Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 125
Security for keeping peace on conviction
(1) When a Court of Session or Court of a Magistrate of the first class convicts a person of any of the offences specified in sub-section (2) or of abetting any such offence and is of opinion that it is necessary to take security from such person for keeping the peace, the Court may, at the time of passing sentence on such person, order him to execute a bond or bail bond, for keeping the peace for such period, not exceeding three years, as it thinks fit.
(2) The offences referred to in sub-section (1) are—
(a) any offence punishable under Chapter XI of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023), other than an offence punishable under sub-section (1) of section 193 or section 196 or section 197 thereof;
(b) any offence which consists of, or includes, assault or using criminal force or committing mischief;
(c) any offence of criminal intimidation;
(d) any other offence which caused, or was intended or known to be likely to cause, a breach of the peace.
(3) If the conviction is set aside on appeal or otherwise, the bond or bail bond so executed shall become void.
(4) An order under this section may also be made by an Appellate Court or by a Court when exercising its powers of revision.
Why this exists
This provision continues a long-standing preventive justice tradition in Indian criminal procedure (earlier found in Section 106 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973). The idea is that punishment alone may not stop a person from causing further trouble after release; requiring a bond to keep the peace gives courts a tool to deter repeat violence or intimidation, especially in cases involving assault, mischief, rioting-type offences, or threats, without needing a fresh criminal case if the person misbehaves again.
How courts read it
Under the predecessor provision (Section 106 CrPC), courts consistently held that ordering security for keeping the peace is discretionary and must be based on the judge's genuine satisfaction that the convict is likely to cause a breach of peace again, not a mechanical add-on to every conviction. Courts have also emphasized that the bond period cannot exceed the statutory maximum, and that if the underlying conviction is set aside in appeal or revision, the bond automatically falls away, since it draws its legal force entirely from the conviction.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: A peace bond is an automatic punishment given in every conviction.
Fact: Courts must specifically believe it is 'necessary' before ordering a peace bond; it is not automatic and applies only to certain listed offences. - Myth: The peace bond lasts however long the judge wants.
Fact: The law caps the bond period at a maximum of three years. - Myth: Only a Magistrate can pass this order.
Fact: Sessions Courts, Appellate Courts, and courts exercising revision powers can also make this order, not just first-class Magistrates.