Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force
AI Assist
Summary
An Executive Magistrate, the officer in charge of a police station, or a police officer of sub-inspector rank or above can order any unlawful assembly or any group of five or more likely to disturb public peace to disperse. Members must obey that order. If they refuse or show determination not to disperse, those officers may use force, require help from civilians (not armed forces), and arrest or confine people so they can be punished by law.
Example
Ravi, Sneha, Aditya, Diya and Rohan gather outside a busy market and start shouting in a way that risks disturbing the peace. The sub-inspector orders the group to disperse, and they must obey. When they refuse, the sub-inspector uses force, asks local civilians (not armed forces) to help, and arrests those who will not disperse so they can be punished.
Bare Act
Enacted text(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.
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