Powers Of Superior Officers Of Police
CrPC Chapter – IV
It is divided in two parts –
A—Powers Of Superior Officers Of Police
Sec. -36 – Powers of superior officers of police.—
B —Aid To The Magistrates And The Police
- Sec. 37. – Public when to assist Magistrates & Police
- Sec. 38 – Aid to person, other than police officer, executing warrant.
- Sec. 39 – Public to give information of certain offences.
- Sec. 40 – Duty of officers employed in connection with the affairs of a village to make certain report.—
A—Powers Of Superior Officers Of Police
Section 36. Powers of superior officers of police.—
Police officers superior in rank to an officer in charge of a police station may exercise the powers throughout the local area to which they are appointed, as may be exercised by such officer within the limits of his station.
B —AID TO THE MAGISTRATES AND THE POLICE
Section 37. Public when to assist Magistrates and police.—
Every person is bound to assist a Magistrate or police officer who is demanding reasonably his aid—
- in the taking or preventing the escape of any other person whom such Magistrate or police officer is authorised to arrest or
- in the prevention or suppression of a breach of the peace or
- in the prevention of any injury attempted to be committed to any railway, canal, telegraph or public property.
Case Law
Emperor v. Joti Prasad, (1920) ILR 42 ALL 314
*The Magistrate’s or Police’s demand must be reasonable. What is a reasonable demand depends on the facts of each instance. The police have no general authority to call on members of the public to assist them in arresting or tracing an escaping criminal or collecting evidence to warrant conviction of any such criminal.
* Intentional omission to execute a duty imposed by this section in order to help authorities is punishable under Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Sec. 187 Indian Penal Code – Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance. Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both;
and if such assistance be demanded of him by a public servant legally competent to make such demand for the purposes of executing any process lawfully issued by a Court of Justice, or of preventing the commission of an offence, or suppressing a riot, or affray, or of apprehending a person charged with or guilty of an offence, or of having escaped from lawful custody, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Section 38. Aid to person, other than police officer, executing warrant
- When a warrant is directed to a person other than a police officer,
- any other person may aid in the execution of such warrant,
- if the person to whom the warrant is directed be near at hand and acting in the execution of the warrant.
* If any person is acting on the orders of a court than any one may come to the aid or assistance of the person executing a warrant.
Section 39. Public to give information of certain offences.—
(1) Every person, aware of the commission of, or of the intention of any other person to commit, any offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely:—
- sections 121 to 126, both inclusive, and section 130 (offences against the state specified in Chapter-VI of IPC)
- sections 143, 144, 145, 147 and 148 (offences against the public tranquility specified in Chapter VIII of IPC);
- sections 161 to 165A Chapter IX Offences by or relating to public servants (repealed) Now Prevention of corruption Act 1988 or PC Act 1988) , both inclusive (offences relating to illegal gratification);
- sections 272 to 278, both inclusive (offences relating to adulteration of food and drugs, etc. specified in Chapter XIV of IPC);
- sections 302, 303 and 304 (offences affecting life specified in Chapter XVI of IPC);
- [(va) section 364A (offence relating to kidnapping for ransom, etc. specified in Chapter XVI of IPC);]
- section 382 (offence of theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft specified in Chapter XVII of IPC);
- sections 392 to 399, both inclusive, and section 402 (offences of robbery and dacoity specified in Chapter XVII of IPC);
- section 409 (offence relating to criminal breach of trust by public servant, etc. specified in Chapter XVII of IPC);
- sections 431 and 439, both inclusive (offences of mischief against property specified in Chapter XVII of IPC);
- sections 449 and 450 (offence of house trespass specified in Chapter XVII of IPC);
- sections 456 to 460, both inclusive (offences of lurking house trespass specified in Chapter XVII of IPC); and
- sections 489A to 489E, both inclusive (offences relating to currency notes and bank notes specified in Chapter XVII of IPC),
shall forthwith give information to the nearest Magistrate or police officer of such commission or intention, in the absence of any reasonable excuse, the burden of proving which excuse shall lie upon the person so aware.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the term “offence” includes any act committed at any place out of India which would constitute an offence if committed in India.
Case Law –
State of Maharashtra v. Dashrath Lahanu Kadu, (1972) 75 Bom LR 450
This section imposes a duty on every person to give information of certain offences specified in clause (i) to (xii) of sub – section (1). The duty ceases when the information has reached the police in some other way.
John TS v State of Kerela, 1984 CrLJ 753 (Ker)
Penalties for violations are specified in sections 176 and 202 of the IPC, and penalties for incorrect information are provided in section 177 of the IPC. In order for section 39 to apply, the individual must be aware of the commission of any of the mentioned sections of the IPC.
- State of Gujrat v. Anirudh Singh, AIR 1997 SC 2780 pg. 2787The protection against self- incrimination is available against the power of police to investigate an offence and examine any person. But it applies only when the person in question has been formally accused of an offence.
Section 40 – Duty of officers employed in connection with the affairs of a village to make certain report.—
(1) Every officer employed in connection with the affairs of a village and every person residing in a village shall forthwith communicate to the nearest Magistrate or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearer, any information which he may possess respecting—
- (a) the permanent or temporary residence of any notorious receiver or vendor of stolen property in or near such village;
- (b) the resort to any place within, or the passage through, such village of any person whom he knows, or reasonably suspects, to be a thug, robber, escaped convict or proclaimed offender;
- (c) the commission of, or intention to commit, in or near such village any non-bailable offence or any offence punishable under section 143, section 144, section 145, section 147, or section 148 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860);
- (d) the occurrence in or near such village of any sudden or unnatural death or of any death under suspicious circumstances or the discovery in or near such village of any corpse or part of a corpse, in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that such a death has occurred or the disappearance from such village of any person in circumstances which lead to a reasonable suspicion that a non-bailable offence has been committed in respect of such person;
- (e) the commission of, or intention to commit, at any place out of India near such village any act which, if committed in India, would be an offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely, 231 to 238 (both inclusive), 302, 304, 382, 392 to 399 (both inclusive), 402, 435, 436, 449, 450, 457 to 460 (both inclusive), 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D;
- (f) any matter likely to affect the maintenance of order or the prevention of crime or the safety of person or property respecting which the District Magistrate, by general or special order made with the previous sanction of the State Government, has directed him to communicate information.
* This clause requires village officers and citizens to report certain incidents to the police or the Magistrate. This is required since most villages are not easily accessible to the police stations that have jurisdiction over them. With good execution, police will be able to respond quickly to crimes in remote villages. Penalty is provided u/s 176 of IPC for the violation of this clause.
(2) In this section,—
(i) “village” includes village-lands;
(ii) the expression “proclaimed offender” includes any person proclaimed as an offender by any Court or authority in any territory in India to which this Code does not extend, in respect of any act which if committed in the territories to which this Code extends, would be an offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely, 302, 304, 382, 392 to 399 (both inclusive), 402, 435, 436, 449, 450 and 457 to 460 (both inclusive);
(iii) the words “officer employed in connection with the affairs of the village” means a member of the panchayat of the village and includes the headman and every officer or other person appointed to perform any function connected with the administration of the village.