L A W S O F B R I T I S H I N D I A
A Catalogue of Reform and Other Important Laws, 1773–1947, with Dates and Places to Read Them
compiled by
VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS
VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS
Aaradhana, Deverkovil 673508
India
admn@victoria.org.in
admn@victoriainstitutions.com
Telegram: https://t.me/VICTORIA_INSTITUTIONS
Printed versions of all books are available here.
All books in webpage versions are available here.
HOW TO READ THIS LIST
This book is a catalogue. It names the important laws made for India between 1773 and 1947, gives the official number of each, the date it was passed, and tells you where its full text can be read. Where we hold a readable copy, the text of the law is given in full in Part Four of this book, and the entry in the list links to it. The original texts of the various Acts and laws passed by the English East India Company administration and by the Government of India (British-India) are very difficult to find in a readable form anywhere online. What is freely available is mostly commentary and academic writing about them, and in our search much of it dwelt on a few much-discussed Acts and rules, often to find fault with them. The laws themselves, and the many ordinary laws around them, are seldom printed in full.
The laws come from three sources of law-making: the English East India Company and its Governor-General in Council (up to 1858); the Government of India, including the Imperial Legislative Council (from 1858 to 1947); and the Presidency and Provincial governments. Acts of the British Parliament made for India are included and are marked “Act of Parliament”.
Every date in this list is the day on which the law was passed or received assent, as given by an official or reliable source. Where only a year is shown, the exact date has not yet been confirmed and has not been guessed. Where a source gave two different dates for the same law, the month is given and the day is left out.
The links lead to other sites. “Read the text” goes to a copy of the law itself. “About this Act” goes to an article that describes the law; such an article is not the law and should not be quoted as the law. The sites may change their addresses without notice.
List last checked: 11 October 2026. It will be enlarged and corrected from time to time.
ABOUT THE NOTES
These notes tell what each law did and the good its makers meant by it, as the English lawmakers themselves put it. Many of the laws were drafted by men who believed, and sometimes said in the Acts themselves, that they were bringing justice, order, learning and protection to people who had little of them. Several were made after the petitions and campaigns of Indian reformers such as Raja Rammohan Roy, and a number of the later laws were moved by Indian members of the councils and by Indian ministers. Where a note quotes the printed Act or Mateer's Native Life in Travancore (1883), the words are theirs.
Contents
PART ONE
THE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1773–1858
1. Regulating Act 1773 — 13 Geo. 3, c. 63 (Act of Parliament) — 21 June 1773 — About this Act
For the first time Parliament laid down how the Company must govern in India. It set up a Governor-General with a council at Calcutta and a Supreme Court of Judicature to give English justice, and it forbade the Company's servants to accept private presents or to trade for themselves. The aim was to make a trading company answer to law for its power over millions of people.
2. East India Company Act 1784 (Pitt’s India Act) — 24 Geo. 3, Sess. 2, c. 25 (Act of Parliament) — 13 August 1784 — About this Act
A Board of Control was placed over the Company so that the Crown's ministers could watch its civil, military and revenue affairs. The intention was to make the government of India answerable to Parliament and the British public, and to check the abuses that had been reported.
3. Bengal Regulations of 1793 (the Cornwallis Code) — Bengal Regulations of 1793 — 1793
Lord Cornwallis gave Bengal a full written code. It fixed the land revenue, so that the landholder knew what he owed and kept the rest, and it separated the collector of taxes from the judge. The purpose was that every man, the Company's own officers included, should answer to a written law and a court.
4. Bengal regulations against infanticide — Bengal Regulations of 1795 and 1804 — 1795 and 1804
These declared the killing of newborn children to be murder, first among certain families at Benares and then in all Bengal. The Company's officers acted to protect infants who could not speak for themselves.
5. Charter Act 1813 — 53 Geo. 3, c. 155 (Act of Parliament) — 21 July 1813 — Read the printed Act (PDF, legislation.gov.uk)
The Charter opened trade with India to British merchants and set aside a sum of not less than one lakh of rupees a year for the revival and improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned natives of India. It was the first time that public money was set apart for learning in India. It also made it easier for teachers and missionaries to come to India.
6. Bengal Sati Regulation — Regulation XVII of 1829 — 4 December 1829 — About this Regulation
Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General, declared the burning of widows illegal and punishable by the criminal courts. Indian reformers such as Rammohan Roy had campaigned against the practice, and missionaries had collected the numbers of the deaths. The Company's Court of Directors in London wished it ended, but in July 1827 it left the Governor-General to judge "in what degree the ordinary course of civilization could be accelerated"; no order from London to abolish it at once is recorded. Bentinck asked the opinion of senior civil and military officers and then acted on his own responsibility, with the support of his Council. The preamble calls the practice "revolting to the feelings of human nature" and says it is not enjoined by the religion of the Hindus as an imperative duty; the covering letter to the Court says that abolition was "not less anxiously desired by your honourable court than by every preceding government of India". Opponents appealed to the Privy Council, which upheld the Regulation in 1832.
7. Government of India Act 1833 (Charter Act 1833) — 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 85 (Act of Parliament) — 28 August 1833 — Read the printed Act (PDF, legislation.gov.uk) · About this Act
The Act gave India one government under a Governor-General in Council and added a Law Member, the first being Thomas Babington Macaulay. It laid down that no native of India should be barred from any office by reason of religion, place of birth, descent or colour, and it called for a Law Commission to prepare a code for the whole country. The aim was a government of equal law for all.
8. Printing Presses Act (the Metcalfe Act) — Act XI of 1835 — 3 August 1835 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 1)
Sir Charles Metcalfe did away with the old licensing rules and left printers free, with the single duty of declaring their names and places. English and Indian editors welcomed it as the freeing of the press. His belief was that knowledge spread by a free press would benefit the people.
9. Thugs Act — Act XXX of 1836 — 14 November 1836 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 2)
The Act dealt with the bands of Thugs who robbed and strangled travellers on the roads. Membership of such a gang became a crime and special inquiry was set up under officers such as Captain Sleeman. Its object was to make the roads safe for the ordinary traveller.
10. Indian Slavery Act — Act V of 1843 — 7 April 1843 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 3)
The Act declared that no court or officer was to enforce a claim to a person as a slave, that no one should lose property because he was a slave, and that any act which would be a crime against a free man was equally a crime if done to a slave. Mateer writes that the attention of the British Government was first drawn to the Cherumar or Pulayar slaves of Malabar, that the census of 1838 counted 144,371 slaves there, and that "in 1843 slavery was entirely abolished". In Travancore, a princely state outside the Act's reach, Mateer records that the British Resident pressed the Dewan to free the children of slaves; a first proclamation followed in 1853, and a second in June 1855, issued "by the influence of the Madras Government", freed the State's own slaves and withdrew the courts' support from every claim of slave-ownership.
11. Caste Disabilities Removal Act — Act XXI of 1850 — 11 April 1850 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 4)
The Act provided that no law or usage should take away a person's property or right of inheritance because he had given up a religion, been excluded from its communion, or lost caste. The intention was freedom of conscience: a man was not to be punished in his property for what he believed.
12. Government of India Act 1853 (Charter Act 1853) — 16 & 17 Vict. c. 95 (Act of Parliament) — 20 August 1853 — Read the printed Act (PDF, legislation.gov.uk)
The covenanted civil service was opened to open competition by examination, so that appointments went to ability and not to the patronage of the directors. The Act also enlarged the council for making laws.
13. Electric Telegraphs Act — Act XXXIV of 1854 — 23 December 1854 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The Act gave legal footing to the telegraph lines which the Government of Lord Dalhousie was laying across India. It brought news from one end of the country to the other in minutes.
14. Post-office Act — Act XVII of 1854 — 12 August 1854 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
One post office was set up for all British India, with a low uniform charge of half an anna for a letter, wherever it went. It put the post within reach of the poor man as well as the merchant.
15. Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act — Act XV of 1856 — 25 July 1856 — About this Act · Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The Act made it lawful for a Hindu widow to marry again and declared the children of such a marriage legitimate. Its preamble says that "the removal of all legal obstacles to the marriage of Hindoo widows will tend to the promotion of good morals and to the public welfare". It was passed under Lord Canning, to relieve the lot of child widows.
16. Printing Presses Act — Act XV of 1857 — 13 June 1857 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
During the Mutiny the Government required presses to take a licence, for one year. It was a short measure of the moment, made to keep the peace when false rumour was spreading fast.
17. Calcutta University Act — Act II of 1857 — 24 January 1857 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The Act founded the University of Calcutta on the model of the University of London, to examine and give degrees. It followed the Education Despatch of Sir Charles Wood in 1854, which called for the spread of education to all classes.
18. Bombay University Act — Act XXII of 1857 — 18 July 1857 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The same plan was carried out for Bombay: a university to examine and give degrees, open without any religious test.
19. Madras University Act — Act XXVII of 1857 — 5 September 1857 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The same plan was carried out for Madras. With the other two it gave India a ladder of learning from school to degree.
20. Opium Act — Act XIII of 1857 — 6 June 1857 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
This Act applied to Bengal. It gathered the law on the growing of the poppy into one Act and forbade cultivation except on the Government's account. It was a revenue measure of the Company's Government, meant to bring order to a trade that had been open to abuse and smuggling.
