Section 148 BNSS: Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force (Formerly Section 129 CrPC)

Section 148 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) Any Executive Magistrate or officer in charge of a police station or, in the absence of such officer in charge, any police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector, may command any unlawful assembly, or any assembly of five or more persons likely to cause a disturbance of the public peace, to disperse; and it shall thereupon be the duty of the members of such assembly to disperse accordingly.

(2) If, upon being so commanded, any such assembly does not disperse, or if, without being so commanded, it conducts itself in such a manner as to show a determination not to disperse, any Executive Magistrate or police officer referred to in sub-section (1), may proceed to disperse such assembly by force, and may require the assistance of any person, not being an officer or member of the armed forces and acting as such, for the purpose of dispersing such assembly, and, if necessary, arresting and confining the persons who form part of it, in order to disperse such assembly or that they may be punished according to law.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Charge Sec 2(1)(b) Police Station Sec 2(1)(q)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 148

Section 148 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 empowers Executive Magistrates to determine possession in disputes concerning land or water likely to cause a breach of the peace.

Core Legal Standard: Section 148 provides that whenever a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or Executive Magistrate is satisfied from a police report or other information that a dispute likely to cause a breach of the peace exists concerning any land or water or boundaries thereof, the Magistrate shall make an order in writing requiring the parties to attend court and put in written statements of their claims regarding actual possession.
The Magistrate: The Magistrate decides solely the question of actual physical possession on the date of the order, without reference to legal title, and attaches the property under Section 149 if unable to determine possession.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Ram Sumer Puri Mahant v. State of U.P. (1985) 1 SCC 427: The Supreme Court ruled that parallel proceedings under Section 145 CrPC (Sec 148 BNSS) are impermissible when a civil suit concerning title or possession of the identical property is already pending before a competent civil court.
Jhummarlal v. State of Rajasthan (1987) 4 SCC 303: Affirmed that the Magistrate's jurisdiction is strictly confined to maintaining public peace by protecting actual physical possession; questions of title belong exclusively to civil courts.

Legal Commentary:

Section 148 is a preventive public order device. Litigants embroiled in land disputes must remember that criminal magistrates cannot decide ownership. Once a civil court issues an interim injunction or status quo order, Section 148 proceedings must yield.