Section 129: Security for good behaviour from habitual offender
Section 129 provides for a legal process of compelling habitual offenders to execute a bond for good behaviour. This provision is aimed at ensuring public safety by restraining individuals with a history of criminal conduct from committing further offenses and thus ensuring peace and tranquility in the community.
The authority for filing proceedings in cases where any person is accused to be an habitual offender under section 129 of the act vests with Executive Magistrates. Once such individuals have been noticed for having a criminal tendency against which they may repeatedly indulge from time to time, the magistrate, after the satisfaction of its validity, orders them to make their response on reasons of not delivering them an order for executing good behaviour bond. The Magistrate has discretion to proceed based on the evidence of habitual criminal conduct.
The bond for good behavior, if granted, may run for a term not exceeding three years. The court of
Magistrate is at its discretion to the term of the bond, and the court of Magistrate must consider the case's peculiar facts, including the serious nature of criminal acts committed in the past and the likelihood of the individual's recidivism.
Section 129 enumerates specific habitual offenses that may warrant the imposition of a bond for good behavior. These offenses include, but are not limited to:
- Robbery
- Theft
- Receiving stolen property
- Kidnapping and abduction
- Offences under some enactments, such as the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Essential Commodities Act. This provision ensures that persons engaged in habitual criminal conduct in these fields can be kept under surveillance and preventive action taken against them.
The sections of Section 129 are preventative rather than punishment. The fundamental goal is the prevention of recurrence of criminal actions by habitual criminals. The aim of the law is to secure public order and prevent the harm that a persistent threat to community safety may cause and, therefore allow intervention before additional harm is committed.
If the respondent fails to adequately explain his behaviour and does not give sufficient reasons why the bond need not be invoked, he would be required to give a bond of good behaviour
Non-compliance with this order may lead to detention for up to three months. After this time, the person is either granted bail or sent to jail according to the legal statutes dealing with such crimes.
The provision requires habitual offenders to furnish a bond for good behavior, which reduces the risk posed by individuals with a history of criminal conduct, ensuring their accountability and reducing the likelihood of further offenses.
This approach reflects a proactive stance within the legal framework aimed at enhancing community safety and promoting law and order.
