Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 15
Special Executive Magistrates
The State Government may appoint, for such term as it may think fit, Executive Magistrates or any police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or equivalent, to be known as Special Executive Magistrates, for particular areas or for the performance of particular functions and confer on such Special Executive Magistrates such of the powers as are conferrable under this Sanhita on Executive Magistrates, as it may deem fit.
Why this exists
Indian criminal procedure has long allowed governments to create special magistrates to handle local law-and-order needs quickly—especially in situations like crowd control, curfews, or public safety issues—without waiting for a regular judicial magistrate. This provision, carried forward from similar older Code of Criminal Procedure provisions, lets the executive branch use trusted officials, including senior police officers, for such limited, time-bound magisterial functions.
How courts read it
Courts under the earlier, similarly worded Code of Criminal Procedure provision generally held that such special magistrates must be given only specific powers explicitly conferred by the government, not blanket magisterial authority, and that these appointments should serve clear, limited purposes rather than replace regular judicial magistrates.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: A Special Executive Magistrate has all the powers of a regular magistrate.
Fact: They only get the specific powers the State Government decides to give them, not full magisterial authority. - Myth: Only civilians or judicial officers can be appointed as Special Executive Magistrates.
Fact: The law explicitly allows senior police officers (Superintendent of Police rank or above) to be appointed too.