Indore News: HC Issues Notice On Powers Given To ACPs As Special Executive Magistrates | Representative Image
Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued notice to the State Government on a petition challenging the legality of conferring magisterial powers on Assistant Commissioners of Police in Indore after the enforcement of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
The petition, filed by Saurabh Tripathi, who appeared in person, questions a State Government notification dated Dec 9, 2021, which granted Assistant Commissioners of Police the powers of Special Executive Magistrates under various provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, including preventive and prohibitory powers such as Sections 144 and 144A.
The petitioner argued that following the introduction of the police commissionerate system in Indore and the coming into force of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, such powers can no longer be exercised by police officers below the rank of Superintendent of Police. He relied on Section 15 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which explicitly limits the appointment of police officers as Special Executive Magistrates to those not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or its equivalent.
It was further contended that the repeal and saving clause under Section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, does not preserve earlier notifications that are inconsistent with the new law, thereby rendering the 2021 notification legally unsustainable.
After hearing the preliminary submissions, a Division Bench comprising Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi issued notice to the State Government and other respondents. The court directed that the notice be served within seven working days, with the matter returnable in four weeks.