21. Code of Civil Procedure — Act VIII of 1859 — 22 March 1859 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
One code of procedure took the place of many differing rules in the courts. The aim was cheaper, more regular and more equal justice, so that a poor man's suit followed the same course as a rich man's.
22. Bengal Rent Act — Act X of 1859 — 1859
A tenant who had held land for twelve years acquired a right of occupancy: he could not be turned out, and his rent could not be raised at will. It was meant to protect the cultivator against the landlord.
PART TWO
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, 1858–1947
23. Government of India Act 1858 — 21 & 22 Vict. c. 106 (Act of Parliament) — 2 August 1858 — Read the text (PDF) · About this Act
The rule of the Company passed to the Crown, under a Secretary of State. Queen Victoria's Proclamation of that year promised equal protection to all her subjects of every race and creed, respect for religion and custom, and the admission of her Indian subjects to office by ability.
24. Indian Penal Code — Act XLV of 1860 — 6 October 1860
Macaulay's code gave India one criminal law for all, high and low, European and Indian. It replaced a patchwork of differing rules with clear definitions of crime and punishment. The aim was equality before the law.
25. Code of Criminal Procedure — Act XXV of 1861 — 1861 — Read the printed Act (PDF, India Code)
The Code set out how an accused person was to be arrested, tried and sentenced, in the same manner everywhere.
26. Indian Councils Act 1861 — 24 & 25 Vict. c. 67 (Act of Parliament) — 1 August 1861 — Read the text (PDF) · About this Act
The legislative councils were revived, and the Viceroy was empowered to nominate non-official members, among whom Indians were soon seated. It was the first step in bringing Indian voices into the making of the laws.
27. Indian High Courts Act 1861 — 24 & 25 Vict. c. 104 (Act of Parliament) — 6 August 1861 — Read the text (PDF)
The Supreme Courts and the old Company courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were united into High Courts. The Act chose the judges from barristers, civil servants, experienced judicial officers and pleaders alike, so that Indian lawyers could sit on the bench. The aim was one strong and respected court of justice in each presidency.
28. Press and Registration of Books Act — Act XXV of 1867 — 22 March 1867
Printers and publishers were required to register, and copies of every book were to be deposited. It gave India a public record of its own literature.
29. Divorce Act — Act IV of 1869 — 26 January 1869
The Act set down the grounds and the procedure of divorce for Christians in India, which had been uncertain.
30. Female Infanticide Prevention Act — Act VIII of 1870 — 18 March 1870 — About this Act
In the communities where the killing of girl children was known, births were to be registered and the girls' survival watched. It was a measure to save lives.
31. Criminal Tribes Act — Act XXVII of 1871 — 12 October 1871 — Read the Act (BNB Legal)
The preamble calls it an Act for the registration, surveillance and control of certain criminal tribes and eunuchs, and its makers' stated aim was to check crime committed habitually by whole bands that lived by it. A local government, with the Governor-General's sanction, could declare a tribe, gang or class criminal; its members were then registered, could be required to live in a fixed place or in a reformatory settlement, and needed passes to leave it. The second part dealt with registers of eunuchs. The Act was later amended and re-enacted (1897, 1911, 1924). It has long been criticised in India because it punished people by descent and not for any act of their own; it was repealed in 1949.
32. Indian Evidence Act — Act I of 1872 — 15 March 1872
Sir James Fitzjames Stephen's Act laid down one set of rules for proof in all courts. It was meant to make trials fair and to protect the innocent.
33. Special Marriage Act — Act III of 1872 — 1872 — About this Act
It allowed a civil marriage, without religious rites, to those who declared that they belonged to none of the main religions of India. It widened freedom of choice in marriage.
34. Indian Contract Act — Act IX of 1872 — 25 April 1872
One law of contracts made agreements certain and enforceable for traders large and small.
35. Indian Christian Marriage Act — Act XV of 1872 — 18 July 1872
The law of Christian marriage was gathered into a single Act, to guard the rights of wives and children.
36. Northern India Canal and Drainage Act — Act of 1873
The Act regulated the use of canal water and drainage in northern India. Canals were the Government's answer to failure of rain and to famine.
37. Vernacular Press Act — Act of 1878 — 14 March 1878 — About this Act
Lord Lytton's Government said that some papers in the Indian languages were stirring up hatred of the Government, and it gave the Government power to require a bond from such papers. The Act was opposed by the educated classes who owned and read those papers, and Lord Ripon's Government repealed it a few years later.
38. Indian Forest Act — Act of 1878
The Act brought the forests under one law so that they could be protected from reckless felling and kept for the future. Its stated purpose was conservation.
39. Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act — Act of 1879
After the riots of 1875 over money-lenders' debts in the Deccan, the Act limited the lender's power to seize a farmer's land and let the courts examine the debt. It was meant to save the farmer from ruin.
40. Indian Factories Act — Act of 1881
The first factory law of India. It forbade the employment of children under seven, shortened the hours of children under twelve, and required machinery to be fenced. It was the first protection of the factory worker's life and health.
41. Negotiable Instruments Act — Act XXVI of 1881 — 9 December 1881
One law of cheques, promissory notes and bills was made, to give confidence to business.
42. Indian Trusts Act — Act II of 1882 — 13 January 1882
The Act stated the duties of those who hold property for another's benefit, to protect widows, children and charities.
43. Transfer of Property Act — Act IV of 1882 — 17 February 1882
One law of sale, mortgage, lease and gift made a man's title to his property clear.
44. Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act (the Ilbert Bill) — Act of 1884 — 25 January 1884 — About this Act
Lord Ripon's Government, on a draft by Sir Courtenay Ilbert, proposed in 1883 that Indian judges of the civil service should be allowed to try cases in which Europeans were accused, so that a judge's fitness, and not his race, would decide his powers. European residents protested strongly. The Bill was introduced on 2 February 1883; by one modern account only about eleven Indian magistrates were then due for promotion to the powers in question. The loudest opposition came from European merchants, planters and their associations, and from the London Times, with large meetings at Calcutta (28 February 1883) and elsewhere. The Government met it with a compromise in December 1883, and the Act of 25 January 1884 followed: Indian and European magistrates and sessions judges could both try Europeans, but a European accused could claim a jury of which at least half were Europeans. The Bill touched only the trial of Europeans; it did not change the judges before whom ordinary people stood. Whether ordinary people would have felt safer before English judges is a question the records cited here do not settle.
45. Bengal Tenancy Act — Act VIII of 1885 — 1885
The Act strengthened the rights of the Bengal tenant and limited the raising of rents, to protect him from arbitrary demands.
46. Indian Telegraph Act — Act XIII of 1885 — 22 July 1885 — Read the text (India Code)
The Act gathered the law of the telegraph into a new Act as the lines spread.
47. Age of Consent Act — Act X of 1891 — 19 March 1891 — About this Act
The age of consent for girls was raised from ten to twelve years. It followed the death of a child bride, Phulmoni Dasi. The Bill was introduced on 9 January 1891 and the Act passed on 19 March 1891. Sex with a girl under twelve, married or not, became rape, punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment or transportation for life; the offence was made non-cognizable, so that the police could not arrest without a magistrate's warrant, as a guard against false charges. The Government had refused earlier appeals, citing the Queen's Proclamation of 1858 against interference in religion; it acted in 1891 after two widely reported cases (Rukhmabai's, and the death of Phulmoni Dasi), with the support of reformers such as M. G. Ranade. Others, such as Sir R. C. Mitter in the Council and B. G. Tilak outside it, opposed it as interference in domestic custom.
48. Indian Factories Act — Act of 1891
Women's hours were limited, a weekly day of rest was required, and the age below which children could not work was raised. It carried further the protection of the factory worker.
49. Indian Councils Act 1892 — 55 & 56 Vict. c. 14 (Act of Parliament) — 20 June 1892 — Read the printed Act (PDF, legislation.gov.uk) · About this Act
The councils were enlarged, and members were allowed to ask questions and to discuss the budget. Indians began to take a regular part in the Government's business.
50. Epidemic Diseases Act — Act III of 1897 — 4 February 1897 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 5)
In the time of plague the Act gave the authorities powers to inspect, isolate and stop the spread of disease. It was intended to save life.
51. Punjab Land Alienation Act — Act of 1900 — About this Act
The Act stopped the sale of the land of the farming tribes to money-lenders, so that the Punjab peasant could keep his fields.
The Act regulated the safety of mines and the work of those who went underground.
53. Ancient Monuments Preservation Act — Act VII of 1904 — 18 March 1904 — Read the text (India Code)
Lord Curzon's Act protected India's old temples, tombs and forts against damage and sale. It was a care for the heritage of India.
54. Indian Universities Act — Act of 1904
The Act reformed the universities, to give better teaching and higher standards. Some Indian leaders said that it increased the Government's control.
55. Co-operative Credit Societies Act — Act of 1904
The Act allowed villagers to form credit societies to lend to one another at low interest, to free them from the money-lender.
56. Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act — Act of 1908
After bomb outrages the Government gave magistrates power to act against papers that urged murder or violence. Its stated purpose was to prevent crimes of violence.
57. Indian Councils Act 1909 — 9 Edw. 7, c. 4 (Act of Parliament) — 25 May 1909 — Read the printed Act (PDF, legislation.gov.uk) · About this Act
The number of elected members was increased and an Indian could now sit on the Viceroy's Executive Council. The Act gave Indians a greater voice, and gave the Muslim community seats of its own.
58. Indian Press Act — Act I of 1910 — 9 February 1910 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 6)
The Act required a security deposit from presses, to restrain publications that incited violence. It was opposed in the press, and was repealed in 1922.
59. Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act (the Rowlatt Act) — Act XI of 1919 — 21 March 1919 — Read the full text in this book (Chapter 7)
After the Great War the emergency powers of the Defence of India Act 1915 were about to lapse, and the Government had before it the report of Mr Justice Rowlatt's committee on revolutionary conspiracies. The Act let the Government deal with anarchical and revolutionary crime by special courts of three judges, without a jury, and allowed persons suspected of such crime to be held for up to two years without trial. It passed the Imperial Legislative Council on 18 March 1919 against the opposition of the Indian members, several of whom resigned. It was repealed in 1922.
60. Government of India Act 1919 — 9 & 10 Geo. 5, c. 101 (Act of Parliament) — 23 December 1919 — Read the text (PDF) · About this Act
The Montagu–Chelmsford reforms placed education, health, local government and agriculture in the hands of Indian ministers responsible to elected councils (called dyarchy), and widened the vote. It was a declared step toward responsible government.
61. Workmen’s Compensation Act — Act of 1923
A worker hurt at his work, or the family of one killed, became entitled to compensation from the employer.
62. Trade Unions Act — Act XVI of 1926 — 25 March 1926 — Read the text (India Code)
The Act gave legal recognition to workers' unions and protected their officers from prosecution for lawful union action.
63. Indian Forest Act — Act XVI of 1927 — 21 September 1927 — Read the text (India Code)
The forest law was revised and put into one complete code.
64. Child Marriage Restraint Act (the Sarda Act) — Act of 1929 — 28 September 1929 — About this Act
The Act forbade the marriage of girls under fourteen and boys under eighteen. It was moved by Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda in the Imperial Legislative Assembly.
65. Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act — Act of 1931
During the civil disobedience movement the Government took powers against papers that encouraged the movement. It was an emergency law.
66. Government of India Act 1935 — 25 & 26 Geo. 5, c. 42 (Act of Parliament) — 2 August 1935 — About this Act
The Act gave the provinces self-government under elected ministries, widened the vote to many millions, and proposed a federation of British India and the princely states.
67. Hindu Women’s Rights to Property Act — Act of 1937
A Hindu widow was given a share in her husband's property. The Act followed a Bill brought by an Indian member of the Legislative Assembly.
68. Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act — Act XXVI of 1937 — 7 October 1937 — Read the text (India Code)
Muslims were to be governed, in matters such as marriage, inheritance and maintenance, by Muslim personal law, notwithstanding any custom to the contrary.
69. Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act — Act VIII of 1939 — 17 March 1939 — Read the text (India Code)
A Muslim wife was given the right to ask a court for a divorce on certain grounds, such as desertion or cruelty.
70. Indian Independence Act 1947 — 10 & 11 Geo. 6, c. 30 (Act of Parliament) — 18 July 1947 — Read the text · About this Act
The Act ended British rule and set up two new self-governing dominions, India and Pakistan, four weeks after it was passed.
PART THREE
THE PRESIDENCIES AND PROVINCES: MADRAS AND MALABAR FIRST
71. Malabar Marriage Act (Madras) — Act of the Madras Presidency — 1896 — About this Act
The Act allowed the marriages of the Nairs and other castes of Malabar to be registered and gave the wife and children rights under it. The custom had no clear standing in law, which left wives and children without protection.
72. Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act — Madras Act of 1927 — 1927
A Board was created to oversee the management of temples and their funds, so that their income was applied to their proper purposes.
73. Malabar Tenancy Act (Madras) — Madras Act XIV of 1930 — Governor’s assent 28 March 1930; Governor-General’s assent 18 November 1930; published 25 November 1930 — Read the text
The Act gave Malabar's tenants security against being turned out, and compensation for the improvements they had made on the land.
74. Madras Nambudri Act — Madras Act XXI of 1933 — Governor’s assent 21 March 1933; Governor-General’s assent 12 April 1933 — Read the text (India Code, PDF)
The Act revised the law of property and succession among the Nambudri families.
75. Madras Marumakkattayam Act — Madras Act XXII of 1933 — Governor’s assent 21 March 1933; Governor-General’s assent 12 April 1933; published 1 August 1933 — Read the text
The Act reformed the matrilineal family law (descent in the female line) of all Hindus who followed it, among them the Nairs and the Thiyyas of North Malabar, so that wives and children had rights of maintenance and inheritance, and a family could be divided.
76. Madras Prohibition Act — Madras Act of 1937 — 1937
The Congress ministry of C. Rajagopalachari brought in the Act to forbid the sale and drinking of liquor, for the welfare of the poor and their families.
77. Mappila Marumakkattayam Act (Madras) — Madras Act XVII of 1939 — 1939 — Described in a court judgment (Indian Kanoon)
The Muslims of Malabar who followed the matrilineal Marumakkattayam system had been outside the Hindu Act of 1933. This Act gave them a law of their own: any member of a tarwad could claim his or her share on partition, and the property so received passed afterwards by the Islamic law of inheritance.
78. Bombay Prevention of Hindu Bigamous Marriages Act — Bombay Act of 1946 — 1946
The Act forbade a Hindu man in the Bombay Presidency to take a second wife during the life of the first.
ANOTHER VIEW
Some Indians of the time, mostly of the educated and propertied classes, saw several of these laws differently. They said that some reforms were slow, that the revenue and forest laws also served the Government's income, and that the press laws limited free speech. Others welcomed the laws. Jyotirao Phule, who worked for the lower castes, looked to English schools and English law for their rise. The reader should keep both accounts in mind. The dates and the accounts of the Ilbert Bill and the Age of Consent Act were checked against Judith E. Whitehead, "Bodies of Evidence, Bodies of Rule: The Ilbert Bill, Revivalism, and Age of Consent in Colonial India", Sociological Bulletin 45 (1), March 1996, which quotes the newspapers and official papers of the time.
NOTE ON LATER LAWS
Laws passed after 15 August 1947, such as the Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act (9 October 1947) and the Bombay Harijan Temple Entry Act (23 November 1947), belong to the period after British rule and are not listed above.
PART FOUR
THE TEXTS OF THE LAWS
This Part gives the full text of laws listed above, taken from printed law-books of the time and reproduced by computer from scans of those books, then read against the pages. Each chapter says at its head which book it comes from. Where a law was later amended, the text is that of the book named, and may therefore differ from the law as first passed or as it stands today; the book’s own note is given at the head of the chapter.
The side-notes, footnotes and editors’ comments printed in those books are left out. The spelling and punctuation of the books are kept, including old forms such as “Hindoo”, “Mahommedan” and “zillah”. Nothing has been added to the words of the law.
CHAPTER 1
PRINTING PRESSES ACT (THE METCALFE ACT)
Act XI of 1835 — 3 August 1835
Source: Richard Clarke (editor), The Regulations of the Government of Fort William in Bengal in force at the end of 1853, Volume III, “Acts from 1834 to 1853” (London: J. & H. Cox, printers to the Honourable East-India Company, 1854). The side-headings and footnotes added by the editor of that volume are not reproduced; the spelling and wording of the Act are as printed. Words in square brackets are the editor’s.
PASSED by the Honourable the Governor-General of India in Council, on the 3rd August, 1835.
I. BE it enacted, that from the 15th day of September, 1835, the four Regulations hereinafter specified be repealed.
First. A Regulation for preventing the establishment of printing-presses without license, and for restraining, under certain circumstances, the circulation of printed books and papers, passed by the Governor-General in Council, on the 5th April, 1823.
Second. A rule, ordinance, and Regulation for the good order and civil government of the settlement of Fort William, in Bengal, passed in Council 14th March, registered in the Supreme Court of Judicature 4th April, 1823. Third and Fourth.--[Bombay.]
II. First. And be it enacted, that after the said 15th day of September, 1835, no printed periodical work whatever, containing public news, or comments on public news, shall be published within the territories of the East-India Company, except in conformity with the rules hereinafter laid down.
Second. The printer and the publisher of every such periodical work shall appear before the magistrate of the jurisdiction within which such work shall be published, and shall make and subscribe, in duplicate, the following declaration: “I, A. B., declare that I am the printer (or publisher, or printer and publisher) of the periodical work entitled ______, and printed (or published, or printed and published) at ______.” And the last blank in this form of declaration shall be filled up with a true and precise account of the premises where the printing or publication is conducted.
Third. As often as the place of printing or publication is changed, a new declaration shall be necessary.
Fourth. As often as the printer or the publisher, who shall have made such declaration as is aforesaid, shall leave the territories of the East-India Company, a new declaration from a printer or publisher resident within the said territories, shall be necessary.
