed at the person who allegedly has the document or object. The summons or order shall require the person to appear before Court with the document or object, or only to produce the document or object, at a specified time and place.
• Subsection (2): This subsection states that where a person is ordered or required to produce any document or thing, he is not bound to appear personally in Court. He can obey the summons or order by seeing the document or thing produced in court.
• Subsection (3): It further states that whatever has been allowed under Section 91 has no operation on:

  • Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 or the Banker's Books Evidence Act,1891.

  • Letters, postcards, telegrams or other documents or parcels in the custody of postal or telegram authorities.

Practical Examples Illustrating CrPC Section 91

Some of the practical examples related to Section 91 of the Code are as follows:

• Example 1: In a murder case, the police feel that a letter written by the killer to the murdered person forms the basis of the case. The investigating police officer could use Section 91(1) to issue a written notice to the family member of the accused who holds this letter to produce it.
• Example 2: In a trial of the case related to financial fraud, the court realises that it needs a specific contract between the accused and the complainant for proceedings. The court can summon the lawyer of the accused holding the contract under Section 91(1) and would request him to appear before Court with the contract.
• Example 3: In a property dispute case, one party claims they have handed over transfer documents to their lawyer. The court can summon under Section 91(1) those documents from their lawyer since the right is exercised by the court by requiring those documents. The lawyer could obey the summons by submitting those documents before the court without the lawyer appearing before the court.
• Example 4: Police believe certain call records of the alleged murderer from the accused's mobile phone are crucial evidence in a murder investigation. The officer can request the court to order a summons of the telecom service provider to produce before him the call logs and text messages of the accused for a specific time period along with the location data.
• Example 5: Housebreaking is committed at a shop. The investigating officer feels that the offence could have been recorded on the CCTV footage of neighbouring shops. Under Section 91, the officer approaches a magistrate for an order in writing directing the owner or business responsible for the CCTV footage to deliver the video recording of the incident.
• Example 6: For instance, in corporate fraud or embezzlement, summons under Section 91 can be issued to the management of a company compelling the production of accounting records, audit reports, or board meeting minutes during an investigation.
• Example 7: A man is charged with the offence of submitting false medical insurance claims. The court can order the hospital to summon its medical treatment files and discharge summary to prove that what claims were valid.

Penalties And Punishments Under CrPC Section 91

Section 91 of the Code prescribes the procedure for issuance of summons to produce documents or other things. Therefore, the Section does not provide for any penalties or punishments for non-conformance with the provision.

Notable Case Laws Related To CrPC Section 91

State of Orissa vs. Debendra Nath Padhi (2004)

In this case, the Supreme Court raised the question whether an accused person can produce material at the stage of framing charges in a criminal trial. The judgement concludes that this right is not vested in the accused and he can make only such arguments based on the materials presented by the prosecution.

With regards to Section 91 of the Code, the Court held as follows:

• Application of Section 91 is contextual: The court was of the view that Section 91 does not bestow any right on an accused to produce any document in his possession only for proving his defence. The court held that the use of Section 91 for summoning documents is dependent on the specific phase of the legal proceedings.

• "Necessary and Desirable" is question of Judgement: The Supreme Court clarified that the words "necessary" and "desirable," although used in Section 91, are relative terms and must be read in relation to what stage of the judicial procedure they are applicable to, and by whom the request has been made (whether it is being applied by the police or the accused).

• The right of Section 91 of an accused person is qualified: The court held that an accused cannot take recourse under Section 91 to demand the production of documents at the initial stage of framing charge. At this stage, the defence arguments of the accused are not relevant. Generally, a person accused shall not be eligible to seek an order under Section 91 until the stage of defence.

• Section 91 does not allow fishing expeditions: The Supreme Court highlighted that the statute prohibits “roving or fishing” discovery. By implication, Section 91 cannot be used to require a broad range of documents without some proper, justifiable basis for such requests.

Nitya Dharmananda @ K. Lenin vs. Sri Gopal Sheelum Reddy (2017)

In the case above, it was observed that a general principle is that the defendant cannot use Section 91 of the Code at the stage of framing charge. However, the court may exercise its power if it believes that material available with the investigator, but not included in the charge sheet, has a significant impact on the framing of charge. This power ensures justice and the rule of law is upheld, even if the defendant may not have a right to invoke Section 91. The court highlighted that this does not imply the defence has a right to invoke Section 91 without satisfying the court at the stage of charge.

Arjun Panditrao Khotkar vs. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (2020)

In this case, the Supreme Court observed the following as regards Section 91 of the Code:

• Judges can use Section 91 to compel certificate: When a party has taken all efforts to obtain the certificate which is necessary for admitting electronic evidence under Section 65B(4) of Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the person or authority declines to produce that certificate, then the judges can make use of Section 91 of CrPC to compel the production of that certificate. The judge should do this when the electronic record is presented as evidence without the required certificate.

• Section 91 applicable throughout the course of trial: The court clarified that Section 91 does not state at what stage in the trial the certificate should be produced. Thus, the court has the right to require the certificate throughout the course of the trial to admit information in an electronic form as evidence.

• Judges maintain discretion in civil matters: In civil matters, the discretion remains with the judge to order the production of a certificate, but whether that requirement is accommodated by the law as applied will depend on the case.

• Summons to victim: The Court observed that summons under Section 91 of the Code can also be issued to the complainant/informer/victim of the case on whose instance the FIR was registered.

Recent Changes

Since the enactment of Section 91 of the Code, there has been no amendment to it. Section 91 of the Code has been retained with certain changes under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Summary

Section 91 of the Code provides that a court or officer in charge of a police station may summon a person to require him to produce any document or produce any other thing for inspection. Such a person is under a duty to produce his own documents or arrange for the articles to be produced. This Section does not apply to Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872; Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891. It also does not operate with regard to anything under the control of postal or telegraph authorities as a letter or parcel.

Key Insights & Quick Facts

• Authority to issue summons: A court or an officer in charge of a police station can issue a summons or written order for the production of documents or objects required for an investigation, inquiry, or trial.

• Purpose: Such documents or articles should be considered necessary or important for the purposes of the procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

• Who can be summoned: The summons or order is addressed to the person who is believed to be holding or possessing the document or article.

• Compliance: The person summoned can either produce the document/article in his presence or arrange for production, and he need not make personal appearance

• Exceptions:

  • Neither overrides Section 123 nor Section 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, relating to official communications.

  • Neither overrides the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act relating to the production of books of a banker.

  • Nor overrides postal items such as letters, parcels, telegrams held by postal or telegraph authorities.