Preventive Action of the Police
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Syllabus topic 1.7, "Preventive and Precautionary Measures of Security Proceedings Section 106 to 124, Section 129 to 153."
Pages 182 to 185 of 699
In one line
The police have a duty to stop cognizable offences before they happen, and this short chapter gives them the powers that duty needs, including a power to arrest a man who is planning one.
In exam wording: sections 168 to 172 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 require every police officer to prevent the commission of a cognizable offence, to communicate information of a design to commit one, permit arrest without warrant to prevent such an offence, permit interposition to prevent injury to public property, and bind all persons to conform to the lawful directions of a police officer under the Chapter.
Why the law has this at all
Because a police force whose only function was to investigate offences already committed would be a strange kind of police force.
Most of what the police actually do is prevention: standing where trouble is expected, moving a crowd on, taking a man aside before he uses the knife he is carrying. The Code recognises that and gives it a statutory basis, because prevention involves interfering with people who have committed no offence, and interference without authority is unlawful.
Some words this chapter uses
To interpose is to step in.
A design to commit an offence is a plan or intention, short of an attempt.
A public landmark, buoy or other mark used for navigation are the aids to shipping that section 171 protects, which is a reminder that this Chapter is old.
Section 168: the duty
Every police officer may interpose for the purpose of preventing, and shall, to the best of his ability, prevent, the commission of any cognizable offence.
Notice the two verbs. May interpose is a power. Shall prevent, to the best of his ability, is a duty. The section is therefore both the source of the authority and the measure of the failure.
The power is confined to a cognizable offence.
Section 169: passing the information up
Every police officer receiving information of a design to commit any cognizable offence shall communicate it:
- to the police officer to whom he is subordinate; and
- to any other officer whose duty it is to prevent or take cognizance of the commission of any such offence.
The obligation is to communicate, not to decide. A constable who hears of a plan cannot sit on it.
Section 170: arrest to prevent an offence
Sub-section (1). A police officer knowing of a design to commit any cognizable offence may arrest, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, the person so designing, if it appears to him that the commission of the offence cannot be otherwise prevented.
Three conditions and all three must be present: knowledge of a design; a cognizable offence; and an appearance that the offence cannot otherwise be prevented. The last condition is the important one, because it makes arrest the last preventive step and not the first.
Preventive Action of the Police
Sub-section (2), the limit. No person arrested under sub-section (1) shall be detained for a period exceeding twenty-four hours from the time of his arrest, unless his further detention is required or authorised under any other provision of the Sanhita or any other law.
This twenty-four hours is not section 58's. Section 58 caps police detention of a person arrested for an offence before production before a Magistrate. Section 170(2) caps detention of a person arrested for no offence at all, and at the end of it he goes free unless some other provision authorises holding him.
Section 171: public property
A police officer may of his own authority interpose to prevent:
- any injury attempted to be committed in his view to any public property, movable or immovable; or
- the removal or injury of any public landmark, buoy or other mark used for navigation.
Two limits are built in. The injury must be attempted in his view, so this is not a power to act on information. And the property must be public.
Section 172: conforming to police directions
This section is new and it completes the Chapter.
Sub-section (1). All persons shall be bound to conform to the lawful directions of a police officer given in fulfilment of any of his duty under this Chapter.
Two words carry the section. The directions must be lawful, and they must be given in fulfilment of a duty under this Chapter, which means under sections 168 to 171. A direction given for some other reason is not within it.
Sub-section (2). A police officer may detain or remove any person resisting, refusing, ignoring or disregarding a direction given under sub-section (1), and may either take him before a Magistrate or, in petty cases, release him as soon as possible within a period of twenty-four hours.
So there are two outcomes and the officer chooses between them: production before a Magistrate, or release within twenty-four hours in a petty case. There is no third outcome in which the person is simply kept.
A worked example
Constable Salvi is on duty at a market in Bhandup. He is told by a shopkeeper that four men are planning to attack a rival trader that evening. Causing hurt with a weapon is a cognizable offence.
What must he do with the information? Communicate it to the officer to whom he is subordinate and to any other officer whose duty it is to prevent or take cognizance of such an offence, section 169.
Preventive Action of the Police
What may he do about the men? He may interpose to prevent the offence, and is bound to prevent it to the best of his ability, section 168.
