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PUBLIC ORDER
aw & Order and Public order are used interchangeably many of the times.
Indeed, they are quite similar in nature. Both of these are related to crime in
society. Despite this, there is difference between these two terms. Whenever
any crime takes place in the society, indeed it is a violation of law and this
denotes the breakdown of LAW & ORDER. But not necessarily it is a breakdown of
PUBLIC ORDER. Public Order signifies the life style of the society. Though An
individual crime affects the psyche of the society but not necessarily it can affect
the way of functioning of the society. Whenever something happens which affects
the normal routine of the society, it is understood as breakdown of the public order.
For example, the murder of an individual is a Law & Order problem but is not going
to affect the society to such a large extent that people start to do something nonroutine in resPublic Ordernse to the murder.
In the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia vs. State of Bihar and others, 1966 AIR 740, the
honorable Supreme Court has conceptualized that the Law & Order, Public Order
and Security of State can be imagined as three concentric circles. In this, the outer
circle is Law & Order, middle one is Public Order and the innermost is the security of
state.
Security of state
Public
Order
The concentric circle concept states that the ambit of Law & Order is the widest.
Any crime happening is necessarily affecting the Law & Order but it is not necessary
that the crime has the Potentiality of affecting the Public Order and Security of
State. Let me explain this concept through an example. Suppose A has killed B. In
general, it is a problem of Law & Order as law has been violated as a crime has
taken place. But if A &B belong to two different communities in a place where there
is a communal tension between the two communities, then the act of killings may
be perceived by the communities as a transaction between the two communities
SANDEEP GUPTA,
SECTION B
SANDEEP GUPTA,
SECTION B