Legal Provisions of Section 173 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Preventing service of summons or other process, or preventing publication thereof:
This section prescribes penalty for preventing service of summons or other proceeding, or preventing publication thereof. It says that whoever, in. any manner:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(a) Intentionally prevents, either on himself or on any other person, serving of any summons, notice or order proceeding from any public servant who holds competence under law, as such public servant, to issue such summons, notice or order; or
The words “or electronic record” were inserted by the Information Technology Act, 2000. This has widened the scope of the section.
(b) Intentionally prevents any such summons, notice or order being lawfully affixed to a place; or
(c) Intentionally removes any such summons, notice or order from any place to which the same is affixed lawfully; or
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(d) Intentionally prevents a proclamation being made under the authority of a public servant who, as such public servant, is competent under law to direct the making of such proclamation; shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term extending up to one month, or with fine extending up to five hundred rupees, or with both; or
(e) If the summons, notice, order or proclamation is to attend personally or by an agent, or to produce a document or electronic record in a court of justice, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term extending up to six months, or with fine extending up to one thousand rupees, or with both.
Image Source: lawnn.com
The prevention of service of summons, notice or order on oneself or on any other person, or prevention of lawful affixing to any place of such thing, or removal of any such thing from any place to which it is lawfully affixed, or prevention of lawful making of any proclamation, must all be intentional to attract this section. Refusal to sign or receive a summons, or throwing down a summons after service are not preventions within the meaning of this section.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Similarly, mere tendering of a summons being a service of summons within the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 refusal of the same does not amount to preventing service of it. There is no provision for rigorous imprisonment under this section.
The offence under this section is non-cognizable, bailable and non-compoundable, and is triable by any magistrate.