FILE M · 13 pages

Powers & Duties

Magisterial work, protocol, RTI, elections, disasters.

• Executive Magistrate: what the post actually is

  Under BNSS ss. 14–17 the State Government appoints Executive Magistrates in every district; the Collector is District Magistrate, others may be ADMs, and the officer in charge of a sub-division — the RDO — is the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. Executive Magistrates keep the preventive and public-order side of the criminal law: bind-over, dispersal, nuisance, prohibitory orders, land disputes and inquests. Trial, bail, remand and sentencing belong to Judicial Magistrates under the High Court. Your orders face no appeal generally (security orders excepted) but always face revision under s. 438 and the writ court.

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• CrPC to BNSS: the Executive Magistrate's renumbering map

  The BNSS replaced the CrPC on 1 July 2024. The Executive Magistrate toolkit survives almost intact but renumbered: 107 is now 126, 133 is 152, 144 is 163, 145 is 164, 174 is 194, 176 is 196. Two provisions vanished outright — CrPC 144A (arms in processions) and CrPC 153 (police inspection of weights and measures). And beware: BNSS 144 is maintenance (old 125), not the prohibitory-order power.

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• Section 163 BNSS: the old 144, and how to use it

  The DM, SDM or an empowered Executive Magistrate can, by written order stating the material facts, direct anyone — or the public of an area — to abstain from an act to prevent danger to life, health or public tranquillity. It can issue ex parte, lasts two months (State-extendable to six), now expressly covers electronic communication, and an aggrieved person is entitled to a hearing on an application to rescind or alter it. Beware the number trap: BNSS 144 is maintenance, not this power.

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• Bind-over: security proceedings under BNSS 126–143

  On information that a person is likely to breach the peace, the Executive Magistrate issues a show-cause order under s. 130, holds a summary inquiry under s. 135 (which must finish within six months or the proceedings lapse), and either orders a bond under s. 136 or discharges under s. 137. Maximum bond: one year under 126, up to three years under 127–129, and never more than the s. 130 notice proposed. Default means imprisonment under s. 141; appeal lies to the Sessions Judge under s. 414.

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• Dispersing an unlawful assembly: BNSS 148–151

  Any Executive Magistrate (or officer in charge of a police station) may command an unlawful assembly to disperse under s. 148 and use civil force if it does not. If civil force cannot disperse it and public security demands, the highest-ranking EM present may requisition the armed forces under s. 149; an armed-forces officer may act alone under s. 150 only when no EM can be contacted. s. 151 protects good-faith acts from prosecution without government sanction. The standing discipline: minimum necessary force, warning before each escalation, the magistrate present and the authorization in writing with times noted.

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• Public nuisance: conditional orders under BNSS 152–162

  The DM, SDM or empowered Executive Magistrate can pass a conditional order under s. 152 directing removal of an unlawful obstruction on a public place, regulation of a trade injurious to health, demolition of a dangerous structure, or fencing of a well. The person served must comply or show cause (s. 154); a genuine denial of the public right stays the proceeding for the civil court (s. 156); after evidence the order is made absolute under s. 160 or dropped. An interim injunction is available under s. 161. No appeal — revision only, under s. 438.

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• Land disputes and the breach of peace: BNSS 164–167

  Where a dispute over land, water or crops is likely to cause a breach of the peace, the Executive Magistrate passes a preliminary order under s. 164, takes written statements and evidence on who was in actual possession on the date of the order (a party forcibly dispossessed within the preceding two months is treated as still in possession), and declares that party entitled to remain until evicted in due course of law. The finding is possession only — never title. In emergencies, or where no party is in possession, attach the property and appoint a receiver under s. 165. Rights of user go under s. 166; local inquiry under s. 167; revision under s. 438.

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• Inquests and death inquiries: BNSS 194–196

  On an unnatural death the police hold a spot inquest under s. 194 and must forward the report to the DM or SDM within 24 hours. Under s. 196 a magisterial inquiry is mandatory where a woman dies within seven years of marriage by suicide or in suspicious circumstances, and s. 196(2) mandates a Magistrate's inquiry for deaths, disappearances or alleged rape in custody. s. 196(4) allows exhumation; s. 196(6) requires the body to reach the civil surgeon within 24 hours of death unless reasons are recorded. Whether the custodial-death inquiry is a Judicial or Executive Magistrate function is textually unsettled under the BNSS — treat it as the Judicial Magistrate's per prevailing practice unless the State instructs otherwise.

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• RTI in a revenue office: PIO, appeals and the 30-day clock

  Under the RTI Act 2005 every public authority designates Public Information Officers who must answer applications within 30 days (48 hours where life or liberty is involved; plus 5 days via an APIO). Exemptions live in ss. 8 and 9, severance in s. 10, third-party information follows the s. 11 procedure, and s. 20 penalties of Rs. 250 a day (up to Rs. 25,000) fall on the PIO personally. In most posts a Deputy Collector is the First Appellate Authority over the office's PIOs — the corrective, not the office's defender.

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• Disaster management and relief: the DM Act and the revenue machinery

  The Disaster Management Act 2005 builds a three-tier structure: NDMA under the Prime Minister, SDMA under the Chief Minister, and a District Disaster Management Authority chaired by the Collector. Relief on the ground is revenue work: enumeration of loss through field inspection linked to azmoish practice, input-subsidy memoranda sent up for SDRF/NDRF assistance at notified norm rates, and immediate gratuitous relief that cannot wait for enumeration. Norms and rates change with instructions — check the current G.O.s each season; this page carries the stable structure.

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• Protocol and election duties: the other uniform

  Two recurring non-statute-book duties. Protocol: liaison work for VIP visits, built on the minute-to-minute programme and the security 'green book' conventions — the civil administration facilitates, the security agencies decide security. Elections: the revenue machinery doubles as the Election Commission's machinery — Deputy Collector-rank officers as ROs/AROs under the RP Act 1951 and EROs under the RP Act 1950, Tahsildars as sector officers, all bound by the Model Code of Conduct from the announcement of the poll and deemed on deputation to the ECI. Orientation-level; the operative instructions for any given visit or poll govern.

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• The RDO as Maintenance Tribunal: the Senior Citizens Act, 2007

  Under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, Telangana has constituted a Maintenance Tribunal in each revenue division headed by the RDO (s.7), with the District Collector as Appellate Tribunal (s.15). Procedure is summary: conciliation first, no lawyers as of right, maintenance up to ₹10,000/month, disposal within 90 days, appeal within 60 days. The heavier docket is s.23 cancellation of gift deeds and eviction of children — where the Supreme Court (S. Vanitha 2021, Urmila Dixit 2025) holds the power exists but eviction is a discretionary, protective remedy, not automatic.

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• The PoA Act district machinery: spot visits, relief, DVMC

  Under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Rules, 1995 (amended 2016), the District Magistrate/Sub-Divisional Magistrate — the RDO in Telangana — and the SP must visit the spot of every atrocity under Rule 12(1), assess loss and draw the relief plan. Monetary relief follows the Annexure-I schedule (roughly ₹85,000 to ₹8.25 lakh by offence), paid in stages at FIR, charge-sheet and trial end, plus rehabilitation: pension for dependents, employment, education, land or housing where displaced. The DM chairs the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, which must meet at least quarterly; Collectors can declare atrocity-prone areas.

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