Section 403 of BNSS : Section 403: Court not to alter judgment.

Explanation using Example

Example 1:

Scenario: Rajesh was on trial for theft. After a lengthy trial, the judge delivered a judgment on January 15, 2023, finding Rajesh guilty and sentencing him to two years in prison. The judgment was signed and finalized on the same day. A week later, Rajesh's lawyer discovered that the judgment incorrectly stated the date of the crime as "March 15, 2022" instead of "March 25, 2022."

Application of Section 403: Rajesh's lawyer can request the court to correct this clerical error in the judgment. However, the court cannot change the judgment itself (i.e., the finding of guilt or the sentence) as it has already been signed and finalized. The court can only correct the date error.

Example 2:

Scenario: Priya was involved in a civil case regarding a property dispute. The court issued a final order on February 10, 2023, in favor of Priya, awarding her the disputed property. The judgment was signed and finalized on the same day. Later, it was found that there was a miscalculation in the amount of court fees to be paid by the losing party, which was stated as ₹10,000 instead of the correct amount of ₹1,000.

Application of Section 403: The court can correct the arithmetical error regarding the court fees. However, the court cannot alter the final decision of awarding the property to Priya, as the judgment has already been signed and finalized.