CrPC § 491 — Power to issue directions of the nature of a habeas carpus

Statutory text (English)

(1)
[Any High Court] may,
whenever it thinks fit, direct-
(a) that a person within the limits of its
[appellate criminal jurisdiction] be brought up before the
Court to be dealt with according to law;
(b) that a person illegally or improperly detained in public or private custody within such limits be
set at liberty ;
(c) that a prisoner detained in any jail situate within such limits be brought before the Court to be
there examined as a witness in any matter pending or to be inquired into in such Court;
(d) that a prisoner detained as aforesaid be brought before a Court-martial or any Commissioners
* * for trial or to be examined touching any matter pending before such Court-martial or
Commissioners respectively ;
(e) that a prisoner within such limits be removed from one custody to another for the purpose of
trial; and
(f) that the body of a defendant within such limits be brought in on the Sheriff's return of Cepi
Corpus to a writ of attachment.
[(1A) The High Court may, be general or special order published in the official Gazette, direct that all or
any of its powers specifed in clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section

(1) shall, subject to such conditions, if any, as
may be specified in the order, be exercisable also by—
(a) a Sessions Judge; or
(b) an Additional Sessions Judge, Within the territorial limits of a Session Division. ]

(2)
[The High Court] may, from time to time, frame rules to regulate the procedure in cases under this
section.
[
(3) Nothing in this section applies to persons detained under any law providing for preventive
detention.]

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.491: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 171, 172, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 171, 172) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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