167.(1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody, and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed within the period of twenty-four hours fixed by section 61, and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well-founded, the officer in charge of the police-station or the police-officer making the investigation if he is not below the rank of sub-inspector shall forthwith transmit to the [nearest Judicial Magistrate] a copy of the entries in the diary hereinafter prescribed relating to the case, and shall at the same time forward the accused to such Magistrate.

[(2) The Magistrate to whom an accused person is forwarded under this section or produced otherwise, may, whether he has or has not jurisdiction to try the case from time to time authorize the detention of the accused in such custody as such Magistrate thinks fit, for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole; and if he has not jurisdiction to try the case or send it for trial, and considers further detention unnecessary, he may order the accused to be forwarded to a Magistrate having such jurisdiction:

Provided that no Magistrate of the third class, and no Magistrate of the second class not specially empowered in this behalf by the Government, shall authorize detention in the custody of the police:

Provided further that no Magistrate shall, under any particular case, authorize the detention of an accused person in police custody for a period exceeding fifteen days in the whole; and where further detention is considered necessary, the Magistrate may, upon production of the accused either in person or through electronic video linkage, authorize such detention in judicial custody.

Explanation- For the purposes of this Chapter, “judicial custody” means the custody of an accused in jail or in any other custody, other than the custody of the police, under the order of a Magistrate or Court during investigation.]

[(2A) A Magistrate authorizing the detention of an accused person in police custody under sub-section (2), may order that the accused be examined by a medical officer of nearest government hospital before he is handed over to such custody; and upon expiry of the period of police custody, the accused shall be produced before the Magistrate without unnecessary delay; and if, upon such production, there appears to be any mark of injury on the body of the person accused, or the accused alleges that he has been subjected to torture during such custody, the Magistrate shall direct that the accused be examined by a medical officer of the nearest government hospital and where the medical report reveals that the accused has been subjected to torture during police custody, the Magistrate shall proceed in accordance with law.]

(3) A Magistrate authorizing under this section detention in the custody of the police shall record his reasons for so doing.

[(4) If such order is given by a Magistrate other than the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or the Chief Judicial Magistrate, he shall forward a copy of his order, with his reasons for making it to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or to the Chief Judicial Magistrate to whom he is subordinate.]

[(4A)] If such order is given by a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or a Chief Judicial Magistrate, he shall forward a copy of his order, with reasons for making it to the Chief Metropolitan Sessions Judge or to the Sessions Judge to whom he is subordinate.]

[ (5) If the investigation is not concluded within one hundred and twenty days from the date of receipt of the information relating to the commission of the offence or the order of the Magistrate for such investigation-

(a) the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of such offence or making the order for investigation may, if the offence to which the investigation relates is not punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment exceeding ten years, release the accused on bail to the satisfaction of such Magistrate; and

(b) the Court of Session may, if the offence to which the investigation relates is punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment exceeding ten years, release the accused on bail to the satisfaction of such Court:

Provided that if an accused is not released on bail under this sub-section, the Magistrate or, as the case may be, the Court of Session shall record the reasons for it:

Provided further that in cases in which sanction of appropriate authority is required to be obtained under the provisions of the relevant law for prosecution of the accused, the time taken for obtaining such sanction shall be excluded from the period specified in this sub-section.

Explanation-The time taken for obtaining sanction shall commence from the day the case, with all necessary documents, is submitted for consideration of the appropriate authority and be deemed to end on the day of the receipt of the sanction order of the authority.]

(6)-(7A) [Omitted by section 2 of the Criminal Procedure (Second Amendment) Act, 1992 (Act No. XLII of 1992).]

(8) The provisions of sub-section (5) shall not apply to the investigation of an offence under section 400 or section 401 of the Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860).]