Unlawful assembly under IPC and CRPC

Unlawful assembly under IPC and CRPC

 Author - Debpratim Sarkar, Department of Law, University of Calcutta

Meaning
Unlawful assembly is an assembly or congregation of people or a gathering of people that is illegal in nature. It is a major threat to the peace, stability, integrity, law, and security of the society in a country. In our country, the unlawful assembly of people is tackled by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Through unlawful assembly, a group of people want to achieve one common goal which they all have in common.

Definition under Indian Law

In India, the Unlawful assembly of people is an offence under the law which is tackled by the IPC and CrPC.

In the IPC unlawful assembly is defined as “An assembly of five or more persons is designated an “unlawful assembly” if the people have a common object of composing that assembly. 

Under the Indian Penal Code unlawful assembly is of many types it can be affray, riot, etc. and each one of these has a separate punishment based on its severity and the level of threat but these are all, types of unlawful assembly. 

Under section 142 it is specified that whoever, being aware of facts that render any assembly an unlawful assembly, intentionally joins that assembly, or continues in it, is said to be a member of an unlawful assembly. This means someone with the intentions of sec-141 joins the unlawful assembly knowing fully that it is unlawful to do so will be considered a part of it by law. But it should be made sure that there is proper distinction like the people who intentionally join the assembly, versus the ones who are unwillingly a part of it. someone who is passing by such assembly might be considered a part of it but he isn't liable for it because he does not have any such mal intentions under sec-141, it is same for someone who is a part of such unlawful assembly through coercion or threat because it is not there free mind making such decision they are being coerced into it.
In a landmark case of Amar Singh and Ors. Vs The state of Punjab, 7 people were accused under sections 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code i.e-148- participating in unlawful assembly with deadly weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon to kill/ 149-any member who is part of unlawful assembly with a common goal their each and every member is liable. out of 7 accused, 3 of the accused were acquitted due to which the conviction of four members was not sustained as the members were not five or more to be charged with the offence of being a member of unlawful assembly. Total number of members

Punishment under IPC 

In IPC section 143 it is mentioned the punishment for unlawful assembly: whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.

Unlawful assembly as in CrPC
CrPC defines how the criminal justice system is going to function that is IPC is typically the overview of criminal law maintaining the criminal offences whereas the CrPC is the inside machinery of the Indian criminal justice system which governs how things are going to proceed in such offences. So unlawful assembly is defined as in IPC and CrPC it is mentioned how things like unlawful assembly like riot and affray will be dealt with. In section 129 of CrPC, it is stated that the order to disperse or diffuse any assembly that is unlawful in nature or is likely to cause public disturbance to peace may be issued by -
1. Any executive magistrate
2. Officer in charge of a police station or,
3. Any officer who is a sub-inspector or above the rank of sub-inspector in the absence of such officer in charge.

It can be inferred from sec-129 that the order to deal with unlawful assembly can be only given by a high ranking official of police or court of law which describes how serious unlawful assembly can be and how threatening it is to society.
In case of urgent public nuisance or apprehended danger (imminent danger to society) it is dealt with by, Sec-144 of CrPC which is one of the most crucial sections in all of CrPC,1973. The order under sec-144 can be issued by the following-
1. District Magistrate
2. A Sub divisional Magistrate or,
3. Any other executive magistrate on behalf specially empowered by the state government on this behalf.
The order under this section is given in urgent matters only so through this the person issuing such order can direct the person or group of persons causing such unlawful assembly which causes disruption to public order to refrain from certain acts or can issue an order with respect to certain property which is in possession with him. Certain ex parte order can also be passed under this section which is the order given without hearing or giving the opportunity to be heard to the respondent. The provision of ex-parte order is given under section 144(2) in case there is a matter of emergency or where the delay in serving of order can lead to grave injury or damage.

Punishment under CrPC
Under the CrPC the punishment for being a part of unlawful assembly is imprisonment i.e. jail for a term specified which may extend to 6 months or a fine or both at the same time. Whoever joins an unlawful assembly with deadly weapons or arms likely to cause death is punishable with 2 years imprisonment i.e. jail or fine or both at the same time.

Conclusion
So, we can infer from the IPC and CrPC that unlawful assembly of any kind be it with or without the presence of deadly weapons and arms can lead to public disturbance, disharmony, and apprehended or imminent danger, and the punishment for such acts are harsh so in order to create a rather safer environment not only law students but the society as a whole should be taught about the effects of and punishment of unlawful assembly and how it is dealt with in Indian law.