Legal provisions regarding Use of armed forces to disperse assembly under section 130 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Section 130 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(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.
Image Source: i.telegraph.co.uk
(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.
As per Section 132(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(a) The expression “armed forces” means the military, naval and air forces, operating as land forces and includes any other armed forces of the Union so operating;
(b) The word ‘officer’ in relation to the armed forces, means a person commissioned, gazetted or in pay as an officer of the armed forces and includes a junior commissioned officer, a warrant officer, a petty officer, a non-commissioned officer, and a non-gazetted officer;
(c) The word ‘member’ in relation to the armed forces, means a person in the armed forces other than an officer.