Sub-divisional magistrate
Flag of India
Sub-Divisional Office, Bangaon
StatusActive
Member ofIndian Administrative Service
State Administrative Services
Reports toDistrict magistrate
District collector
Deputy commissioner
AppointerPresident of India (IAS)
Governor (state services)
Constituting instrumentCode of Criminal Procedure (India)

A sub-divisional magistrate, also known as assistant collector, sub collector, assistant commissioner, sub-divisional officer (civil), or revenue divisional officer, is an administrative officer of a sub-division within an Indian district, exercising executive, revenue, and magisterial duties. The specific name depends on the state or union territory. Their primary responsibilities include revenue collection, maintaining law and order, overseeing developmental activities and coordinating various departments within a sub-division.[1][2][3]

This is the post to which officers of the Indian Administrative Service or state administrative services are first appointed after training. These officers are subordinate to a district magistrate, district collector or deputy commissioner, who serves as the administrative head of a district. The judicial powers of a sub-divisional magistrate are drawn from the Criminal Procedure Code 1973.[1][2][3]

Functions

Collection of land and canal revenue

It involves maintenance of land records, conduct of revenue cases, carrying out of demarcation and mutations, settlement operations and functioning as custodian of public land. They are primarily responsible for day to day revenue management (land and canal). The subordinate revenue staff consisting of revenue assistants (land & canal) supervised by revenue inspectors (land and canal) who are in turn supervised by revenue circle officers (land and canal) who are involved in field level revenue activities and mutations. They are also empowered to issue various kinds of statutory certificates including SC/ST and OBC, Domicile, Nationality etc. Registration of Property documents, sale deeds, power of attorneys, share certificates and all other documents which need to be compulsorily registered as per law is made at Sub Registrar's Office which are nine in numbers. Deputy Commissioners are Registrars for their respective districts and exercise supervisory control over the Sub Registrars.[4]

Maintenance of law and order

Assistant Collector cum Sub Divisional Magistrates exercise powers of Executive Magistrates. In this role they are responsible for operating preventive Sections of Code of Criminal Procedure.[5] They also carry out enquiries in cases of unnatural deaths of women within seven years of marriage and issue directions to the Police for registration of case, if required.

Sub Divisional Magistrates are empowered to conduct enquiries into custodial deaths including deaths in Police Lock Up, Jails, Women Homes etc. The Officers of this Department are also expected to act as eyes and ears of the Government and conduct enquiries into all major accidents including major fires incidents, riots and natural calamities etc.[6]

Disaster management

This department is given the primary responsibility for relief and rehabilitation operations in any calamity whether natural or man-made. It is also responsible for coordinating and implementing disaster management plan for natural and chemical disasters and awareness generation programme on disaster preparedness is being carried out with the assistance of United Nations Development

Nomenclature

The term "Sub Divisional Magistrate" (SDM) is used in some states of India to refer to a government official who is responsible for revenue administration and other related functions at the sub-divisional level. However, the nomenclature and role of SDMs may vary from state to state. Here are some of the different names of SDMs in Indian states:

Assistant Collector - In some states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra, the SDM is known as Assistant Collector.[7][8]
Assistant Commissioner (AC)- In Karnataka, the SDM is known as Assistant Commissioner cum Sub Divisional Magistrate.[9]
Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) - This is the term used for SDMs in many states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, etc.[10]
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) - This term is used in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.[11]
Sub Collector - In some states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala the SDM is referred to as Sub Collector.[12][13][14][15]
Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) - In some states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. the sub collector is also known as Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO).[16][17][18]

When a state cadre or Kerala Administrative Service (KAS) officer is the officer in charge of a revenue division, the same post is also called Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO). RDO has the same function, role and responsibilities as SDM.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Roles and responsibilities of a SDM". Jagran josh.
  2. ^ a b "Supreme court refuses to put restraint on CrPC 144 from time to time". The Hindu.
  3. ^ a b "Who is a SDM, salary and other facilities". hindi asianet news.
  4. ^ "SDM in administrative setup".
  5. ^ "Background of section 144 - A vestige of colonial rule". thehindu.com.
  6. ^ "Executive Magistrate's powers (SDM and DM) under CrPC 144, prohibitory orders". The Indian Express.
  7. ^ "Subdivision | Nashik District, Government of Maharashtra | India". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  8. ^ "West Bengal: 13 IAS Officers Posted As Assistant Collectors in Districts". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  9. ^ "Puttur subdivision gets new assistant commissioner". www.daijiworld.com. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  10. ^ Desk, Sentinel Digital (2023-05-25). "New Sub-Divisional Officer (C) of Sadiya takes charge - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  11. ^ PTI (2021-09-01). "Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha, who ordered cops to 'break heads' of farmers, transferred". ThePrint. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  12. ^ "15 sub-collectors in 9 years: Why Devikulam is witness to politico vs bureaucrat tussle". OnManorama. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  13. ^ "Sub Collector / Revenue Divisional Office | Kancheepuram District,Government of Tamilnadu | City of Thousand Temples | India". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  14. ^ "IAS officer who jumped quarantine reinstated Alappuzha sub-collector". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  15. ^ "Pranjal Patil, first visually challenged woman IAS officer, takes over as Sub-Collector of Thiruvananthapuram". The Hindu. 2019-10-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  16. ^ "Revenue Divisions (2) | District Thiruvananthapuram, Government of Kerala | India". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  17. ^ "Taliparamba now has a full-fledged RDO". The Hindu. 2019-03-06. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  18. ^ "Revenue Administration | Ariyalur District, Government of Tamil Nadu | Land of Cements | India". Retrieved 2023-05-25.
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