SECTION 144

Subject: Polity

Context: No lockdown, Section 144 across Maharashtra from tomorrow: Uddhav Thackeray announces.

Concept:

Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is frequently used to prohibit assemblies of four or more individuals, or to order mobile phone companies to block voice, SMS, or Internet communications in one or more geographical areas.
It empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive magistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue orders to prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance.
The orders may be directed against a particular individual, or to persons residing in a particular place or area, or to the public generally when frequenting or visiting a particular place or area.
No order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two months from the date of the order.
The state government can extend this, but not more than six months.