Patna HC alerts DM, SP on misuse of crime control laws, slaps Rs 3.9 lakhs on Bihar govt

By: Dev Kumar PandeyPATNA: The Patna high court has cautioned district magistrates (DMs) and superintendents of police (SPs) against declaring people “antisocial” without strictly following procedural norms, while imposing a total cost of Rs3.9 lakh on the state govt in three cases involving externment orders under Bihar’s crime control law.A division bench of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sunil Dutta Mishra passed the three orders on Sept 11 while quashing externment orders challenged through separate criminal writ petitions. The orders came into the public domain on Sept 12.In a petition filed by Chandan Kumar, an elected panchayati raj representative from Giriyak block in Nalanda district, the court quashed an externment order passed by the Nalanda DM.