CHAPTER III POWER OF COURTS

Section 25: Sentence in cases of conviction of several offences at one trial

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

(1) When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more offences, the Court may, subject to the provisions of section 9 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, sentence him for such offences, to the several punishments prescribed therefor which such Court is competent to inflict and the Court shall, considering the gravity of offences, order such punishments to run concurrently or consecutively.

(2) In the case of consecutive sentences, it shall not be necessary for the Court by reason only of the aggregate punishment for the several offences being in excess of the punishment which it is competent to inflict on conviction of a single offence, to send the offender for trial before a higher Court:

Provided that—

(a) in no case shall such person be sentenced to imprisonment for a longer period than twenty years;

(b) the aggregate punishment shall not exceed twice the amount of punishment which the Court is competent to inflict for a single offence.

(3) For the purpose of appeal by a convicted person, the aggregate of the consecutive sentences passed against him under this section shall be deemed to be a single sentence.

Corresponding CrPC provision

As given in the correspondence table of the National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs). Read both texts before relying on it. NCRB table

25	31. Sentence in cases of conviction of several offences at one trial.

Questions on this section

3 questions in 16 of our papers cite Section 25. Try these from the free papers:

1. A Judicial Magistrate of the first class tries X at one trial for two distinct offences committed on different occasions. Each offence is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to five years and is triable by a Magistrate of the first class. The Magistrate convicts X of both offences, sentences him to three years' imprisonment for each, and orders the sentences to run consecutively, making six years in all. Under Section 25 of the BNSS, the aggregate sentence is
2. When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more offences and the punishments are ordered to run consecutively, clause (a) of the proviso to Section 25(2) of the BNSS provides that in no case shall such person be sentenced to imprisonment for a longer period than

Practise questions on Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita