LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu approves magistrate powers for Delhi revenue officers
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has approved the granting of executive magistrate powers to key administrative and revenue officials in New Delhi. The decision, announced on Sunday, follows the revenue department’s district reorganization in December 2025. The move aims to maintain law and order, prevent breaches of the peace, and ensure seamless administrative governance across the newly structured districts.
According to a statement from the Lieutenant Governor's secretariat, the designated officials include deputy commissioners, district magistrates, additional district magistrates, revenue assistants, tehsildars, and consolidation officers. These officials will be vested with executive magistrate powers within their respective restructured jurisdictions.
The appointment is being executed under Section 14 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, which replaced the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This specific section empowers the state government to appoint executive magistrates, designate district magistrates and additional district magistrates, and place magistrates in charge of sub-divisions.
An executive magistrate is an administrative officer appointed by the state government. The officers are primarily responsible for maintaining law and order, preventing breaches of the peace, and handling executive and administrative tasks. Section 14 of the BNSS states that the state government may appoint as many executive magistrates as it deems fit in every district, and shall appoint one of them as the district magistrate.
Following the revenue department's district reorganization in December 2025, formally conferring these magisterial powers became imperative. The LG's secretariat stated that this step ensures seamless administrative governance and public service delivery across the newly structured districts.
The LG’s secretariat also clarified that according to a Union home ministry notification dated June 28, 2024, the powers and functions of the state government under the BNSS, with the exception of Section 523, are delegated to the Lieutenant Governor. With the formal approval now granted by the Lieutenant Governor, the state government will proceed to issue the official notification.
