Section 144 of CrPC

In News

• The Uttarakhand administration imposed Section 144 CrPC in Roorkee to prohibit assembly of more than four persons in a Dharam Sansad.

Need

• In the aftermath of communal tension in a village in Roorkee after a Hanuman Jayanti procession was allegedly pelted with stones, certain groups tried to hold a Dharam Sansad.
• Supreme Court directed the Uttarakhand government that no untoward statement should be made at the event at the event.
• Subsequently Section 144 of CrPC.

Section 144 CrPC

• What is it?
  • It gives power to a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive magistrate empowered by the state government to issue orders so as to prevent any untoward incident related to law and order situation.
  • It’s a law from the colonial era which has been retained in the Code after independence.
  • The order can be specific to certain individuals in a given area or the general public at large.
  • In emergency situations, the magistrate can issue the order without giving prior notice to the individual targeted in the order.
  • Its primary aim is to prevent obstruction, annoyance to the general public and to maintain peace and tranquility in the area.
• Powers under the provision:
  • It empowers the executive magistrate to issue an order prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in an area. Members of such unlawful assembly can be booked for engaging in rioting.
  • Under the section, the magistrate can direct any person to abstain from a certain act or to pass an order with respect to a certain property in the possession or under the management of that person to maintain peace.
  • It can restrict the movement of persons, ability to carry arms and unlawful assembly.
  • It also gives power to the authorities to block internet access.
  • Moreover, obstructing law enforcement agencies from dispersing an unlawful assembly is a punishable offence.
• Duration of Section 144 order:
  • The order remains in force for not more than two months. 
  • The state government can extend the same by another two months subject to a maximum six months period.
  • The state government can withdraw the order at any point of time if it feels that the situation has come back to normalcy.

Why Section 144 is being criticised?

• It gives sweeping powers to the executive magistrate who can use it unjustifiably trampling upon the rights of citizens.
• The immediate relief against the order is the revision application which needs to be submitted to the same officer who imposed section 144. This is against the ‘Principle of Natural justice’.
• It infringes upon the fundamental rights of the citizens (Article 19, 21).
• There have been instances where Section 144 has been imposed over a large area which cannot be justified as the security situation differs at places.

Rulings of Courts in this regard

• In Babulal Parate vs State of Maharashtra Case, the apex court refused to strike down the law.
• In Dr Ram Manohar Lohia case, 1967, apex court stated that ‘no democracy can exist if public order is freely allowed to be disturbed by a section of the citizens’ thus refusing to pull down the section.
• In Madhu Limaye case, 1970, the court said that ‘the power of a magistrate under Section 144 is not an ordinary power flowing from administration but a power used in a judicial manner and which can stand further judicial scrutiny’.
• Thus, the court has upheld the constitutionality of the law at numerous occasions stating that the restrictions imposed through Section 144 are covered under the reasonable restrictions to the fundamental rights laid down under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
• As per the court, the fact that the law may be abused is no reason to strike it down.

Way Forward

• It is a potent tool while dealing with serious law and order situations. The apex court on numerous occasions has justified its presence.
• Though, its rampant use with little judicial oversight and without a proper framework of usage can make it an instrument of misuse.
• The state should bring forth an appropriate framework of protocols to be followed before the imposition of the section to make it objective and thus curtailing arbitrariness of the executive.
• This will balance the personal liberty, rights of the citizens as well as law and order situations.

Source: IE