POLICE

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Police Ordinance.

2. So soon as any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be brought into operation within any town, village, or limits, or part of any town or village, all laws, customs, and usages which may then be in force therein, so far as they are in anywise repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this’ Ordinance, shall be revoked, abrogated, and repealed.

3. It shall be lawful for the Minister, from time to time, as occasion may require, to establish, by Order published in the Gazette, a police force for the effectual protection of person and property within such towns as to him shall appear to require the same. Whenever such force shall be so established within any town this Ordinance shall come into operation therein :

Provided that no Order shall be necessary to establish the force in places where the same shall have been already established under the Ordinance No. 17 of 1844, to which this Ordinance shall apply.

4. It shall be lawful for the Minister, by Order published in the Gazette, to establish a police force in any place other than large towns, though such force be not maintained in the manner prescribed by this Ordinance, and to declare that certain of the provisions of this Ordinance shall come into operation ‘at such place, specifying the limits thereof, and such Order from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend.

5. It shall be lawful for the Minister to establish a police force in any rural district, and to cause the same to be maintained in the manner hereinafter prescribed.

6. It shall be lawful for the Minister, by Order published in the Gazette, to quarter police, or, should a police force have been already established there, to increase the same, in any part of Ceylon which shall be found to be in a disturbed or dangerous or in any part in which, from the misconduct of the inhabitants (whether in harbouring offenders or suspected persons, refusing to aid in their apprehension, or otherwise), he may deem it expedient so to do ; and the inhabitants of the parts of Ceylon in which the police or the additional number of men as aforesaid shall be so quartered, shall be charged with the cost of the men ; and the Government Agent to whose district such part belongs, but not any Assistant Government Agent, shall assess the proportion in which such cost is to be paid by the inhabitants according to his judgment of their respective means.

7. Whenever any large work shall be carried on or be in operation in any part of the country, and it shall appear to the Inspector-General1 of Police that trie employment of an additional police force in the neighbourhood of such large work is rendered necessary by the behaviour or reasonable apprehension of the behaviour of persons employed upon such large work, it shall be lawful for the Inspector-General of Police, with the approval of the Minister to direct the employment of such additional police force, and to maintain the same so long as the necessity shall continue, and to make orders from time to time upon the person having the control or custody of the funds of any company or person carrying on such large work for the payment of the extra force so rendered necessary as aforesaid.

8. The term ” large work ” shall, unless the context otherwise requires, include any railway, tramway, manufactory, any plumbago mining or other commercial business or concern in which a considerable number of artisans, operatives, workmen, coolies, or persons are employed.

9. It shall be lawful for the Minister, by Order published in the Gazette, from time to time to declare that such of the provisions of this Ordinance as to him may seem advisable shall come into operation throughout Ceylon, or in any province, district, town, or place as shall appear to him to require the same, though there be no police force established therein.

10. The Order establishing a police force in any town shall also specify and define the limits of such town, and it shall be lawful for the Minister, from time to tune as occasion may require, by Order, to alter or vary such limits.

11. For the purposes of this part of this Ordinance, the word ” proprietor ” shall mean the sole or any joint owner of an estate, and the word ” estate ” shall mean a tract of land exceeding twenty-five acres, belonging to one person or to several persons, cultivated or uncultivated, and forming a separate or distinct property.

12. The proprietor of any estate situated in any district or locality may make application, in writing, to the Government Agent of the district in which such estate is situated that a police force should be established in the said district, and shall set forth in such application the name of the district, the names! all estates therein, the names of the proprietors, or ( if the same be unknown) of the resident managers thereof, the probable extent of the land belonging to such estates, and the number of men to form the force which, in the opinion of the applicant, will be required to be stationed therein for the purposes of the district.

