The other day, there was a video on WhatsApp of a policeman claiming that people are susceptible to being arrested without bail for two years under section 270 if they are found violating the lockdown orders. That is not accurate. The "why" is easy to find out. But the topic provides an opening into an interesting avenue.
Let us have a small lesson in the social sciences. There are three branches of the government, as we know. Legislation, Execution and the Judiciary. Legislative is the branch that forms the law. The PM and his cabinet in the centre and the CM and his cabinet for the state and so on. Execution is the branch that is tasked with upholding the law. The President (as the commander-in-chief in times of war) and the armed forces, the state polices and other such law-enforcement agencies come under this. Finally, the judiciary. This branch is where conflicts are resolved, essentially. In case of a disagreement in the creation of a law, the government can be taken to the courts by anyone, for example.
Now, the flow is this:
The law is created by the PM/CM+Ministers.
This law is upheld by the forces. They uphold it by ensuring that crimes are not performed, or by arresting people who are caught committing crimes or have been accused of them.
Once apprehended, what happens to these persons? That is detailed in the Criminal Procedure Code or the CrPC. That is where magistrates, judges and courts; cognizable, bailable and non-bailable offences are mentioned. In other words, this is the document that details the method of how and when someone can or cannot be arrested, until when they can be arrested and what should be the due course in which this person's trial can be conducted.
Now how is a judge supposed to decide which person gets how much punishment? It obviously can't be arbitrary. This is defined in the Indian Penal Code which is the IPC.
So summarily, the CrPC tells you how you can be arrested, for which crimes, by whom, under whose permission, until when can you be held by the police before being produced in front of a court, etc. The IPC tells you as well as the judges what is the maximum amount of punishment that you can be awarded under the crimes that you have been charged with.
Now, with that background, what are the powers of the judge? The judge decides the quantum of punishment within the boundaries mentioned in the IPC for that crime. In other words, the IPC defines the maximum amount of punishment for a crime. The judge decides, based on the case presented to him, based on the evidence, based on the criminal history of the under-trial, as to how much of that punishment should be given.
Now, coming back to this particular question, section 270 is a cognizable offence. Meaning, the police can arrest you without having to get permission from a magistrate. (The magistrate is the lowest of the branch of the judiciary, in this context. For a non-cognizable offence, someone's permission will be needed. The more serious the crime, the higher up the judiciary ladder the police has to go get the permission. This is also outlined in the CrPC.) Once they arrest you under section 270, they have to present you in front of the magistrate for sentencing. At this time, the magistrate decides if you should be let off without any punishment, or if you should be asked to pay a fine without imprisonment, or if you should be imprisoned. If so, the magistrate can decide if you should be imprisoned for one day, a week, 43 days, 50 weeks, or anything of his choice up to a maximum of 2 years. That is where the word "up to" matters.
Also, this is a bailable offence. Therefore, if you are arrested, then someone can approach the magistrate for bail on your behalf. We will leave the matter of what bail is for another post. So what the policeman was saying is incorrect. Either because of their ignorance (very low chance) or to make people afraid (very high chance) of going out.
A poignant point - an oversimplification, by definition, necessitates that I gloss over the finer points of many facts. Which means, they will not be a 100% accurate. Please consider that while consuming this content.