ALIAS JOHN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITION filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short, "Cr.P.C.").

(2.) PETITIONER has come up challenging Annexure -A1 order passed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Pala in M.C. No. 19 of 2012 whereby he was directed to show cause under Section 111 Cr.P.C. why he should not be ordered to execute a bond for a sum of Rs. 25,000/ - for a period of one year to keep peace in the locality.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the petitioner submitted that the order passed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate is legally unsustainable. It is also submitted that on a conjoint reading of Sections 107 and 111 Cr.P.C. it could be seen that such a callous order is not contemplated under the provisions of law. Section 107 Cr.P.C. says that when an Executive Magistrate receives information that any person is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquility or to do any wrongful act that may probably occasion a breach of the peace, he may in the manner provided in Section 111 Cr.P.C. require the person to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond for keeping the peace. Section 111 Cr.P.C. says that when a Magistrate acting under Section 107 Cr.P.C. and other provisions mentioned thereunder deems it necessary to require any person to show cause under such Section, he shall make an order in writing, setting forth the substance of the information received and other details. In Annexure -A1 order, it is mentioned that the petitioner was involved in three cases registered by the Velloor Police. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that in two cases mentioned therein, the Police had filed a refer report and in one case, the petitioner had been tried and acquitted. This assertion made by the petitioner is not denied by the prosecution. Merely because a person is involved in a criminal case, it is not proper to invoke provision under Section 107 Cr.P.C. It is settled law that imminent breach of the peace is the essential condition for initiation of a proceeding under Section 107 Cr.P.C. Learned counsel for the petitioner relied on a decision of this Court in Girish P. and others v. State of Kerala and another (2009 (4) KHC 929) to contend that the order is illegal. Paragraph 5 of the decision reads as follows: