Karnataka HC Gives 11 Petitioners 3 Weeks To Answer Section 107 Peace-Bond Show-Cause Notice Before Tahsildar’s Enquiry

In brief

The question

1. Whether the Section 107 Cr.P.C. notice was a final adverse order liable to be quashed, or a show-cause notice requiring the petitioners to respond before further action.

The court held

The Court disposed of the petition without quashing the notice.

It also directed

It permitted the petitioners to submit their replies within three weeks from receipt of a certified copy of the order and directed the Tahsildar, upon receiving the replies, to conduct the enquiry contemplated under Section 107 Cr.P.C. and proceed according to law.

01Facts

The petitioners challenged a notice dated 17 November 2023 issued by the Tahsildar under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, requiring them to show cause why they should not execute a bond to keep the peace in the vicinity for one year.

p. 4

The notice followed complaints produced as Annexures B and C.

p. 4

One petitioner appeared at the enquiry and sought time; petitioner No. 2 then submitted a reply on 10 January 2024.

p. 5

Further proceedings did not take place while an interim order of the Court was in force.

p. 5

The petitioners sought an opportunity for all of them to respond to the notice, while the State contended that the petition was premature because no adverse order had been made.

pp. 5–6

02Issues

i.1. Whether the Section 107 Cr.P.C. notice was a final adverse order liable to be quashed, or a show-cause notice requiring the petitioners to respond before further action.

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ii.2. Whether the petitioners should be permitted to submit their replies and have the Tahsildar conduct the statutory enquiry.

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03Law Applied

Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 empowers the competent authority to require a person to show cause why that person should not be ordered to execute a bond for keeping the peace.

pp. 6–7

A notice calling for such a response is a preliminary show-cause notice; the authority must conduct the contemplated enquiry before deciding whether to make an order under the provision.

pp. 6–7

The petition was brought under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

p. 4

Provisions in the judgment · 1 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Section 107

04Reasoning

The Court considered the notice’s terms and concluded that the Tahsildar had called upon the petitioners to show cause before passing any order under Section 107; it was therefore not itself an order requiring execution of a bond.

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In light of the notice’s preliminary nature, the petitioners could respond to it, and the Tahsildar could then determine the matter through the enquiry contemplated by Section 107.

p. 7

The Court left all parties’ contentions open for consideration in that enquiry.

p. 7