Use of armed forces to disperse assembly :
Section – 130. (1) If any such assembly cannot be otherwise dispersed, and if it is necessary for the public security that it should be dispersed, the Executive Magistrate of the highest rank who is present may cause it to be dispersed by the armed forces.
(2) Such Magistrate may require any officer in command of any group of persons belonging to the armed forces to disperse the assembly with the help of the armed forces under his command, and to arrest and confine such persons forming part of it as the Magistrate may direct, or as it may be necessary to arrest and confine in order to disperse the assembly or to have them punished according to law.
(3) Every such officer of the armed forces shall obey such requisition in such manner as he thinks fit, but in so doing he shall 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.
COMMENTS
Provisions contained in sections 130 and 131 cannot be treated as comparable and adequate to deal with situation requiring use of armed forces in aid of civil power as envisaged by the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 – The provisions contained in sections 130 and 131 cannot be treated as comparable and adequate to deal with the situation requiring the use of armed forces in aid of civil power as envisaged by the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. Section 130 makes provision for the Armed Forces being asked by the Executive Magistrate to disperse an unlawful assembly which cannot be otherwise dispersed and such dispersal is necessary for the public security. The said provision has a very limited application inasmuch as it enables the Executive Magistrate to deal with a particular incident involving breach of public security arising on account of an unlawful assembly and the use of the Armed Forces for dispersing such unlawful assembly. Similarly, under section 131, a commissioned or gazetted officer of the Armed Forces has been empowered to deal with an isolated incident where the public security is manifestly endangered by any unlawful assembly. The provisions in sections 130 and 131 cannot thus be treated as comparable and adequate to deal with the situating requiring the continuous use of Armed Forces in aid of the civil power for certain period in a particular area as envisaged by the Central Act—Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. UOI AIR 1998 SC 431.