Review all prohibitory orders issued under section 144 of CrPC: Home Deptt tells DMs

SRINAGAR — Days after the Apex Court slammed repeated usage of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the Government of Jammu & Kashmir has directed the district magistrates (DMs) to review all the prohibitory orders issued under the provision to assess their need for continuance or otherwise.

According to reports, the Home department, in an order, has directed DMs to ensure a review of all the existing orders passed under section 144 CrPC is undertaken forthwith to assess the need for their continuance or otherwise, in accordance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court in writ petition (Civil) No. 1031 titled Anuradha Bhasin versus Union of India and others.

The Home department has come up with a slew of directions to be followed by the district magistrates while imposing restrictions under Section 144 CrPC.

As per the order issued by Principal Secretary Home, Shaleen Kabra, all the orders in force and any future orders under section 144 CrPC be duly published. They have also been directed that orders issued under 144 of CrPC should be in conformity with the directions and principles laid down by the Apex Court in the verdict, reads the order.

Under section 144 of CrPC, the district magistrate or other magistrates are empowered to take preventive measures when there is imminent threat to peace.

In a significant judgment, the Apex Court on January 10 ruled that Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, imposing restrictions on citizens’ fundamental right to assemble peacefully, cannot be invoked as a ‘tool’ to ‘prevent the legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights’. It also said that section 144 cannot be used to suppress the legitimate expression of opinion or grievance, or the exercise of democratic rights.

“When section 144 is imposed for reasons of apprehended danger, that danger must be an “emergency”,” the top court ruled.

The Court also said that imposition of Section 144 must strike a balance between the rights of the individual and the concerns of the state. It also said that powers under Section 144 should be exercised in a reasonable and bona fide manner, and the order must state material facts in order to enable judicial review.