Section 188 IPC addresses disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant and is an important provision in the IPC in this regard. This provision is critical to maintaining public order and ensuring that the law requires obedience. This article will cover the definition, elements, and consequences of Section 188 IPC.
What is Section 188 IPC?
The IPC’s Chapter X, “Of Contempts of the Lawful Authority of Public Servants,” contains Section 188. It’s about “Disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant.” A person may be punished with simple imprisonment for up to one month, a fine of up to two hundred rupees, or both if they willfully disregard such an order and their actions cause or tend to cause obstruction, annoyance, or injury, or the threat of obstruction, annoyance, or injury, to any lawfully employed person. The offender may be punished with up to six months in prison, a fine of up to one thousand rupees, or both if the disobedience puts human life, health, or safety in danger or encourages a riot or affray.
It is not necessary for the perpetrator to have malicious intent or to have anticipated that his disobedience would result in harm. It suffices that he is aware of the order he is disobeying and that his actions cause or are likely to cause harm.
Illustration
A public official with the legal authority to do so issues an order prohibiting a religious procession from travelling down a specific street. An intentionally breaks the law, putting a riot at risk. The offense listed in this section has been committed by A.
Nature of offense under section 188 of IPC
Section 188 offences are cognizable, bailable, and subject to trial by any magistrate, as stated in the First Schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973. This means that a person charged under Section 188 would have to be arrested and could be released on bail.
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Procedures Followed Under Section 188 IPC
Without a warrant, the police can make an arrest, file a formal complaint under Section 154 of the CrPC, and start an investigation into the crime. Section 173 of the CrPC allows the police to file a police report following the investigation. The court itself suo motu realizes the crime and begins the trial. The cognizance of the offense punishable under Sections 172 to 188 of the IPC may be taken by the Court only when the public servant or his superior files a written complaint provided under Section 195 (1)(a) of the CrPC.
The Madras High Court ruled in the 2018 case of Jeevanandham v. State that, to prosecute an accused person for an offense under Section 188 of the IPC, the process of Section 195 of the CrPC must be followed; otherwise, the action would be deemed void, null, and legally ineffective. The public servant whose lawful order has not been followed must file a complaint. Police officers can only take preventative action. To allow the concerned public servant to proceed with the complaint before the court, they must notify them.
Registration of FIRs for Violating Section 188 IPC
Cases in which the FIR is filed under Section 188 of the IPC alone, as well as cases in which the FIR is filed under Sections 269 and 270 of the IPC.
However, while in the first scenario, police can file a charge sheet before the appropriate court without looking into section 188 of IPC, it will still amount to a charge sheet for other offenses. However, only an FIR was registered against him under Section 188 of IPC, which is not a case, but a police complaint, and the police have to close the complaint and go to the appropriate court.
Conclusion
While, in the first scenario, the police could submit a charge sheet in an appropriate court without investigating Section 188 of IPC, the charge sheet could be for other offenses. However, an FIR against him has been registered only under Section 188 of the IPC, which does not permit the police to file a case, and they must drop the case and approach the appropriate court.