III. And be it enacted, that whoever shall print or publish any such periodical work as is hereinbefore described, without conforming to the rules hereinbefore laid down, or whoever shall print or publish, or shall cause to be printed or published, any such periodical work, knowing that the said rules have not been observed with respect to that work, shall, on conviction, be punished with fine to an amount not exceeding five thousand rupees, and imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
IV. And be it enacted, that each of the two originals of every declaration, so made and subscribed as is aforesaid, shall be authenticated by the signature and official seal of the magistrate before whom the said declaration shall have been made, and one of the said originals shall be deposited among the records of the office of the magistrate, and the other original shall be deposited among the records of the Supreme Court of Judicature, or other King's Court within the jurisdiction of which the said declaration shall have been made; and the officer in charge of each original shall allow any person to inspect that original, on payment of a fee of one rupee, and shall give to any person applying a copy of the said declaration, attested by the seal of the court which has the custody of the original, on payment of a fee of two rupees.
V. And be it enacted, that in any legal proceeding whatever, as well civil as criminal, the production of a copy of such a declaration as is aforesaid attested by the seal of some court empowered by this Act to have the custody of such declarations, shall be held (unless the contrary be proved) to be sufficient evidence as against the person whose name shall be subscribed to such declaration that the said person was printer or publisher, or printer and publisher (according as the words of the said declaration may be), of every portion of every periodical work whereof the title shall correspond with the title of the periodical work mentioned in the declaration.
VI. Provided always, that any person who may have subscribed any such declaration as is aforesaid, and who may subsequently cease to be the printer or publisher of the periodical work mentioned in such declaration, may appear before any magistrate, and make and subscribe, in duplicate, the following declaration: “I, A. B., declare that I have ceased to be the printer or publisher (or printer and publisher) of the periodical work entitled ______. “And each original of the latter declaration shall be authenticated by the signature and seal of the magistrate before whom the said latter declaration shall have been made, and one original of the said latter declaration shall be filed along with each original of the former declaration; and the officer in charge of each original of the latter declaration shall allow any person applying to inspect that original, on payment of a fee of one rupee, and shall give to any person applying a copy of the said latter declaration, attested by the seal of the court having custody of the original, on payment of a fee of two rupees; and in all trials in which a copy, attested as is aforesaid, of the former declaration shall have been put in evidence, it shall be lawful to put in evidence a copy, attested as is aforesaid, of the latter declaration; and the former declaration shall not be taken to be evidence that the declarant was, at any period subsequent to the date of the latter declaration, printer or publisher of the periodical work therein mentioned.
VII. And be it enacted, that every book or paper printed after the said 15th day of September, 1835, within the territories of the East-India Company, shall have printed legibly on it the name of the printer and of the publisher, and the place of printing and of publication; and whoever shall print or publish any book or paper otherwise than in conformity with this rule, shall, on conviction, be punished by fine to an amount not exceeding five thousand rupees, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
VIII. And be it enacted, that after the said 15th day of September, 1835, no person shall, within the territories of the East-India Company, keep in his possession any press for the printing of books or papers, who shall not have made and subscribed the following declaration before the magistrate of the jurisdiction wherein such press may be; and whoever shall keep in his possession any such press, without making such a declaration, shall, on conviction, be punished by fine to an amount not exceeding five thousand rupees, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. “I, A. B., declare that I have a press for printing at ______.” And this last blank shall be filled up with a true and precise description of the premises where such press may be.
IX. And be it enacted, that any person who shall, in making any declaration under the authority of this Act, knowingly affirm an untruth, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine to an amount not exceeding five thousand rupees, and imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
CHAPTER 2
THUGS ACT
Act XXX of 1836 — 14 November 1836
Source: Richard Clarke (editor), The Regulations of the Government of Fort William in Bengal in force at the end of 1853, Volume III, “Acts from 1834 to 1853” (London: J. & H. Cox, printers to the Honourable East-India Company, 1854). The side-headings and footnotes added by the editor of that volume are not reproduced; the spelling and wording of the Act are as printed. Words in square brackets are the editor’s.
PASSED by the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India in Council, on the 14th November, 1836.
I. It is hereby enacted, that whoever shall be proved to have belonged, either before or after the passing of this Act, to any gang of Thugs, either within or without the territories of the East-India Company, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, with hard labour.
II. And it is hereby enacted, that every person accused of the offence made punishable by this Act, may be tried by any court which would have been competent to try him if his offence had been committed within the zillah where that court sits, anything to the contrary in any Regulation contained notwithstanding.
III. And it is hereby enacted, that no court shall, on a trial of any person accused of the offence made punishable by this Act, require any futwa from any law officer.
CHAPTER 3
INDIAN SLAVERY ACT
Act V of 1843 — 7 April 1843
Source: Richard Clarke (editor), The Regulations of the Government of Fort William in Bengal in force at the end of 1853, Volume III, “Acts from 1834 to 1853” (London: J. & H. Cox, printers to the Honourable East-India Company, 1854). The side-headings and footnotes added by the editor of that volume are not reproduced; the spelling and wording of the Act are as printed. Words in square brackets are the editor’s.
AN ACT for declaring and amending the Law regarding the Condition of Slavery within the Territories of the East-India Company: PASSED by the Honourable the President of the Council of India in Council, on the 7th of April, 1843, with the Assent of the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India.
I. It is hereby enacted and declared, that no public officer shall, in execution of any decree or order of court, or for the enforcement of any demand of rent or revenue, sell or cause to be sold any person, or the right to the compulsory labour or services of any person, on the ground that such person is in a state of slavery.
II. And it is hereby declared and enacted, that no rights arising out of an alleged property in the person and services of another as a slave shall be enforced by any civil or criminal court, or magistrate, within the territories of the East-India Company.
III. And it is hereby declared and enacted, that no person who may have acquired property by his own industry, or by the exercise of any art, calling, or profession, or by inheritance, assignment, gift or bequest, shall be dispossessed of such property, or prevented from taking possession thereof, on the ground that such person, or that the person from whom the property may have been derived, was a slave.
IV. And it is hereby enacted, that any act which would be a penal offence if done to a free man, shall be equally an offence if done to any person on the pretext of his being in a condition of slavery.
CHAPTER 4
CASTE DISABILITIES REMOVAL ACT
Act XXI of 1850 — 11 April 1850
Source: Richard Clarke (editor), The Regulations of the Government of Fort William in Bengal in force at the end of 1853, Volume III, “Acts from 1834 to 1853” (London: J. & H. Cox, printers to the Honourable East-India Company, 1854). The side-headings and footnotes added by the editor of that volume are not reproduced; the spelling and wording of the Act are as printed. Words in square brackets are the editor’s.
AN ACT for extending the Principle of Section IX. Regulation VII. 1832, of the Bengal Code, throughout the Territories subject to the Government of the East-India Company: PASSED by the Governor-General of India in Council, on the 11th April, 1850.
WHEREAS it is enacted by Section IX. Regulation VII. 1832, of the Bengal code, that “whenever in any civil suit the parties to such suit may be of different persuasions, when one party shall be of the Hindoo and the other of the Mahommedan persuasion; or where one or more of the parties to the suit shall not be either of the Mahommedan or Hindoo persuasions; the laws of those religions shall not be permitted to operate to deprive such party or parties of any property to which, but for the operation of such laws, they would have been entitled;” and whereas it will be beneficial to extend the principle of that enactment throughout the territories subject to the Government of the East-India Company, it is enacted as follows: So much of any law or usage now in force within the territories subject to the Government of the East-India Company, as inflicts on any person forfeiture of rights or property, or may be held in any way to impair or affect any right of inheritance by reason of his or her renouncing, or having been excluded from the communion of any religion, or being deprived of caste, shall cease to be enforced as law in the courts of the East-India Company, and in the courts established by royal charter within the said territories.
CHAPTER 5
EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT
Act III of 1897 — 4 February 1897
Source: The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council, Volume VI (from 1891 to 1898, both inclusive) (Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing, India, 1899). The marginal side-notes and the footnotes of the printed volume are not reproduced; the wording of the Act is as printed. The text is given as printed in that volume, that is, as already amended; the asterisks (* *) stand where words had been repealed.
[4th February, 1897.]
An Act to provide for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic Disease.
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the better prevention of the spread of dangerous epidemic disease ; It is hereby enacted as follows :—
1. (1) This Act may be called the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
(2) It extends to the whole of British India (inclusive of * * British Baluchistan, the Santhal Parganas and the Pargana of Spiti) ; and
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. (1) When at any time the Governor General in Council is satisfied that India or any part thereof is visited by, or threatened with, an outbreak of any dangerous epidemic disease, the Governor General in Council, if he thinks that the ordinary provisions of the law for the time being in force are insufficient for the purpose, may take or require or empower any person to take such measures and, by public notice, prescribe such temporary regulations to be observed by the public or by any person or class of persons as he shall deem necessary to prevent the outbreak of such disease or the spread thereof and may determine in what manner and by whom any expenses incurred (including compensation if any) shall be defrayed.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the Governor General in Council may take measures and prescribe regulations for—
(a) the inspection of any ship or vessel leaving, or arriving at, any port in British India and such detention thereof, or of any person intending to sail therein or arriving thereby, as may be necessary ; and
(b) the inspection of persons travelling by railway or otherwise, and the segregation, in hospital, temporary accommodation or otherwise, of persons suspected by the inspecting officer of being infected with any such disease.
