by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development

The Indian Police JournalOrders of the Civil Court should be implemented and all any civil dispute is likely to give rise to an imminent breach of interpose for the purpose of preventing, and shall, to the best ofhis ability, prevent, the commission of any cognizable offence.CP/DGP. In dealing with these cases the SHO should make acontemporaneous record of every action that he takes in the”It is clear that if there is use of force or any other penal provisions oflaw are in breach, the police can interpose proactively. If however,there is merely a civil dispute, does the above order empower thepolice to do anything other than take “preventive action”? It does notappear to be so.Let us take a look at what the Andhra Pradesh High Court (JusticeV.V.S. Rao in Lakshmamma and Anr. v. Commissioner of Police andOrs. {2004 (2) ALD Cri 477, 2004 (4) ALT 175}) has had to say aboutthe involvement of police in civil dispute settlement:“…there has been civil litigation between petitioners and 662 of 2001, it is for the Criminal Court to decide the matter.Police have no role in the same unless they are ordered toenquire into the matter under Section 156(3) of Code of CriminalIt is well settled that police cannotinterfere in civil disputesof on 21-11-2003, I have considered the question regardingthe power of police to interfere in civil disputes and coercepeople to compromise civil disputes. After referring to my earlierjudgement in S. Masthan Saheb v. P.S.R. Anjaneyulu, 2002 (2)the Code of Conduct for the police prescribed by Union of India80 January - March, 2013