13. On receipt of such application, the Governmel Agent shall give such public notice as he thinks necessary of his intention to define the limits of the district, the estates in which will, if the proposal to establish a police force in the said district be adopted by the proprietors of at least two-thirds of the acreage of the estates in any such district as hereinafter provided, become and be severally bound and liable for the amount of contribution towards the maintenance of the police force which the said estates may be afterwards assessed at, in manner provided by this Ordinance ; and in such notice the Government Agent shall appoint the time and place when and where he will attend to receive, inquire into, and consider the objections of any proprietor against his estate being included within the limits of such district; and the said Government Agent, after making such inquiry as he may deem requisite, and considering any such objections, shall proceed to define the limits of such district, and shall enter a description of such limits in the minutes of his proceedings, and shall thereupon transmit a requisition to the proprietor of every estate within the limits of such district so defined as aforesaid (or, in case of his absence from Ceylon, to the resident manager, or, if there be no resident manager, to the agent in Ceylon of the proprietor, if any, or if there
be no known agent, shall cause the requisition to be affixed in some conspicuous part of the estate), calling upon him to declare in writing, within such time as shall be therein specified, whether he desires that a police force should be established in the said district, and to jpecify the provisions of the Ordinance which ought, in Ms opinion, to be introduced therein. If no answer be sent to the Government Agent within the time limited by such requisition, the person to whom the same was forwarded shall be deemed and taken to have concurred in the proposal referred to therein.

14. If it shall appear to the Government Agent, from the replies to such requisitions, or otherwise, as aforesaid, that a majority, consisting of the proprietors of at least two-thirds of the acreage of estates in any district, are desirous that a police force should be established in the said district, the said Government Agent shall forthwith forward such application to Government, together with his report as to the necessity for locating a police force in the district, and as to the number of men to compose such force, and the amount in money required for its upkeep ; and thereupon it shall be lawful for the Minister,[1] by Order[1] published in the Gazette, to establish a police force in such district, from such time as shall be therein named, and to introduce such of the provisions as the Minister1 shall consider expedient in such district, and such provisions shall accordingly come into force at the time so named. The Minister[1] may revoke, alter, or amend such Order.[1]

15. On such Order[1] being published, the Govern- ment Agent shall proceed to assess the proportion due by each estate, by dividing the sum of money equal to a moiety of the total cost of maintaining such force in the district by the total number of acres of the estates in the district, and thus apportioning the imount due by each estate ; and the rate so assessed shall be binding and conclusive on all proprietors of estates in such district; and the Government Agent shall thereupon transmit a notice to the proprietor of each estate (or in case of his absence from Ceylon, to the resident manager, or if there be no resident manager, to the agent in Ceylon of the proprietor, if any, or if there be no known agent, he shall cause such notice to be affixed in some conspicuous part of the estate), informing him of the yearly amount of contribution dueI by him to make up the proportion payable by the district, and the date when the first quarterly instalment is payable as hereinafter provided

16. The amount due by each estate for a year shall be payable in advance by quarterly instalments, the first instalment on such day as shall be fixed in the notice above mentioned, and the other instalments at the commencement of each successive quarter.

17. If the amount so due as aforesaid shall not be paid when due, the same shall be recovered in tbe manner provided by sections 41, 42, 49, 50, 51.

18, Should it be found necessary at any time after the original assessment to alter the limits of any d or to reduce or increase the force therein, it shall be lawful for the Minister [1] to do so ; and the Government Agent shall give the same notice of such alteration, and of the new rates payable in consequence, as he is herein required to give of the original proceedings; and such notice shall be served and such new rates recovered in the same way as are herein prescribed in respect of the original notice and rates.

19. For the purpose of discontinuing the police force when introduced into any district under this Ordinance, the same course shall be taken as is prescribed in this Ordinance for its introduction, and if the demand for its withdrawal be adopted by the proprietors of two-thirds of the acreage, the said Government Agent shall forthwith notify to Government that the required majority is in favour of the withdrawal of the police force; and thereupon it shall be lawful for the Minister[1] by Order[1] published in the Gazette, to direct that the employment of the said police force in the said district shall cease and determine from the date fixed in the Order[1]. But nothing herein contained shall prevent proceedings being afterwards taken for the re-establishment of a force in the manner recognized by this Ordinance for the original establishment of a force in any district.