May he arrest them? Only if it appears to him that the offence cannot otherwise be prevented, section 170(1). If posting a picket, warning them, or moving them on would do, arrest is not available.
He arrests one of them. That man cannot be detained beyond twenty-four hours from the arrest unless some other provision of the Sanhita or another law authorises it, section 170(2). Note that no offence has been committed, so there is nothing to investigate and no charge sheet to file.
He directs the crowd that has gathered to move away from the shop. All persons are bound to conform to that lawful direction, given in fulfilment of his duty under section 168, section 172(1).
A man refuses and stands in the way. Salvi may detain or remove him, section 172(2), and must then either take him before a Magistrate or, this being a petty case, release him as soon as possible within twenty-four hours.
Someone starts pulling down a municipal signboard in front of him. Salvi may of his own authority interpose to prevent injury to public property, section 171.
Distinctions
| Section 35 arrest | Section 170 arrest | |
|---|---|---|
| Why | An offence has been, or is believed to have been, committed | To prevent an offence that has not been committed |
| Condition | One of the ten grounds in section 35(1) | Knowledge of a design, a cognizable offence, and that it cannot otherwise be prevented |
| Detention limit | Twenty-four hours before production before a Magistrate, section 58, extendable under section 187 | Twenty-four hours, section 170(2), unless another provision authorises further detention |
| Section 31 | Section 172 | |
|---|---|---|
| Duty | To assist a Magistrate or police officer reasonably demanding aid, in three named situations | To conform to the lawful directions of a police officer given in fulfilment of a duty under Chapter XII |
| On refusal | An offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita | The officer may detain or remove him, and must produce him before a Magistrate or release him within twenty-four hours |
What this does NOT mean
Section 168 is not a power over non-cognizable offences. It is confined to cognizable ones.
Section 170 is not a general preventive detention power. It is an arrest, capped at twenty-four hours, available only where the offence cannot otherwise be prevented.
Section 171 does not extend to private property, and it requires the injury to be attempted in the officer's view.
And section 172 does not require obedience to any direction a police officer gives. The direction must be lawful and must be given in fulfilment of a duty under Chapter XII.
Preventive Action of the Police
Quick revision
- Section 168: every police officer may interpose to prevent, and shall to the best of his ability prevent, the commission of any cognizable offence.
- Section 169: information of a design to commit a cognizable offence must be communicated to the officer to whom he is subordinate and to any other officer whose duty it is to prevent or take cognizance of it.
- Section 170: arrest without a Magistrate's order and without a warrant of a person designing a cognizable offence, if it cannot otherwise be prevented; detention capped at twenty-four hours unless otherwise authorised.
- Section 171: an officer may of his own authority interpose to prevent injury attempted in his view to public property, or the removal or injury of a public landmark, buoy or navigation mark.
- Section 172, new: all persons are bound to conform to the lawful directions of a police officer given in fulfilment of a duty under this Chapter; a person resisting, refusing, ignoring or disregarding may be detained or removed, and must be taken before a Magistrate or, in petty cases, released as soon as possible within twenty-four hours.
Test yourself
1. Is a police officer's duty under section 168 confined to cognizable offences? Yes. The section speaks of preventing the commission of any cognizable offence.
2. When may a police officer arrest a person who has committed no offence? Under section 170(1), where he knows of a design to commit a cognizable offence and it appears to him that its commission cannot otherwise be prevented.
3. For how long may such a person be detained? Not more than twenty-four hours from the time of arrest, unless further detention is required or authorised under another provision of the Sanhita or any other law, section 170(2).
4. What must an officer do on receiving information of a design to commit a cognizable offence? Communicate it to the officer to whom he is subordinate and to any other officer whose duty it is to prevent or take cognizance of such an offence, section 169.
5. Does section 171 permit an officer to act on a report that public property is being damaged elsewhere? No. The injury must be attempted in his view.
6. What may an officer do if a person disregards his lawful direction under Chapter XII? Detain or remove him, and then either take him before a Magistrate or, in petty cases, release him as soon as possible within twenty-four hours, section 172(2).
7. What is new in Chapter XII of the Sanhita? Section 172, which binds all persons to conform to the lawful directions of a police officer given in fulfilment of a duty under the Chapter and provides for detention or removal on refusal.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.