(3) The Governor General in Council may, by general or special order, direct that all or any of the powers conferred by this Act may also be exercised by any Local Government with respect to the territories administered by it.
3. Any person disobeying any regulation or order made under this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
4. No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything done or in good faith intended to be done under this Act.
CHAPTER 6
INDIAN PRESS ACT
Act I of 1910 — 9 February 1910
Source: The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council, Volume VII (from Act No. VI of 1909 to Act No. VIII of 1913) (Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing, India, 1914). The Acts in that volume are printed as modified up to 31 March 1914. The marginal side-notes and the footnotes of the printed volume are not reproduced; the wording of the Act is as printed.
[9th February, 1910.]
An Act to provide for the better control of the Press.
WHEREAS it is necessary to provide for the better control of the Press ; It is hereby enacted as follows :—
1. (1) This Act may be called the Indian Press Act, 1910.
(2) It extends to the whole of British India, inclusive of British Baluchistan, the Santhal Parganas and the Pargana of Spiti.
2. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
(a) “book” includes every volume, part or division of a volume, and pamphlet, in any language, and every sheet of music, map, chart or plan separately printed or lithographed:
(b) “document” includes also any painting, drawing or photograph or other visible representation:
(c) “High Court” means the highest Civil Court of Appeal for any local area except in the case of the provinces of Ajmer-Merwara and Coorg where it means the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces and the High Court of Judicature at Madras, respectively :
(d) “Magistrate” means a District Magistrate or Chief Presidency Magistrate :
(e) “newspaper” means any periodical work containing public news or comments on public news: and
(f) “printing-press” includes all engines, machinery, types, lithographic stones, implements, utensils and other plant or materials used for the purpose of printing.
3. (1) Every person keeping a printing-press who is required to make a declaration under section 4 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, shall, at the time of making the same, deposit with the Magistrate before whom the declaration is made security to such an amount, not being less than five hundred or more than two thousand rupees, as the Magistrate may in each case think fit to require, in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India:
Provided that the Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, for special reasons to be recorded by him, dispense with the deposit of any security or may from time to time cancel or vary any order under this sub-section.
(2) Whenever it appears to the Local Government that any printing-press kept in any place in the territories under its administration, in respect of which a declaration was made prior to the commencement of this Act under section 4 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, is used for any of the purposes described in section 4, sub-section (2), the Local Government may, by notice in writing, require the keeper of such press to deposit with the Magistrate within whose jurisdiction the press is situated security to such an amount, not being less than five hundred or more than five thousand rupees, as the Local Government may think fit to require, in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India.
4. (1) Whenever it appears to the Local Government that any printing-press in respect of which any security has been deposited as required by section 3 is used for the purpose of printing or publishing any newspaper, book or other document containing any words, signs, or visible representations which are likely or may have a tendency, directly or indirectly, whether by inference, suggestion, allusion, metaphor, implication or otherwise—
(a) to incite to murder or to any offence under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, or to any act of violence, or
(b) to seduce any officer, soldier or sailor in the Army or Navy of His Majesty from his allegiance or his duty, or
(c) to bring into hatred or contempt His Majesty or the Government established by law in British India or the administration of justice in British India or any Native Prince or Chief under the suzerainty of His Majesty, or any class or section of His Majesty’s subjects in British India, or to excite disaffection towards His Majesty or the said Government or any such Prince or Chief, or
(d) to put any person in fear or to cause annoyance to him and thereby induce him to deliver to any person any property or valuable security, or to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which he is legally entitled to do, or
(e) to encourage or incite any person to interfere with the administration of the law or with the maintenance of law and order, or
(f) to convey any threat of injury to a public servant, or to any person in whom that public servant is believed to be interested, with a view to inducing that public servant to do any act or to forbear or delay to do any act connected with the exercise of his public functions,
the Local Government may, by notice in writing to the keeper of such printing-press, stating or describing the words, signs or visible representations which in its opinion are of the nature described above, declare the security deposited in respect of such press and all copies of such newspaper, book or other document wherever found to be forfeited to His Majesty.
Explanation I.—In clause (c) the expression “disaffection” includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity.
Explanation II.—Comments expressing disapproval of the measures of the Government or of any such Native Prince or Chief as aforesaid with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, or of the administrative or other action of the Government or of any such Native Prince or Chief or of the administration of Justice in British India without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection do not come within the scope of clause (c).
(2) After the expiry of ten days from the date of the issue of a notice under sub-section (1), the declaration made in respect of such press under section 4 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, shall be deemed to be annulled.
5. Where the security given in respect of any press has been declared forfeited under section 4, every person making a fresh declaration in respect of such press under section 4 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, shall deposit with the Magistrate before whom such declaration is made security to such amount, not being less than one thousand or more than ten thousand rupees, as the Magistrate may think fit to require in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India.
6. If after such further security has been deposited the printing-press is again used for the purpose of printing or publishing any newspaper, book or other document containing any words, signs or visible representations which, in the opinion of the Local Government, are of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Local Government may, by notice in writing to the keeper of such printing-press, stating or describing such words, signs or visible representations, declare—
(a) the further security so deposited,
(b) the printing-press used for the purpose of printing or publishing such newspaper, book or other document or found in or upon the premises where such newspaper, book or other document is, or at the time of printing the matter complained of was printed, and
(c) all copies of such newspaper, book or other document wherever found,
to be forfeited to His Majesty.
7. (1) Where any printing-press is, or any copies of any newspaper, book or other document are, declared forfeited to His Majesty under this Act, the Local Government may direct any Magistrate to issue a warrant empowering any police-officer, not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector, to seize and detain any property ordered to be forfeited, and to enter upon and search for such property in any premises—
(i) where any such property may be or may be reasonably suspected to be, or
(ii) where any copy of such newspaper, book or other document is kept for sale, distribution, publication or public exhibition or reasonably suspected to be so kept.
(2) Every warrant issued under this section shall, so far as relates to a search, be executed in manner provided for the execution of search-warrants under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
8. (1) Every publisher of a newspaper who is required to make a declaration under section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, shall, at the time of making the same, deposit with the Magistrate before whom the declaration is made security to such an amount, not being less than five hundred or more than two thousand rupees, as the Magistrate may in each case think fit to require, in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India :
Provided that, if the person registered under the said Act as printer of the newspaper is also registered as the keeper of the press where the newspaper is printed, the publisher shall not be required to deposit security so long as such registration is in force:
Provided further that the Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, for special reasons to be recorded by him, dispense with the deposit of any security or may from time to time cancel or vary any order under this sub-section.
(2) Whenever it appears to the Local Government that a newspaper published within its territories, in respect of which a declaration was made by the publisher thereof prior to the commencement of this Act, under section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, contains any words, signs or visible representations of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Local Government may, by notice in writing, require the publisher to deposit with the Magistrate, within whose jurisdiction the newspaper is published, security to such an amount, not being less than five hundred or more than five thousand rupees, as the Magistrate may think fit to require in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India.
9. (1) If any newspaper in respect of which any security has been deposited as required by section 8 contains any words, signs or visible representations which, in the opinion of the Local Government, are of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Local Government may, by notice in writing to the publisher of such newspaper, stating or describing such words, signs or visible representations, declare such security and all copies of such newspaper, wherever found,
to be forfeited to His Majesty.
(2) After the expiry of ten days from the date of the issue of a notice under sub-section (1), the declaration made by the publisher of such newspaper under section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, shall be deemed to be annulled.
10. Where the security given in respect of any newspaper is declared forfeited, any person making a fresh declaration, under section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, as publisher of such newspaper or any other newspaper which is the same in substance as the said newspaper, shall deposit with the Magistrate before whom the declaration is made security to such amount, not being less than one thousand or more than ten thousand rupees, as the Magistrate may think fit to require, in money or the equivalent thereof in securities of the Government of India.
11. If, after such further security has been deposited, the newspaper again contains any words, signs or visible representations which, in the opinion of the Local Government, are of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Local Government may, by notice in writing to the publisher of such newspaper, stating or describing such words, signs or visible representations, declare—
(a) the further security so deposited, and
(b) all copies of such newspaper wherever found,
to be forfeited to His Majesty.
12. (1) Where any newspaper, book or other document wherever printed appears to the Local Government to contain any words, signs or visible representations of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Local Government may, by notification in the local official Gazette, stating the grounds of its opinion, declare such newspaper, book or other document to be forfeited to His Majesty, and thereupon any police-officer may seize the same wherever found, and any Magistrate may by warrant authorise any police-officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector to enter upon and search for the same in any premises where the newspaper, book or other document may be or may be reasonably suspected to be.
(2) Every warrant issued under this section shall, so far as relates to a search, be executed in manner provided for the execution of search-warrants under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
13. The Chief Customs-officer or other officer authorised by the Local Government in this behalf may detain any package brought, whether by land or sea, into British India which he suspects to contain any newspapers, books or other documents of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), and shall forthwith forward copies of any newspapers, books or other documents found therein to such officer as the Local Government may appoint in this behalf to be disposed of in such manner as the Local Government may direct.
