2/25/2021 Right to Protest – Civilsdaily

FREEDOM OF SPEECH – DEFAMATION, SEDITION, ETC. <

HTTPS://WWW.CIVILSDAILY.COM/STORY/FREEDOM-OF-SPEECH/>

Right to Protest
Polity < https://www.civilsdaily.com/subject/polity/> | Mains Paper 2 <
https://www.civilsdaily.com/gspaper/paper2/> : Indian Constitution - historical
underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic
structure
December 17, 2019 < https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/right-to-protest/>
The Indian Express

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : Right to Protest
Mains level : Freedom of speech and the reasonable restrictions

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The police action in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, where the police entered the
university campus and employed force against students is being widely
criticised across the country.  What do the Constitution and laws of India say
on the right of police to intervene in protests and agitations?
In the Constitution
The right to protest peacefully is guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
Articles 191)(a) and 191)(b) give to all citizens the right to freedom of
speech and expression, and to assemble peaceably and without arms.
However, under Articles 192 and 193, the right to freedom of speech is
subject to “reasonable restrictions”.
These include the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the
State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or
morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an
offence.
In the CrPC and IPC
The legal provisions and avenue available to police for handling agitations,
protests, and unlawful assemblies are covered by the Code of Criminal
Procedure CrPC, 1973, the Indian Penal Code IPC, 1860, and The Police
Act, 1861.

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I. CrPC
The CrPC’s Sections 129132 deal with “Dispersal of assembly by use of
civil force”, use of the armed forces in situations of civil unrest, and
protection against prosecution for acts done under these sections.
Under CrPC Section 129, “any Executive Magistrate or officer in charge of a
police station… 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”.
Also, “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, (the) Executive
Magistrate or police officer… may proceed to disperse such assembly by
force.
This may require the assistance of any male 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.
Section 130 of the CrPC, which deals with “Use of armed forces to
disperse assembly”, requires personnel to “use as little force, and do as
little injury to person and property, as may be consistent with dispersing
the assembly and arresting and detaining such persons”.
II. IPC
The IPC’s Sections 141158 deal with unlawful assembly, and the
responsibilities, liabilities, and punishments related to this offence.
Under IPC Section 141, an “unlawful assembly” is an assembly of five or
more persons that intends to “overawe by criminal force, or show of
criminal force”, governments or public servants, or to “resist the execution
of any law, or of any legal process”, or “to commit any mischief or criminal
trespass, or other offence”, etc.
IPC Section 146 says, “Whenever force or violence is used by an unlawful
assembly, or by any member thereof, in the prosecution of the common

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object of such assembly, every member of such assembly is guilty of the

offence of rioting.”
Pre-requisites for use of Force
In ‘Karam Singh vs Hardayal Singh And Ors’ the High Court of Punjab and
Haryana underlined in its judgment of August 8, 1979, that “before any
force can be used, three prerequisites are to be satisfied”.
Firstly, there should be an unlawful assembly with the object of committing
violence or an assembly of five or more persons likely to cause a
disturbance of the public peace.
Secondly, such assembly is ordered to be dispersed.
Thirdly, in spite of such orders to disperse, such assembly does not
disperse.
In the United Nations
The ‘Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials’ adopted in 1990, resolved that “law enforcement
officials, in carrying out their duty, shall, as far as possible, apply non-
violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.
They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective or
without any promise of achieving the intended result.
The Principles cautioned that “whenever the lawful use of force and
firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall”, among other
things, “exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the
seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved”,
and “minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life”.
Also, “Governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and
firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offence
under their law.”

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