Legal provisions regarding form of warrant of arrest and duration under section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
As per Section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, every warrant of arrest issued by a Court under this Code shall be in writing, signed by the presiding officer of such Court and shall bear the seal of the Court. Every such warrant shall remain in force until it is cancelled by the Court which issued it, or until it is executed.
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Warrants may be general warrants or conditional warrants. A general warrant means a warrant to apprehend all persons committing a particular offence or offences. The issue of a general warrant is illegal.
A conditional warrant is a warrant which directs that in the event of a certain named person not leaving India forthwith, for officers to whom the warrant is directed are to arrest that person. Such conditional warrants are invalid.
A valid warrant must fulfill the following requisites:
(1) It must be in writing;
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(2) It must be signed by the presiding officer;
(3) It must bear the seal of the Court;
(4) It shall bear the name and designation of the person who is to execute it;
(5) It must give full particulars of name and address along with the age of the accused so as to identify him clearly;
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(6) It must specify the offences charged;
(7) It should indicate the date of issue of warrant.
A warrant once issued shall remain in force until it is cancelled or executed even though it bears a returnable date. A warrant can only be cancelled by the Court issuing it (where a warrant is cancelled, it is at an end and cannot be re-issued). A Magistrate has discretion on sufficient cause shown to cancel a warrant and issue summons instead.
A Judicial Magistrate, under this section, can convert warrant of arrest into a bailable warrant. Where the accused expresses desire to surrender himself and also seeks permission to appear before the Court, the execution of non-bailable warrant issued against him can be stayed in the interest of justice.
A Magistrate is competent to issue a warrant of arrest for production of a person before his own Court and not before a police officer.