14. No newspaper printed and published in British India shall be transmitted by post unless the printer and publisher have made a declaration under section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, and the publisher has deposited security when so required under this Act.
15. Any officer in charge of a post-office or authorised by the Post-Master-General in this behalf may detain any article other than a letter or parcel in course of transmission by post, which he suspects to contain—
(a) any newspaper, book or other document containing words, signs or visible representations of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), or
(b) any newspaper in respect of which the declaration required by section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, has not been made, or the security required by this Act has not been deposited by the publisher thereof,
and shall deliver all such articles to such officer as the Local Government may appoint in this behalf to be disposed of in such manner as the Local Government may direct.
16. (1) The printer of every newspaper in British India shall deliver at such place and to such officer as the Local Government may, by notification in the local official Gazette, direct, and free of expense to the Government, two copies of each issue of such newspaper as soon as it is published.
(2) If any printer of any such newspaper neglects to deliver copies of the same in compliance with sub-section (1), he shall, on the complaint of the officer to whom the copies should have been delivered or of any person authorised by that officer in this behalf, be punishable on conviction, by a Magistrate having jurisdiction in the place where the newspaper was printed, with fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every default.
17. Any person having an interest in any property in respect of which an order of forfeiture has been made under section 4, 6, 9, 11 or 12 may, within two months from the date of such order, apply to the High Court to set aside such order on the ground that the newspaper, book or other document in respect of which the order was made did not contain any words, signs or visible representations of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1).
18. Every such application shall be heard and determined by a Special Bench of the High Court composed of three Judges, or, where the High Court consists of less than three Judges, of all the Judges.
19. (1) If it appears to the Special Bench that the words, signs or visible representations contained in the newspaper, book or other document in respect of which the order in question was made were not of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1), the Special Bench shall set aside the order of forfeiture.
(2) Where there is a difference of opinion among the Judges forming the Special Bench, the decision shall be in accordance with the opinion of the majority (if any) of those Judges.
(3) Where there is no such majority which concurs in setting aside the order in question, such order shall stand.
20. On the hearing of any such application with reference to any newspaper, any copy of such newspaper published after the commencement of this Act may be given in evidence in aid of the proof of the nature or tendency of the words, signs or visible representations contained in such newspaper which are alleged to be of the nature described in section 4, sub-section (1).
21. Every High Court shall, as soon as conveniently may be, frame rules to regulate the procedure in the case of such applications, the amount of the costs thereof and the execution of orders passed thereon, and until such rules are framed the practice of such Court in proceedings other than suits and appeals shall apply, so far as may be practicable, to such applications.
22. Every declaration of forfeiture purporting to be made under this Act shall, as against all persons, be conclusive evidence that the forfeiture therein referred to has taken place, and no proceeding purporting to be taken under this Act shall be called in question by any Court, except the High Court on such application as aforesaid, and no civil or criminal proceedings, except as provided by this Act, shall be instituted against any person for anything done or in good faith intended to be done under this Act.
23. (1) Whoever keeps in his possession a press for the printing of books or papers without making a deposit under section 3 or section 5, when required so to do, shall, on conviction by a Magistrate, be liable to the penalty to which he would be liable if he had failed to make the declaration prescribed by section 4 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.
(2) Whoever publishes any newspaper without making a deposit under section 8 or section 10, when required so to do, or publishes such newspaper knowing that such security has not been deposited, shall, on conviction by a Magistrate, be liable to the penalty to which he would be liable if he had failed to make the declaration prescribed by section 5 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.
24. Where any person has deposited any security under this Act and ceases to keep the press in respect of which such security was deposited, or, being a publisher, makes a declaration under section 8 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, he may apply to the Magistrate within whose jurisdiction such press is situate for the return of the said security; and thereupon such security shall, upon proof to the satisfaction of the Magistrate and subject to the provisions hereinbefore contained, be returned to such person.
25. Every notice under this Act shall be sent to a Magistrate, who shall cause it to be served in the manner provided for the service of summonses under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
26. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent any person from being prosecuted under any other law for any act or omission which constitutes an offence against this Act.
CHAPTER 7
ANARCHICAL AND REVOLUTIONARY CRIMES ACT (THE ROWLATT ACT)
Act XI of 1919 — 21 March 1919
Source: The Unrepealed General Acts of the Governor General in Council, Volume VIII (from Act I of 1914 to Act XI of 1919) (Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing, India, 1919). The marginal side-notes and the footnotes of the printed volume are not reproduced; the wording of the Act is as printed. The date given is the date of the Governor-General’s assent, as printed at the head of the Act.
[21st March, 1919.]
An Act to cope with anarchical and revolutionary crime.
WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision that the ordinary criminal law should be supplemented and emergency powers should be exercisable by the Government for the purpose of dealing with anarchical and revolutionary movements ;
And whereas the previous approval of the Secretary of State in Council has been accorded to the making of this law; It is hereby enacted as follows:—
1. (1) This Act may be called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919 ;
(2) It extends to the whole of British India; and
(3) It shall continue in force for three years from the date of the termination of the present war.
2. (1) In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,— “Chief Justice” means the Judge of highest rank in a High Court; “The Code” means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898; “High Court” means the highest Court of Criminal appeal or revision for any local area; “Scheduled offence” means any offence specified in the Schedule.
(2) All words and expressions used in this Act and defined in the Code, and not hereinbefore defined, shall be deemed to have the meanings respectively attributed to them in the Code.
PART I.
3. If the Governor General in Council is satisfied that, in the whole or any part of British India, anarchical or revolutionary movements are being promoted, and that scheduled offences in connection with such movements are prevalent to such an extent that it is expedient in the interests of the public safety to provide for the speedy trial of such offences, he may, by notification in the Gazette of India, make a declaration to that effect, and thereupon the provisions of this Part shall come into force in the area specified in the notification.
4. (1) Where the Local Government is of opinion that the trial of any person accused of a scheduled offence should be held in accordance with the provisions of this Part, it may order any officer of Government to prefer a written information to the Chief Justice against such person.
(2) No order under sub-section (1) shall be made in respect of, or be deemed to include, any person who has been committed under the Code for trial before a High Court or a Court of Session, but, save as aforesaid, an order under that sub-section may be made in respect of any scheduled offence whether such offence was committed before or after the issue of the notification under section 3.
(3) The information shall state the offence charged and so far as known the name, place of residence, and occupation of the accused, and the time and place when and where the offence is alleged to have been committed and all particulars within the knowledge of the prosecution of what is intended to be proved against the accused.
(4) The Chief Justice may by order require any information to be amended so as to supply further particulars of the offence charged to the accused, and shall direct a copy of the information, or the amended information, as the case may be, to be served upon the accused in such manner as the Chief Justice may direct.
5. Upon such service being effected, and on application duly made to him, the Chief Justice shall nominate three of the High Court Judges (hereinafter referred to as the Court) for the trial of the information, and shall fix a date for the commencement of the trial:
Provided that, when the total number of Judges of the High Court does not exceed three, the Chief Justice shall nominate not more than two such Judges, and shall complete the Court by the nomination of one or, if necessary, two persons of either of the following classes, namely :—
(a) persons who have served as permanent Judges of the High Court; or
(b) with the consent of the Chief Justice of another High Court, persons who are Judges of that High Court.
6. The Court may sit for the whole or any part of a trial at such place or places in the province as it may consider desirable:
Provided that if the Advocate General certifies to the Court that it is in his opinion necessary in the interests of justice that the whole or any part of a trial shall be held at some place other than the usual place of sitting of the High Court, the Court shall, after hearing the accused, make an order to that effect, unless for reasons to be recorded in writing it thinks fit to make any other order. It shall not be necessary for the certificate of the Advocate General to be supported by any affidavit, nor shall he be required to state the grounds upon which such certificate was given.
7. The provisions of the Code shall apply to proceedings under this Part in so far as the said provisions are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Part and such proceedings shall be deemed to be proceedings under the Code, and the Court shall have all the powers conferred by the Code on a Court of Session exercising original jurisdiction.
8. (1) The trial shall be commenced by the reading of the information, and thereafter the prosecutor shall state shortly by what evidence he expects to prove the guilt of the accused.
(2) The Court shall then, subject to the provisions of this Part, in trying the accused, follow the procedure prescribed by the Code for the trial of warrant cases by Magistrates.
9. If a charge is framed, the accused shall be entitled to ask for an adjournment for fourteen days, or any less period that he may specify, and the Court shall comply with his request, but, subject to the adjournment provided for by this section, the Court shall not be bound to adjourn any trial for any purpose, unless such adjournment is in its opinion necessary in the interests of justice.
10. The Court shall cause the evidence of each witness who is examined to be recorded in full in such manner as the Court may direct.
11. The Court, if it is of opinion that such a course is necessary in the public interest or for the protection of a witness, may prohibit or restrict in such way as it may direct the publication or disclosure of its proceedings or any part of its proceedings.
