Srinagar: The personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the “armed forces of the Union of India” stationed in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are now protected from arrest under section 45 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Officials said that Jammu and Kashmir formerly did not fall within the provisions of Section 45 of the Code of Criminal Procedure since the Ranbir Penal Code, 1989, applied here.
Following the repeal of Article 370, the Law Department proposed to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that guidelines be issued regarding the applicability of Section 45 of the CrPC, 1973, to the troops stationed in J&K as well.
“Now, the MHA in consultation with the J&K Government (Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) and Ministry of Law and Justice (Gol) has agreed to our proposal and accorded approval to extend the protection given under Section 45 of CrPC, 1973, to all forces personnel deployed in J&K and Ladakh,” an official communication said.
The same order was also issued by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Headquarters after receiving permission from the Union Home Ministry for its units in J&K, Ladakh, which states that this area was subject to the ‘Ranbir Penal Code 1989’ until Article 370 was repealed in J&K.
The Centre was unable to carry out numerous legislations as a result.
However in 2019, when Article 370 was removed from the laws governing J&K, it opened the door to the armed forces personnel being exempt from arrest in any incident that occurred while they were performing their duties.
In the Union Home Ministry, this topic has generated a lot of discussion.
An official said that the protection, which was previously exclusive to the armed forces personnel, would now be available to all forces stationed in J&K and Ladakh.
As per CrPC Section 45, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Sections 41 to 44 (both inclusive), no member of the armed forces of the union shall be arrested for anything done or purported to be done by him in the discharge of his official duties except after obtaining the consent of the Central government. The State government may, by notification, direct that the provisions of Sub-Section (1) shall apply to such class or category of the members of the force charged with the maintenance of public order as may be specified therein, wherever they may be serving, and thereupon the provisions of that Sub-Section shall apply as if for the expression ‘Central Government’ occurring therein, the expression ‘State Government’ were substituted.”