What is Section 144 Cr.P.C?

At the very outset it is made clear that this write up is not meant for those who consider themselves an authority or expert in what is known as Cr. P. C, that is The Criminal Procedure Code(the Code, for short).
It is an attempt to make general public aware of the provisions as laid under this Section i.e 144 about which they hear every now and then when administrative authorities resort to this section in dealing with urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger.
It is worth mentioning for those who wish to know that law & order is a State subject. The primary responsibility of maintaining law&order rests with the State Government. The state government discharges this major responsibility through district administration headed by the District Magistrate subordinate to whom are Subdivisional Magistrate and other executive magistrates in the district.
The District Magistrate, Subdivisional Magistrate and Executive Magistrate specially empowered for the purpose by the state government have been vested with certain powers under the Code that enable them, inter alia, to deal with urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger so that situations do not adversely affect the maintenance of law and order.
One of the most important executive powers vested with the District, Magistrate/Subdivisional Magistrate/Executive Magistrate under the Code is power to issue order directing
                            **a person to abstain from certain act and/or obey certain instruction in the said order passed under this section with respect to certain property possessed or managed by him.
It is further clarified that order u/s 144 can be directed to

                             *a particular individual
                             * persons residing in a particular place or area
                             * the public generally frequenting/visiting a particular place or area.
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Matters/Situations in respect of which order under section 144 is issued by the Executive Magistrate can be briefly discussed as below:
              The order under this section can not be a verbal order; It must be a written one. It can be passed by such magistrate only when he reaches to a conclusion that immediate prevention or speedy remedy is desirable to prevent
                               1.Obstruction/
                                   Annoyance/
                                   Injury to any person lawfully employed.
                               2. Danger to human life, health or safety.
                               3. Disturbance of public tranquility
                                4. Riot(Section 146 IPC says that all members of an unlawful assembly is guilty of rioting if the said unlawful assembly in prosecution of its common object uses force or violence.)
                                5. Affray.(Section 159 IPC defines Affray to have been committed when two or more persons fighting in a public place disturb public peace.)

It is apparent that to prevent the situations listed above an executive magistrate may hold an opinion that  issue of order under this section is necessary for immediate prevention or speedy remedy of the above mentioned situation. In cases of emergency or where the circumstances do not provide such time as to serve notice against whom the order is directed, 144 order can be passed  ex parte.
The order is of non permanent nature
As can be visualized, this order restricting the personal liberty of particular individual or persons residing in a locality defined by area or place has to be  temporary in nature. The Code stipulates that the period during which the order under this section shall remain in force for two months from the date of its issue unless extended by the state government for a period not exceeding six months from the date order made by the Magistrate would have expired.
Order u/s 144 of the Code can be rescinded, altered by the Magistrate on his own motion or upon an application by any aggrieved person.
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Thus to put the matter short and point wise Section 144 Cr.P.C is represented below:

A. It is a written order issued by the executive magistrate.
B. The order is directed against a particular person or persons of particular place or area.
C. The directions contained in the order seek to prevent these persons not to do certain act (including obeying certain instructions in respect of certain property under his possession/management) that causes
         obstruction, annoyance or injury to a person lawfully employed.
         Danger to human life, health or safety
          Disturbance in public tranquility or riot or affray.
D. Order issued u/s 144  is not open ended. In absence of any such reference as to the period, it will remain in force for two months unless extended (by the state government for a period not exceeding six months) or rescinded earlier by the magistrate.
E. The said order must contain the material facts of the case and be served in the manner as prescribed under the code(section 134) unless circumstances do not provide such time for service of notice to the person(s)against whom such order is made or there is emergency in which cases the Code provides that the order may be passed ex parte.
The principles that should govern the invocation of Section 144.
(I) Urgency of situation
(II)temporary character of order
(III)material facts demanding consideration for issue of such order on urgent basis with respect temporary curtailment in right to liberty including property rights of particular individual or persons residing in a place or area.
Constitutional validity of 144 Cr.P.C
Constitutional validity of this section was scrutinized by Hidayuttalah C.J.who stated in his Judgment dated 28.10.1970 in the Writ Petition(Civil) 77 Madhu Limaye vs. SDM Monghyr & Others that section 144 Cr.P.C is not unconstitutional if properly applied and the fact that it may be abused is no ground for its being struck down.
In course of holding the section constitutionally valid The Apex Court observed that "the gist of action under s. 144 is the urgency of the situation, its efficiency in the likelihood of being able to prevent some harmful occurrences. As it is possible to act absolutely and even ex parte the emergency must be sudden and consequences sufficiently grave".
It is hoped that this write up will be of some use towards better understanding of the matter by the general public who very frequently hear about this order in news and other public domains.
R.R.Prabhakar,
28.03.2019.