20. The administration of the police in Ceylon shall be vested in the Inspector- General of Police, Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents of Police, Inspectors, Sergeants, and constables.

21.

22. It shall be lawful for the Inspector-General of Police or any Superintendent, if he shall think fit, on the application of any to person showing the necessity thereof, to at the cost of appoint any additional number of police officers to keep the peace, at the charge of the person making the application, but to be under the orders of the Inspector-General of Police or Superintendent and for such time as they shall think fit

Provided that it shall be lawful for the person on whose application such appointment shall have been made, on giving one month’s notice in writing to such Inspector-General of Police or Superintendent to require that the officer so appointed shall be discontinued, and such person shall be relieved from the charge of such additional force from the expiration of such notice.

23. If upon demand any person refuses or fails to pay the sum due by him for maintaining the force under sections 6, 7, and 22, the Inspector-General of Police or Superintendent shall report such refusal or failure to the nearest Magistrate’s Court, which shall proceed to recover such sum as if it were a fine imposed by that court.

24.

25.

26.

27. No police officer shall be at liberty to resign his office or withdraw himself from the duties thereof, unless expressly allowed to do so in writing by the Inspector-General of Police or Superintendent, or unless he shall have given to his superior officer two months’ notice in writing of his intention to do so ; nor shall any such police officer engage in any employment or office whatever other than his duties under this Ordinance, unless expressly permitted to do so in writing by the Inspector-General of Police.

28. It shall be lawful for the Minister to place a police force established in any district, rural district, town, or place, or in the neighbourhood of any railway and other works, under the control of any public officer having authority in such district, rural district, town, place, or neighbourhood, or in the province wherein such district, rural district, town, place, or neighbourhood is situated ; and such public officer shall in such case exercise the powers herein vested in police officers not under the grade of Assistant Superintendents of Police :

Provided that nothing herein contained shall be held to interfere with the general supervision of the Inspector-General of Police over the entire force and all officers thereof, subject to rules and regulations to be made by the Minister.

29. The salaries of the Inspector-General of Police and of the Superintendents, the cost of barracks, hospitals, medical attendance, and arms will be defrayed by the Government. All other expenses, including where there is a public water supply, the cost of supplying water to the police station, premises, quarters, and barracks, must be defrayed by the inhabitants of the towns for the protection of whose persons and property the police is established, except where a force is created under section 4. The expenses of police in rural districts shall be defrayed in equal shares by the Goverment and by proprietors of estates in each district as herein before provided:

Provided, however, that when any town is created a Municipality, the expenses of the police shall be provided for and recovered as directed by the Municipal Councils Ordinance, or any other enactment to be for that purpose hereinafter enacted.

30. The cost of the police payable under sections 6, 7, 22, and 29 of this Ordinance shall be the salary drawn by every Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Sergeant, or Constable, plus , twenty per centum for headquarter reserve, leave, drill, sickness, &c, and eight per centum for pension, and the certificate of the Inspector-General of Police shall be conclusive evidence of the correctness of all charges made in pursuance of this section.

31. For the purposes of creating a fund from which the expenses of the police payable by each town not created a Municipality are to be defrayed, a tax shall be payable on the thirty-first day of March, on the thirtieth day of June, on the thirtieth day of September, and on the thirty-first day of December, in every year, for the quarter ending on the said days respectively, on all houses and buildings of every description, and on all lands and tenements whatsoever, within every such town, to an amount equal to such percentage on the bona fide annual value of such houses, buildings, lands, and tenements, as the Minister shall by Order from time to time appoint, except in cases where such amount shall fall below the sum of twenty-four cents per quarter, in all which excepted cases twenty-four cents per quarter shall be assessed and payable ;

Provided that such tax shall not in the aggregate exceed the sum necessary for the maintenance of the force in such town, except as aforesaid, and which sum it shall be lawful for the Minister from time to time to determine and appoint ;

Provided further that where the police force in any town is maintained for the joint purposes of such town and any adjoining district not included in the limits of such town such sum shall not exceed such fair proportion of the total amount necessary for the maintenance of the said force, as the Minister shall from time to time determine and appoint;

Provided also that it shall be lawful and shall be deemed to have been at all times lawful to refrain in respect of any town from appointing any such percentage on the annual value ;

Provided further, that buildings appropriated to religious worship, and such as are placed in charge of military sentries, shall be exempted from the payment of such tax.

