The state government has taken a big and important step to maintain law and order during the upcoming festivals and fairs in Bihar. Senior police officers have now been given special powers of 'Special Executive Magistrate' to maintain peace and immediately crush any ruckus during fairs, processions and religious events.
With this big decision of the government, now the police officers will get legal powers to take tough decisions on the spot and take prompt preventive action. An official notification in this regard has been issued by the Reserve Branch of the Home Department. This special arrangement will be effective mainly for those occasions when a large number of people participate in religious events, processions and fairs across the state.
The scope of these new powers given by the government is quite large. Apart from the IG and DIG posted in the range and area, these powers have been entrusted to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Superintendent of Police (SP), City SP and Rural SP working in the districts. However, rural superintendents of police associated with railways have not been included in this entire system. All these authorized officers will have full permission to freely use legal powers as Special Executive Magistrates in their respective areas of work.
These special powers will be used especially to maintain peace and law and order in processions and fairs during major festivals celebrated across the country and the state. These include many big events like Saraswati Puja, Holi, Ramnavmi, Durga Puja, Diwali, Eid, Bakrid, Muharram, Kali Puja, Chhath Puja and Shab-e-Barat. Due to the gathering of huge crowds on these sensitive occasions, there is often a danger of sudden tension or mutual disputes. This new power will prove to be extremely helpful in enabling police officers to take pre-emptive and preventive measures in such delicate cases.
These police officers have been given the powers of Special Executive Magistrate under Chapter 9 of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS), 2023. This important legal provision applies between sections 125 to 143. Under these sections, police officers get the right to make any suspicious person pay a heavy surety or security bond to maintain peace. The main objective of this legal process is to suppress any potential dispute or breach of peace before it becomes major.
The biggest advantage of this new power is that police officers will no longer be limited to investigating or taking action only after the incident occurs. If any local person is suspected of disturbing the peace or is found to be involved in any criminal activity, then strict preventive measures can be taken as per the procedure laid down in law. Specifically, under Sections 126 to 129, there is a provision for obtaining bond from those people who may disturb the peace, are involved in any suspicious activity or fall in the category of habitual criminals.
If a person has already been convicted of a crime in a case, the rules regarding asking for a security bond to keep him safe in future are also clearly spelled out in the law. Under Section 125, the right to take such action lies with the concerned judicial authority, whereas in all other circumstances the role of the Executive Magistrate becomes very important. With this brilliant decision of the state government, there is every hope that the coordination between the police administration and the administrative action at the magistrate level will become stronger.
