Sections 109, 110 and 111 CrPC: Security for Good Behaviour from Suspected Persons and Habitual Offenders

Sections 109, 110 and 111 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 formed part of Chapter VIII dealing with security for keeping the peace and for good behaviour. These provisions empowered an Executive Magistrate, in specified preventive circumstances, to require a person to show cause why a bond for good behaviour should not be executed.

What is a Security Proceeding under the CrPC?

Proceedings under Chapter VIII of the CrPC were preventive in character. Instead of prescribing punishment for a completed offence, the provisions enabled the Magistrate to take preventive action in circumstances specified by the Code and to require security for keeping the peace or maintaining good behaviour.

Sections 109 and 110 dealt with particular categories of persons from whom security for good behaviour could be required. Section 111 prescribed the contents of the written preliminary order when proceedings were initiated under Sections 107, 108, 109 or 110.

Section 109 CrPC - Security for Good Behaviour from Suspected Persons

Section 109 applied where an Executive Magistrate received information about a person within the Magistrate's local jurisdiction who was taking precautions to conceal his presence and there was reason to believe that the concealment was with a view to committing a cognizable offence.

Essential Requirements of Section 109

• Information must be received by an Executive Magistrate.
• The person concerned must be within the local jurisdiction of the Magistrate.
• The person must be taking precautions to conceal his presence.
• There must be reason to believe that the concealment is connected with an intention to commit a cognizable offence.
• The Magistrate may require the person to show cause against execution of a bond for good behaviour.
• The bond may be with or without sureties.
• The period of the bond cannot exceed one year.

Meaning of Cognizable Offence

For the purpose of the CrPC, a cognizable offence generally means an offence for which a police officer may, in accordance with the First Schedule or another law in force, arrest without warrant. Section 109 was therefore directed at preventive action where the statutory conditions relating to concealment and apprehended commission of such an offence existed.

Executive Magistrate

The expression used in Section 109 is "Executive Magistrate". The reference was substituted for the earlier expression "Judicial Magistrate of the first class" by Act 63 of 1980 with effect from 23 September 1980.

Section 110 CrPC - Security for Good Behaviour from Habitual Offenders

Section 110 dealt with security for good behaviour from specified categories of habitual offenders and from a person whose character and conduct satisfied the particular statutory conditions stated in the section.

When an Executive Magistrate received information that a person within the Magistrate's local jurisdiction fell within one or more of the categories specified in Section 110, the Magistrate could require that person to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond with sureties for good behaviour for a period not exceeding three years.

Categories Covered by Section 110

The section referred, among other things, to a person who:

1. is by habit a robber, house-breaker, thief or forger;
2. is by habit a receiver of stolen property knowing it to have been stolen;
3. habitually protects or harbours thieves or assists in concealing or disposing of stolen property;
4. habitually commits, attempts to commit or abets specified offences such as kidnapping, abduction, extortion, cheating or mischief, as well as the other offences expressly referred to in the section;
5. habitually commits, attempts to commit or abets offences involving a breach of the peace;
6. habitually commits, attempts to commit or abets offences falling within the special enactments or other laws described in clause (f); or
7. is so desperate and dangerous that allowing the person to remain at large without security would be hazardous to the community.

Special Laws Referred to in Section 110

The statutory text of Section 110 contained references to a number of enactments, including the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973; the Employees' Provident Funds legislation; the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954; the Essential Commodities Act, 1955; the law originally described as the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955; the Customs Act, 1962; and the Foreigners Act, 1946.

Bond and Sureties under Section 110

Unlike Section 109, which permitted a bond with or without sureties, Section 110 contemplated a bond with sureties. The maximum period for which security for good behaviour could be required under Section 110 was three years.

Section 111 CrPC - Order to be Made by Magistrate

Section 111 prescribed an important procedural requirement. When a Magistrate acting under Section 107, 108, 109 or 110 considered it necessary to require a person to show cause, the Magistrate was required to make an order in writing.

Why is the Section 111 Order Important?

The written order identifies the basis on which the preventive proceeding has been initiated and specifies the security proposed to be required. It therefore provides the person proceeded against with the essential particulars of the proceeding before the subsequent procedure under Chapter VIII is followed.

Procedure after an Order under Section 111

Section 111 did not operate in isolation. The following provisions of Chapter VIII prescribed the subsequent procedure. Where the person was present in Court, Section 112 dealt with reading or explaining the order. Section 113 dealt with summons or warrant where the person was not present, while Section 114 required a copy of the Section 111 order to accompany the summons or warrant.

Section 116 thereafter provided for an inquiry into the truth of the information upon which action had been taken. Thus, an order under Section 111 was part of a statutory preventive procedure rather than, by itself, a finding that the allegations against the person had been proved.

Sections 109, 110 and 111 CrPC at a Glance

Key Legal Points

• Sections 109 and 110 were preventive security provisions under Chapter VIII of the CrPC.
• The statutory authority under these provisions was the Executive Magistrate.
• Section 109 permitted security for a maximum period of one year.
• Section 110 permitted security for a maximum period of three years.
• Section 111 required the Magistrate to record the prescribed particulars in a written order.
• The Section 111 order formed part of the statutory procedure leading to the subsequent inquiry contemplated by Chapter VIII.

Position before Implementation of BNSS

The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 governed criminal procedure in India immediately before implementation of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 on 1 July 2024. Accordingly, Sections 109, 110 and 111 CrPC remain important when examining proceedings, orders and legal questions governed by the earlier Code and for understanding the historical development of preventive security proceedings.

This page explains the statutory position under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 before implementation of the BNSS. The applicable law in an individual proceeding depends upon its facts, dates, transitional provisions and other applicable legislation.