There has been a debate everywhere whether the police need permission from the college / university administration or any other authority before entering any college or university campus? This question has emerged from social media to general discussion after the police entered the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi & Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh. Police have said to enter Jamia Millia Islamia University that they had entered the university campus to control the situation when protesters carried out violence near the New Friends Colony area in South Delhi.
Apart from this, police sources also said that during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, soon after the violence erupted in South Delhi, the police entered the Jamia Millia Islamia campus and closed the university gates. Some “outsiders” who sneaked into the premises to hide could be caught.
In this article, we will discuss the question whether the police need to get any permission to enter such college / university campus or not and what are the other rights of the police related to it.
No need to take permission?
If this question is to be answered in one sentence, it can be said, ‘No, the police does not require any permission from anyone to enter a college or university.’ There is no law in the country that prohibits the police from entering any place when required (this includes university / college campuses). Legally, according to Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a police officer can enter any place (including college and university) to arrest a person. Also, the university administration is also required to help the police officers in this process.
In addition, the security guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for university campuses in early 2016 state that police can be invited to patrol the campus at night. The University Grant Commission (UGC) has also not imposed any restriction on the police for entering the university campus. Even under the current SOP (Standard Operating Procedure / Standard Operating Procedure) of the police, obtaining permission before entering the campus is only an understanding between the local police and the university and there is no compulsion on the police.
It is to be noted that if a university / college administration makes any rules under which the police has to take permission before entering the campus, then such a rule will prove to be meaningless as the police enter any place under 1973, including the penal procedure Have the right to do. Under what circumstances can the police do this, we will understand further.
Powers of Police under Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
It is to be noted that in the case of Vijaykumar v. State of Kerala 2004 (2) KLT 627, the Kerala High Court held that if the circumstances were to be such then the police could enter the college premises without anyone’s request or permission, so that any The type of criminal activity can be stopped or action taken against the persons committing the crime. This decision of the Kerala High Court appears with various sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
As we know, in general, Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CRPC) authorizes the police to make arrests. The CRPC, with or without a warrant obtained from the magistrate, also provides the police with broad powers of arrest. There is no such provision in the CRPC which prohibits the police from entering any place in relation to the arrest of a person.
In contrast, Section 48 of the CrPC clearly states that “A police officer pursuing a person at a location in India for the purpose of arresting a person without warrant”. Thus, if a police officer is authorized to arrest a person, he may pursue such person to any place in India, even if the place is outside his jurisdiction.
Not only this, if such a person is to be arrested and there exists reason for the police officer to believe that such a person has entered a place (including college / university campus), then that police officer will enter that place May [Section 47 (1)]. Not only this, the person possessing the control of that place, the police will have to be allowed to enter that place and the police will have to provide proper facilities for search. Apart from this, Section 47 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure also allows the police to enter by breaking the inner door or window of the place [where it has not been possible to gain entry under Section 47 (1)].
What does section 47 (1) of CRPC say?
“If a person acting under a warrant of arrest, or a police officer authorized to make an arrest, has reason to believe that the person to be arrested has entered, or is in, a location Any person residing in such place, in charge of that place, by a person acting as aforesaid or by such police officer Are going to add will sign it smooth and make all reasonable facilities for taking her in search.”
Further, Section 165 & Section 166 of the CrPC allow the police to search at any place, for the purposes of investigation into a cognizable offense, without any search warrant. The procedure for conducting such search is enacted in Section 100 of the CrPC, and sub-section (2) of this section provides that only the provision of section 47 (2) shall, for the purpose of search, cover the inside of the place Entrance can be made by breaking the door or window.
Questions have been raised about the entry of police into the campus
Whether entering the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) by the police in the year 2015 or entering the college campus of Pulwama University by the security personnel and police in the year 2016-17 (where the students booked by the police for raising anti-India slogans was entered to arrest), each time such incidents leave a lot of questions.
We have also seen that the police generally do not enter university campuses, as action against students is often not seen as good, and there is a lot of potential for law and order to deteriorate. Police officers on duty are able to decide when they are legally empowered to enter college / university. However, decisions in this regard should be taken very carefully by the police, and such decisions should be carried out within the limits of the powers conferred on the police under CRPC.
It is important that the duty of the police is to maintain law and order, but it is also necessary for the police to take proper care with this duty, And therefore any step to enter the college / university campus should never be arbitrary.
Finally, there is nothing in the current law that allows the police to arrest a person, whose right of arrest is with the police, or to search, before the university vice-chancellor (VC) enters the university. Permission should be formally taken from It is only as a courtesy that the police usually trust the higher officials of an educational institution before doing anything like that (either by getting their permission or by informing them in advance).
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