12. (1) No questions shall be put by the Court to the accused in the course of a trial under this Part until the close of the case for the prosecution. Thereafter, and before the accused enters on his defence, the Court shall inform the accused that he is entitled, if he so desires, to give evidence on oath on his own behalf, and shall at the same time inform him that if he does so, he will be liable to cross-examination. Unless the accused then states that he desires to give evidence on oath, the Court may at any time thereafter question the accused generally on the case in accordance with the provisions of section 342 of the Code.
(2) If, when so called upon, the accused states that he desires to give evidence on oath, the Court shall not at any subsequent stage put any question to him:
Provided that if the accused does not so give evidence, then, after the witnesses for the defence have been examined, the Court may question the accused generally on the case in accordance with the provisions of the said section.
(3) The failure of the accused to give evidence on oath shall not be made the subject of any comment by the prosecution, nor shall the Court draw any inference adverse to the accused from such failure.
(4) If the accused gives evidence on oath, the following rules shall be observed, namely:—
(a) He may be asked any question in cross-examination notwithstanding that it would tend to criminate him as to the offence charged.
(b) He shall not be asked, and if asked shall not be required to answer, any question tending to show that he has committed or been convicted of, or has been charged with, any offence other than that with which he is then charged, or has a bad character, unless—
(i) proof that he has committed or been convicted of such other offence is admissible evidence to show that he is guilty of the offence with which he is then charged, or
(ii) witnesses for the prosecution have been cross-examined with a view to establish his own good character, or he has given evidence of his good character, or the nature or the conduct of the defence is such as to involve imputations on the character of the witnesses for the prosecution, or
(iii) he has given evidence against any other person charged with the same offence.
(c) Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, he shall give his evidence from the witness-box or other place from which the other witnesses give their evidence.
13. If the accused or any one of the accused calls and examines any witness, the right of the final reply shall lie with the prosecution, but in all other cases with the accused :
Provided that the examination of an accused as a witness shall not of itself confer the right of final reply on the prosecution.
14. In the event of any difference of opinion among the members of the Court, the opinion of the majority shall prevail.
15. At any trial under this Part the accused may be charged with and convicted of any offence against any provision of the law which is referred to in the Schedule.
16. The Court may pass upon any person convicted by it any sentence authorised by law for the punishment of the offence of which such person is convicted, and no order of confirmation shall be necessary in the case of any sentence passed by it :
Provided that a sentence of death shall not be passed upon any accused person in respect of whose guilt there is a difference of opinion among the members of the Court.
17. The judgment of the Court shall be final and conclusive and, notwithstanding the provisions of the Code or of any other law for the time being in force, or of anything having the force of law by whatsoever authority made or done, there shall be no appeal from any order or sentence of the Court, and no High Court shall have authority to revise any such order or sentence or to transfer any case from such Court, or to make any order under section 491 of the Code or have any jurisdiction of any kind in respect of any proceedings under this Part :
Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the powers of the Governor General in Council or of the Local Government to make orders under section 401 or section 402 of the Code in respect of any person sentenced by the Court.
18. (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, where—
(a) the statement of any person has been recorded by a Magistrate, and such statement has been read over and explained to the person making it and has been signed by him, or
(b) the statement of any person has been recorded by the Court, but such person has not been cross-examined, such statement may be admitted in evidence by the Court if the person making the same is dead or cannot be found or is incapable of giving evidence, and it is established to the satisfaction of the Court that such death, disappearance or incapacity has been caused in the interests of the accused.
(2) Depositions recorded under section 512 of the Code may, in the circumstances specified in that section, be given in evidence at the trial of an accused under this Part.
19. In case of any reconstitution of the Court during the trial, the Court so reconstituted shall, if the accused so desires, recall and re-hear any witness who has already given evidence in the case.
20. The Chief Justice may from time to time make rules providing for—
(1) the appointment and powers of a President of the Court, and the procedure to be adopted to complete the Court in the event of any Judge of the Court being prevented from attending throughout the trial of an accused ; and
(2) any matters (including the intermediate custody of the accused and his release on bail) which appear to him necessary for carrying into effect or supplementing the provisions of this Part preliminary or ancillary to trials.
PART II.
21. If the Governor General in Council is satisfied that anarchical or revolutionary movements which are, in his opinion, likely to lead to the commission of scheduled offences are being extensively promoted in the whole or any part of British India, he may, by notification in the Gazette of India, make a declaration to that effect, and thereupon the provisions of this Part shall come into force in the area specified in the notification.
22. (1) Where, in the opinion of the Local Government, there are reasonable grounds for believing that any person is or has been actively concerned in such area in any movement of the nature referred to in section 21, the Local Government may place all the materials in its possession relating to his case before a judicial officer who is qualified for appointment to a High Court and take his opinion thereon. If, after considering such opinion, the Local Government is satisfied that action under the provisions of this section is necessary, it may by order in writing containing a declaration to the effect that such person is or has been actively concerned in such area in any movement of the nature referred to in section 21, give all or any of the following directions, namely: that such person—
(a) shall, within such period as may be specified in the order, execute a bond with or without sureties undertaking, for such period not exceeding one year as may be so specified, that he will not commit, or attempt or conspire to commit, or abet the commitment of, any offence against any provision of the law which is referred to in the Schedule ;
(b) shall notify his residence and any change of residence, to such authority as may be so specified;
(c) shall remain or reside in any area in British India so specified;
Provided that, if the area so specified is outside the province, the concurrence of the Local Government of that area to the making of the order shall first have been obtained;
(d) shall abstain from any act so specified which, in the opinion of the Local Government, is calculated to disturb the public peace or is prejudicial to the public safety; and
(e) shall report himself to the officer in charge of the police-station nearest to his residence at such periods as may be so specified.
(2) Any order under clauses (b) to (e) of sub-section (1) may also be made to take effect upon default by the person concerned in complying with an order under clause (a) of that sub-section.
23. An order made under section 22 shall be served on the person in respect of whom it is made in the manner provided in the Code for service of summons, and upon such service such person shall be deemed to have due notice thereof.
24. The Local Government and every officer of Government to whom a copy of any order made under section 22 may be directed by, or under the general or special authority of the Local Government, may use all means reasonably necessary to enforce compliance with the same.
25. An order made under section 22 shall only continue in force for a period of one month, unless it is extended by the Local Government as hereinafter provided in this Part.
26. (1) When the Local Government makes an order under section 22 such Government shall, as soon as may be, forward to the investigating authority to be constituted under this Act, a concise statement in writing setting forth plainly the grounds on which the Government considered it necessary that the order should be made, and shall lay before the investigating authority all material facts and circumstances in its possession relevant to the inquiry.
(2) The investigating authority shall then hold an inquiry in camera for the purpose of ascertaining what, in its opinion, having regard to the facts and circumstances adduced by the Government, appears against the person in respect of whom the order has been made. Such authority shall in every case allow the person in question a reasonable opportunity of appearing before it at some stage in its proceedings and shall, if he so appears, explain to him the nature of the charge made against him and shall hear any explanation he may have to offer, and shall make such further investigation (if any) as appears to such authority to be relevant and reasonable:
Provided that—
(a) nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to entitle the person whose case is before the investigating authority to appear or to be represented before it by pleader, nor shall the Local Government be so entitled;
(b) the investigating authority shall not disclose to the person in question any fact the communication of which might endanger the public safety or the safety of any individual ;
(c) if the person in question requests the investigating authority to secure the attendance of any person or the production of any document or thing, such authority shall, unless for reasons to be recorded in writing it deems it unnecessary so to do, cause such person to attend or such document or thing to be produced, and for that purpose shall have all the powers conferred on a District Magistrate in respect of those matters by the Code.
(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) the inquiry shall be conducted in such manner as the investigating authority considers best suited to elicit the facts of the case ; and in making the inquiry, such authority shall not be bound to observe the rules of the law of evidence.
(4) Any statement made to an investigating authority by any person other than the person whose case is under investigation shall be deemed to be information given to a public servant within the meaning of section 182 of the Indian Penal Code.
(5) On the completion of the inquiry, the investigating authority shall report in writing to the Local Government the conclusions at which it has arrived, and shall adduce reasons in support thereof. In so reporting the investigating authority shall state whether or not, in its opinion, the person whose case is under investigation is or has been actively concerned in any movement of the nature referred to in section 21.
(6) If the investigating authority has not completed the inquiry within the period for which the duration of the order is limited by section 25, such authority may recommend to the Local Government that the period of duration of the order shall be extended for such period as it may consider necessary, and on such a recommendation the Local Government may extend the duration of the order accordingly.
27. (1) On receipt of the report of the investigating authority, the Local Government may discharge the order made under section 22, or may make any order which is authorised by that section :
Provided that—
(a) any order so made shall recite the conclusions of the investigating authority as reported by that authority ; and
(b) a copy of such order shall be furnished to the person in respect of whom it is made.
(2) No order made under sub-section (1) shall continue in force for more than one year from the date of the order made under section 22.
