Sections 123 and 124 CrPC: Release for Failure to Give Security and Security for Unexpired Period of Bond
Sections 123 and 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 formed part of Chapter VIII dealing with security for keeping the peace and for good behaviour. Section 123 dealt with release, reduction of security, conditional discharge and cancellation of bonds where a person had been imprisoned for failure to furnish security. Section 124 dealt with fresh security for the unexpired period of a bond.
Section 123 CrPC - Power to release persons imprisoned for failing to give security
Definition and scope: Section 123 empowered the specified Magistrate or Court to release a person imprisoned for failure to give security under Chapter VIII where release could be ordered without hazard to the community or another person. It also permitted reduction of the security, number of sureties or period for which security was required, and regulated conditional discharge and its cancellation.
Sub-section (1): Discharge from imprisonment
Where the District Magistrate, in a case arising from an order of an Executive Magistrate under Section 117, or the Chief Judicial Magistrate in any other case, considered that a person imprisoned for failing to give security could be released without hazard to the community or any other person, the person could be discharged.
Sub-section (2): Reduction of security
The High Court, Court of Session or the competent Magistrate could reduce the amount of security, the number of sureties or the period for which security had been required.
Sub-sections (3) and (4): Conditional discharge
Discharge could be unconditional or subject to conditions accepted by the person. Any such condition ceased to operate when the original period for furnishing security expired. The State Government could prescribe conditions governing conditional discharge.
Sub-sections (5) to (8): Breach of conditions and unexpired term
If a condition of discharge was not fulfilled, the competent authority could cancel the discharge. Following cancellation, the person could be arrested without warrant and produced before the competent Magistrate. Unless security was then furnished according to the original order for the unexpired portion, the person could be remanded to prison for that remaining period. A person so remanded remained entitled, subject to Section 122, to release upon furnishing the required security.
Sub-section (9): Cancellation of bond
The High Court or Court of Session could, for sufficient reasons recorded in writing, cancel a bond for keeping the peace or for good behaviour executed under Chapter VIII. The District Magistrate or Chief Judicial Magistrate, as applicable, had corresponding power over bonds executed under the relevant orders within the district.
Sub-section (10): Application by surety
A surety for another person's peaceable conduct or good behaviour could apply to the Court for cancellation of the bond. The Court could then issue a summons or warrant requiring the person for whom the surety was bound to appear or be brought before it.
Section 124 CrPC - Security for unexpired period of bond
Definition and scope: Section 124 governed the situation where a person appeared or was brought before the Magistrate or Court after a summons or warrant issued under the proviso to Section 121(3) or Section 123(10). The existing bond was to be cancelled and fresh security of the same description was required for the unexpired portion of its term.
Sub-section (1): The Magistrate or Court was required to cancel the existing bond and order fresh security of the same description as the original security for the remaining period of the bond.
Sub-section (2): For the purposes of Sections 120 to 123, such an order was deemed to be an order under Section 106 or Section 117, as applicable.
Meaning and practical effect of Sections 123 and 124 CrPC
These provisions operated within the preventive security framework of the CrPC. Their purpose was not to impose punishment for a substantive offence, but to regulate security ordered for keeping the peace or maintaining good behaviour. Section 123 provided a mechanism for relief where continued imprisonment for failure to furnish security was no longer necessary, while preserving safeguards for the community and permitting restoration of custody where accepted discharge conditions were breached.
Section 124 complemented that framework by ensuring that cancellation of an existing bond did not necessarily end the security requirement. Instead, fresh security could be required for the balance of the original term.
Corresponding provisions under the BNSS, 2023
| CrPC, 1973 | Subject | BNSS, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Section 123 | Power to release persons imprisoned for failing to give security | Section 142 |
| Section 124 | Security for unexpired period of bond | Section 143 |
The BNSS retains the core structure of these provisions with renumbered cross-references. Section 143 expressly refers to cancellation of a "bond or bail bond" before fresh security is ordered for the unexpired portion.
For proceedings governed by the CrPC before the commencement of the BNSS, the applicable transitional and savings provisions should be checked on the facts of the case.