Section 144 of CrPC imposed in Gurugram for panchayat elections

The order prohibits carrying of weapons, cavalcade of vehicles and use of loudspeakers in the city and will remain in force till Saturday

Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the district Tuesday ahead of panchayat elections to be held on November 9 and 12. The order prohibits carrying of weapons, cavalcade of vehicles and use of loudspeakers in the city and will remain in force till Saturday.

Election officials check EVMs and election materials for the panchayat election in Gurugram, Sohna and Farrukhnagar, at Girls College in Sector 14, in Gurugram on Tuesday. (Vipin Kumar/ HT Photo)

“No gathering of four or more people with any weapon, including sticks or rods, will be allowed up to 200 metres from polling booths. The order was passed to prevent any possibility of unlawful activities such as blocking roads or attempting to vitiate the poll process in any manner. So, directions under CrPC’s Section 144 are necessary for free and peaceful conduct of panchayat elections,” he said.

Any person found guilty of violating this order shall be prosecuted and punished under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, he added.

He also said there was a need to prohibit use of mobile phones inside polling booths by persons other than officials deployed on election duty.

In the panchayat elections in Nuh, where voting was held in the first phase on November 2, at least seven alleged incidents of violence and attempts to capture a booth were reported from several villages. On Monday, a newly elected woman sarpanch of Manota village was arrested on charges of booth capturing and fleeing with an electronic voting machine (EVM), said police.

Nuh police registered seven cases on November 3 against at least 100 people in connection with the incidents of violence and attempts to capture booths on voting day.