Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the Court of a Magistrate of the first class may…

Section 23(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly section 29(2) CrPC) authorises a Magistrate of the first class to impose up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine up to Rs 50,000, or both, or community service. A Rs 5,000 fine limit is an outdated figure, and one year is the imprisonment ceiling of a Magistrate of the second class under section 23(3). Seven years is the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s ordinary imprisonment ceiling under section 23(1), not that of every first-class Magistrate.