(3) On the expiry of an order made under sub-section (1), the Local Government may, if it is satisfied that such a course is necessary in the interests of the public safety, again make in respect of the person to whom such order related any order which is authorised by section 22:
Provided that before an order is made under this sub-section, a copy of the order which it is proposed to make shall be furnished to the person concerned, who may submit to the Local Government a representation in regard to such order. Any such representation shall be forwarded by the Local Government to the investigating authority for inquiry and report, and such authority, after inquiry conducted in accordance with the provisions of section 26, shall report thereon, and the Local Government shall consider such report :
Provided further that no order made under this sub-section shall continue in force for more than a year from the date on which it was made.
(4) Any order made under this section may at any time be discharged or may be altered by the substitution of any other order authorised by section 22:
Provided that no such alteration shall have the effect of prolonging the period for which such order would have been in force.
(5) The provisions of section 24 shall apply to the enforcement of orders made under this section.
28. If any person fails to comply with, or attempts to evade, any order (other than an order to furnish security) made under section 22 or section 27, he shall on conviction by a Magistrate be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
29. The provisions of section 514 of the Code shall apply to bonds executed under the provisions of this Part, with this modification that the powers conferred by that section on the Court shall be exercisable by any District Magistrate or Chief Presidency Magistrate on application made on behalf of the Local Government.
30. (1) As soon as may be after a notification has been issued bringing this Part into force, the Local Government shall appoint one or more investigating authorities for the purposes of this Part, and may appoint additional investigating authorities when necessary.
(2) Every investigating authority shall be appointed by order in writing, and shall consist of three persons; of whom two shall be persons having held judicial office not inferior to that of a District and Sessions Judge, and one shall be a person not in the service of the Crown in India.
(3) The Local Government may by like order appoint persons to fill casual vacancies occurring by reason of death, resignation of office or otherwise on any investigating authority, but in so doing shall observe the provisions of sub-section (2).
31. (1) The Local Government shall by order in writing appoint such persons as it thinks fit to report upon the welfare and treatment of persons under restraint under this Part, and shall by rules prescribe the functions which these Committees shall exercise :
Provided that, in making such rules, provision shall be made for periodical visits to persons under restraint under the provisions of this Part:
Provided further that a person in respect of whom an order has been made under section 22 or section 27 requiring him to abstain from any specified act or to report himself to the police shall not be deemed to be under restraint for the purposes of this section.
(2) All rules made under sub-section (1) shall be published in the local official Gazette, and on such publication shall have effect as if enacted in this Part.
32. (1) The Local Government may make rules prescribing the authorities before whom and the manner in which bonds under this Part shall be executed, and providing for the procedure to be followed regarding the notification of residence and reports to the police by persons in respect of whom orders have been made under section 22 or section 27.
(2) All rules made under sub-section (1) shall be published in the local official Gazette, and on such publication shall have effect as if enacted in this Part.
PART III.
33. If the Governor General in Council is satisfied that in the whole or any part of British India anarchical or revolutionary movements are being promoted and that scheduled offences in connection with such movements are prevalent to such an extent as to endanger the public safety, he may, by notification in the Gazette of India, make a declaration to that effect, and thereupon the provisions of this Part shall come into force in the area specified in the notification.
34. (1) Where, in the opinion of the Local Government, there are reasonable grounds for believing that any person has been or is concerned in such area in any scheduled offence, the Local Government may place all the materials in its possession relating to his case before a judicial officer who is qualified for appointment to a High Court and take his opinion thereon. If after considering such opinion the Local Government is satisfied that such action is necessary it may make in respect of such person any order authorised by section 22, and may further by order in writing direct—
(a) the arrest of any such person without warrant;
(b) the confinement of any such person in such place and under such conditions and restrictions as it may specify:
Provided that no such person shall be confined in that part of a prison or other place which is used for the confinement of convicted criminal prisoners as defined in the Prisons Act, 1894; and
(c) the search of any place specified in the order which, in the opinion of the Local Government, has been, is being, or is about to be, used by any such person for any purpose connected with any anarchical or revolutionary movement.
(2) The arrest of any person in pursuance of an order under clause (a) of sub-section (1) may be effected at any place where he may be found by any police officer or by any other officer of Government to whom the order may be directed.
(3) An order for confinement under clause (b) or for search under clause (c) of sub-section (1) may be carried out by any officer of Government to whom the order may be directed, and such officer may use all means reasonably necessary to enforce the same.
35. Any person making an arrest in pursuance of an order under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 34 shall forthwith report the fact to the Local Government, and pending receipt of the orders of the Local Government, may by order in writing commit any person so arrested to such custody as the Local Government may by general or special order specify in this behalf :
Provided that no person shall be detained in such custody for a period exceeding seven days unless the Local Government so directs, and in no case shall such detention exceed fifteen days.
36. An order for the search of any place issued under the provisions of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 34 shall be deemed to be a search warrant issued by the District Magistrate having jurisdiction in the place specified therein, and shall be sufficient authority for the seizure of anything found in such place which the person executing the order has reason to believe is being used, or is likely to be used, for any purpose prejudicial to the public safety, and the provisions of the Code, so far as they can be made applicable, shall apply to searches made under the authority of any such order and to the disposal of any property seized in any such search.
37. Where an order (other than an order for arrest or search) has been made under section 34, the provisions of sections 23 to 27 shall apply in the same way as if the order were an order made under section 22, save that, on receipt of the report of the investigating authority, the Local Government may, subject to the conditions prescribed by section 27, make any order which is authorised by section 34, and sections 23 to 27 and 29 to 32 shall be deemed to be included in this Part.
38. If any person fails to comply with, or attempts to evade, any order made under section 34 or section 37 other than an order to furnish security, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
PART IV.
39. (1) On the expiration of the Defence of India (Criminal Law Amendment) Act, 1915, every person in respect of whom an order under rule 3 of the Defence of India (Consolidation) Rules, 1915, was in force immediately before the expiration of that Act, and who has in the opinion of the Local Government been concerned in any scheduled offence, shall be deemed to be a person resident in an area in which a notification under section 21 is in force, and the provisions of Part II shall apply to every such person accordingly; and every person who is on such expiration in confinement in accordance with the provisions of the Bengal State Prisoners Regulation, 1818, shall be deemed to be a person resident in an area in which a notification under section 33 is in force, and the provisions of Part III shall apply to every such person accordingly:
Provided that within one month from the expiration of the Defence of India (Criminal Law Amendment) Act, 1915, the Local Government may, subject to the conditions prescribed in the first proviso to sub-section (3) of section 27 as made applicable by section 37, make any order of restraint which is authorised by Part III in respect of any person who is in confinement in accordance with the provisions of the said Regulation, and if such an order is so made it shall be deemed to be an order made under sub-section (3) of section 27 as made applicable by section 37, and the provisions of that Part regarding such an order shall apply accordingly.
(2) On the expiration of the Ingress into India Ordinance, 1914, as continued in force by the Emergency Legislation Continuance Act, 1915, any person in respect of whom an order was in force immediately before such expiration under section 2 of that Ordinance read with clause (b) or clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Foreigners Ordinance, 1914, shall be deemed to be a person resident in an area in which a notification under section 21 is in force, and the provisions of Part II shall apply to every such person accordingly :
Provided that within one month from the expiration of the Ingress into India Ordinance, 1914, the Local Government may, subject to the conditions prescribed in the first proviso to sub-section (3) of section 27, make any order of restraint which is authorised by that Part in respect of any such person, and if such an order is so made it shall be deemed to be an order made under sub-section (3) of section 27, and the provisions of that Part regarding such an order shall apply accordingly.
PART V.
40. When a notification issued under section 3 or section 21 or section 33 is cancelled, such cancellation shall not affect any trial, investigation or order commenced or made under this Act, and such trial, investigation or order may be continued or enforced, and on the completion of any such investigation, any order which might otherwise have been made may be made and enforced, as if such notification had not been cancelled.
41. (1) An order made under Part II or Part III, directing a person to remain or reside in any area in British India outside the area in which such Part is in force, shall be as valid and enforceable in like manner, as if such Part were in force throughout British India.
(2) An order made under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 34 for the arrest of any person may be executed at any place in British India outside the area in which Part III is in force, and the same procedure shall be followed as if Part III was in force throughout British India:
Provided that, if the arrest is made outside the provinces of the Local Government which made the order, the report required by section 35 shall be made to that Local Government, and the maximum period of detention limited by the proviso to that section shall be extended to twenty-one days.
42. No order under this Act shall be called in question in any Court, and no suit or prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
43. All powers given by this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other powers conferred by or under any enactment, and all such powers may be exercised in the same manner and by the same authority as if this Act had not been passed.
THE SCHEDULE. (See Section 2.)
(1) Any offence under the following sections of the Indian Penal Code, namely :—sections 121, 121A, 122, 123, 124, 131 and 132.
(2) Any of the following offences, if, in the opinion of Government, such offence is connected with any anarchical or revolutionary movement, namely :—
(a) any offence under sections 124A, 148, 153A, 302, 304, 326, 327, 329, 332, 333, 385, 386, 387, 392, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 431, 435, 436, 437, 438, 440, 454, 455, 457, 458, 459, 460, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code;
(b) any offence under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908;
(c) any offence under section 20 of the Indian Arms Act, 1878.
(3) Any attempt or conspiracy to commit or any abetment of any of the above offences.
THE END