Question

An Executive Magistrate may require security for keeping good behavior from habitual offenders for a period not more than

• A. 6 months
• B. 3 months
• C. 1 year
• D. 3 years

Hint:

For CrPC, the chapters on preventive action (Chapter VIII), arrest (Chapter V), and bail are very important. Remember the specific powers and the maximum duration of orders that can be passed by different types of Magistrates (Judicial vs. Executive).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

This is about Section 110 of the CrPC, which lets a Magistrate ask a habitual offender, someone repeatedly involved in theft, housebreaking, receiving stolen property, or forgery, to give a bond for good behaviour. The question is only about the maximum length of that bond.

1. 6 months and 3 months: neither of these figures matches any period fixed for security proceedings under the Code, so both can be dropped right away.
2. 1 year: this is the ceiling used elsewhere in the same chapter, for example for a suspicious person with no visible means of living, but not for the habitual offender category the question is asking about.
3. 3 years: Section 117 of the CrPC fixes this as the maximum period for which security can be demanded once a Magistrate finds it necessary under Section 110. The Magistrate can set any period up to this, but three years is the outer cap.

Since habitual offenders fall under the three-year ceiling specifically, the correct answer is 3 years.

Answer 2

It helps to see this question next to the other kinds of security bonds Chapter VIII of the CrPC allows, since the Code does not fix one single period for all of them, it grades the maximum period by how serious the category of person is.

1. 6 months: not a period used anywhere in the Code's security provisions for any category, so this option can be set aside.
2. 3 months: also not a figure that appears in Chapter VIII, so this is ruled out on the same basis.
3. 1 year: this shorter cap is reserved for less severe categories, for instance a person merely suspected of being about to breach the peace, or someone accused of circulating seditious material, or a suspicious wanderer with no visible livelihood. These are people who have not yet been shown to have a settled criminal habit, so the law limits how long they can be kept under a bond.
4. 3 years: a habitual offender under Section 110 is in a different, more serious category altogether, someone who has repeatedly committed offences like theft, robbery, housebreaking, or forgery. Because the risk of repeat offending is higher, Section 117 allows the Magistrate to fix security for a longer period, up to three years, the longest ceiling in the whole chapter.

Comparing the categories side by side shows why the law reserves the longest period for habitual offenders specifically, which is the group named in the question.

Therefore, the correct answer is 3 years.