During the ongoing agitations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged poll irregularities, special executive magistrates (SEM) in New Delhi recently asked Cockroach Janta Party leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and All India Students’ Association’s Neha Bora to sign peace bonds following their calls for protest. The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected Bora’s challenge against a police notice asking her to execute a peace bond before a SEM.
Bora's counsel had argued that citizens did not need permission to hoist the national flag and that there was nothing wrong in seeking regime change in a democracy. He also contended that there was no application of mind or independent opinion at the time of issuance of the notice on peace bond, adding it was a mere cut-and-paste job.
But the court contended that the nature of the SEM proceedings was preventive and to ensure there was no breach of peace or tranquillity. It added that at the stage of notice, it does not want to sit on the “armchair of the SEM" to decide if there was sufficient material or information.
What are the types of peace bonds?
A peace bond is a legal undertaking where a person gives a written promise or security to maintain public peace and good behaviour and ensure public safety. Peace bonds are divided into two distinct legal categories: preventive measures, where no crime or accusation is required, and post-conviction measures, where a crime has been proven.
When is it signed as a preventive measure?
An executive magistrate can ask any citizen to sign the bond if there is credible information that they are likely to breach the public peace, disturb public tranquility, or commit a wrongful act that might provoke a breach of peace.
Is an FIR or complaint required to sign the bond? Is the person considered as accused?
An executive magistrate can initiate these proceedings even if there is no FIR (First Information Report), formal criminal offense, or ongoing trial. The first type of peace bond is not a punishment for a crime or a conviction; rather, it is a preventive measure. In such a situation, the person has not committed a crime, and is not considered an accused.
What is the life span of a peace bond? How long can a magistrate inquire into a peace bond matter?
In the first situation, i.e., before conviction, the bond can last for a maximum of 12 months at a time. A peace bond inquiry must typically conclude within six months; if delayed without sufficient reason, the entire proceedings automatically lapse.
When is peace bond signed in post-conviction matters and for what offences?
A Sessions Court or a First-Class Magistrate can order a person to sign a peace bond. However, this strictly applies to someone who has already been formally charged, tried, and convicted of specific offenses.
For offenses like assault, criminal intimidation, or acts explicitly disrupting public peace, mischief and rioting, and other non-cognisable offences (which carry a maximum punishment of up to three-year jail term), the court can mandate a peace bond at the time of sentencing to prevent future trouble.
What is the life span of a post-conviction peace bond? Does order to sign the bond carry any safeguard?
In post-conviction cases, the bond’s span can be extended for up to three years, alongside their criminal sentence.
Receiving a notice does not mean one must immediately sign it. The law requires the magistrate to issue a "show-cause" notice first.
A person receiving an order to sign a preventive peace bond has the legal right to appear before the executive magistrate to contest the information, question the police evidence, and explain why a bond is unnecessary. Besides, the notice or the order to sign the bond can be challenged before the District and Sessions courts.
What is the foundation of a peace bond?
In the landmark Madhu Limaye v. Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Monghyr (1970) judgment, a seven-judge bench upheld the peace-bond chapter.
According to the judgment, liberty can be curtailed only by the law's own procedure, "not according to the whim of the magistrate". It further said that the action rests on potential danger, “not overt acts”. It further said that the reasons must be recorded at every step.
The preliminary order must give proper notice of what moved the magistrate: the essence of the most important parts of the information. Reading it over to the person is not a mere formality.
An interim bond can be demanded only after the magistrate has conducted the inquiry, satisfied himself prima facie of the truth of the information, and recorded reasons. He cannot adjourn the case and send the person to jail in the meantime, because liberty is at stake and the person is proceeded against on information and suspicion. The magistrate's powers must be read strictly, and the facts relied on must be definite.
What are the consequences of violating a preventive peace bond?
When the peace bond is breached, a magistrate can order the person to be detained or arrested until the bond period expires. The law primarily requires a bond. Detention follows only on default.
What are the riders?
A notice that discloses no facts cannot be answered. It must state the material behind the magistrate's satisfaction, or enclose the police report. Further, a bond is not revenue. Its amount must reflect the person's means; an unaffordable bond turns prevention into punishment.
What could happen if a bond notice is ignored? What are the limitations of the bond?
Failing to appear in person or via a lawyer, or respond to a notice could result in ex-parte proceedings or order of detention.
In a 2024 judgment, Reetu Mukherjee v. State of West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court quashed peace bond proceedings arising from a domestic matrimonial dispute. The court held that the bond was strictly intended for public tranquility and preventing community disturbances. Using peace bonds to settle private, family, or purely civil grievances was a gross abuse of the legal process, it said.
Article 21 of the Constitution protects personal liberty. Preventive powers can be exercised only to avert a “genuine threat” to public peace.
Who can conduct proceedings related to a peace bond?
Under the Delhi Police Act, the Delhi Police Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and Assistant Commissioner have been empowered to exercise the powers of executive magistrates, who can conduct proceedings related to a peace bond.
Why the did Delhi HC reject Neha Bora's plea?
The Delhi High Court held that there was sufficient material before the SEM to take such an action against her. Justice Subramonium Prasad said the notice met the requirement of law and was "not based merely on hearsay material". The material included six FIRs mentioning Bora, general diary entries showing certain incidents that took place at various places and the existence of prohibitory orders in Mandi House.
"The satisfaction of the SEM regarding breach of peace in the area where the petitioner was detained and where she was urging people to join her protest is a commercial area receiving very high footfall from office-goers and there are important roads connecting the heart of the city to various other areas.
"There are a large number of hotels, banks, offices, vendors and therefore, it cannot be said that there was no material at all before the SEM before proceeding against the petitioner under Sections 126 and Section 130 of the BNSS," the court said.