Section 160 CrPC protection for women applies to FERA investigations where the special law is silent on interrogation location.

In an investigation under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 applied to the extent the special statute was silent on procedure. The Delhi HC held that Section 160's proviso, which protects a woman from being required to attend at any place other than her residence, governed the interrogation because FERA contained no contrary rule on the place of examination. The summons was for documents and questioning in an ongoing investigation, so the petitioner was entitled to be interrogated at her residence.

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Issues: Whether, in an investigation under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, a woman could be required to attend for interrogation only at her residence by applying the proviso to Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, where the special enactment was silent on the place of investigation of a woman.

Analysis: The Court held that the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 is a special statute, but it does not contain any provision prescribing the place where a woman is to be investigated. Section 4(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 makes the Code applicable to investigations under special laws in areas not specifically regulated by the special enactment. The proviso to Section 160 expressly requires that a woman shall not be required to attend at any place other than the place where she resides. Since the summons was for production of documents and questioning in connection with an ongoing investigation, and the special law was silent on this procedural aspect, the general procedural protection under Section 160 applied.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to be interrogated at her residence, and the requirement of Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 applied to the investigation under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973.

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