Externment Order

Externment Order

Subject – Polity

Context – The Supreme Court has held that the power of the State to pass an externment order or a direction barring certain people entry to specified areas should be exercised only in “exceptional cases”.

Concept –

• Externment orders are laws for preventing a person from going in a certain area.
• They are a coherent solution for deterring a criminal only to the extent where the discretion of the administrative authorities is not violating the fundamental rights of the citizens of India.
• The assertion of it is done by the judiciary on a case-to-case basis.
• The concept of externment pre-existed before the enactment of the Indian Constitution and many penal laws that prevails in our country.
• In ancient India, the kings and the rulers throughout the territory used this method to deter criminals.
  • Externment at that time purportedly served as a punishment and to rehabilitate a person like corrupt judges, dishonest statesmen, thief et al.
  • The primary intent of imposing an externment on people was to keep them away from their familiar environment in which they committed the criminal activities.
• In the case, Nawabkhan Abbaskhan v. the State of Gujarat, the court explicitly ruled out that any order of externment, where the affected party is not heard before concluding a decision, is null and void.
• The provisions for providing the power of externment to the concerned authorities can be found in many statutes such as The Maharashtra Police Act (MPA) 1951, Punjab Security of State Act 1953, and Assam Maintenance of Public Order Act 1947, Karnataka Police Act et al.
• As far as the concept of externment is concerned, the UK does not have any legislation for externment.