CrPC Section 456
CrPC Section 456 – Power to Take Security for Keeping the Peace and for Good Behavior
🔹 What does Section 456 say?
Section 456 gives a magistrate the power to require any person to give security for keeping the peace and maintaining good behavior, even without any prior offence having been committed, if the magistrate believes it necessary.
🔹 Textual Summary
When a magistrate has reason to believe that a person is likely to commit a breach of peace or disturb the public tranquility, the magistrate can order that person to execute a bond.
The bond is to ensure that the person will keep the peace and be of good behavior for a certain period.
If the person fails to provide the security or fails to maintain peace/good behavior, the magistrate can order their arrest and detention.
🔹 Purpose of Section 456
Preventive measure: It is meant to prevent crime and maintain public order.
It is a protective and preventive tool rather than punitive.
Helps magistrates control and manage potential disturbances before any offence actually occurs.
🔹 Key Elements
Reason to believe: The magistrate must have reasonable grounds to believe that a person might cause a breach of peace or behave badly.
Order for security: The magistrate can require the person to execute a bond, often with sureties (people who guarantee the person’s good behavior).
Period of security: The bond covers a specified period during which the person must keep the peace.
Failure to comply: If the person refuses or fails to give security, the magistrate can detain the person to prevent anticipated trouble.
🔹 Example
Suppose there is intelligence or credible information that a particular individual is planning to incite violence or cause a public disturbance during an upcoming event. The magistrate, to prevent this from happening, can require that individual to execute a bond promising to behave peacefully. If the individual refuses or breaks the bond conditions, the magistrate can act to detain them.
🔹 Relation to Other Sections
Section 447 CrPC: Deals with protection of public peace and security, can be linked to this.
Section 110 CrPC: Also provides the power of magistrates to require security for good behavior, often used interchangeably with Section 456 for preventive purposes.
🔹 Important Points
This is a preventive and protective power.
It does not require that an offence has already been committed.
The magistrate’s belief should be based on reasonable grounds, not just suspicion.
Used to maintain law and order and public peace.
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