32. For the purposes of section 31 the “bona fide annual value” of all houses, buildings, lands, and tenements, as a basis of rating, shall be the gross annual value without any deduction for expenses, repairs, or other expenses for maintenance or upkeep.

33. It shall be lawful for the Minister to reduce, in any place where a police force is or may hereafter be stationed, the minimum rate payable to meet the expenses defrayable by the inhabitants of such place to for maintenance of such police force, from the sum of one rupee yearly to fifty cents, if, owing to the poverty of the inhabitants or any other cause, such reduction shall appear to him reasonable. The rate, where such reduction is made, shall be assessed and made payable half-yearly, and not quarterly.

34. The assessment to be made in any town for the purposes of creating a fund for the maintenance of a police force therein shall be made by three or more persons appointed by the Government Agent with power to them to act separately or collectively as the Government Agent shall direct; and each person so appointed shall be entitled to receive such remuneration as the Minister [1] may in his discretion award and shall have all the powers and authorities conferred by sections 36 and 37.

35.The assessors for the first year in which a police force is to be introduced in any town may be appointed before the introduction of such force, and every such assessor, when so appointed shall have and exercise all the powers and authorities conferred by sections 36 and 37 notwithstanding that this Ordinance shall not have been brought into operation in such town. For every year after the first, the assessors shall be appointed within such time before the commencement of each year as the Minister shall deem reasonable.

36. Such assessors shall without unnecessary delay after their appointment proceed to inquire into, and according to the best of their information and judgment ascertain and assess as aforesaid the bona fide annual value of all houses, buildings, lands, and tenements within such town, and the tax hereby imposed on or payable for the same, and for that purpose it shall be lawful for the said assessors or any one of them, or for any person in company with or authorized in writing, in that behalf by any such assessor, to enter any houses, buildings, lands, and tenements, and to cause to enter therein such persons and things as may be necessary and to proceed to do or cause to be done therein all such things as may be necessary to enable such assessors to ascertain the annual value of such houses, buildings, lands, or tenements ; and such assessors shall without delay report the assessment so made by them to the Government Agent of the district, who shall thereupon cause the same to be entered in a book which shall have an index or other convenient form of reference and shall be kept at his office for public inspection. It shall be lawful for the Government Agent to revise such assessment and to make such alterations therein as he shall consider expedient.

37. In order to enable the assessors to arrive at a fair valuation of any houses, buildings, or lands liable to the rate it shall be lawful for them to require the owner or occupier of such houses, buildings, or lands to furnish them with returns of the rent or annual value thereof. Whoever refuses or fails to furnish such returns within one week from the day on which he shall have been required to do so, and whoever makes a false or incorrect return, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

38. The tax hereby imposed shall be payable quarterly, and shall be recovered in manner hereinafter provided from the owner or owners, or from any or either of the owners of the houses, buildings, lands, or tenements liable to such tax, and if any person in the occupation of any such house, building, land, or tenement so liable, and not being the owner or a joint owner thereof, shall refuse, upon application being made in that behalf, to inform the said assessors or any one of them, or the Government Agent or any person authorized by him to make such application, as to the correct name and residence of the owner or owners of the said house, building, land, or tenement, every such person shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

39.

40.

41. If any person shall not pay the tax due by him under this Ordinance as soon as the same is due, either into the: office of the Government Agent or to some collector authorized by the Government Agent, by writing under his hand, to collect and receive the same upon demand made by such collector, it shall be lawful for the Government Agent, and he is hereby thereunto authorized and required, for non payment of such tax to seize any property whatsoever belonging to the person by whom such tax is due, wheresoever the same may be found within the district of such Government Agent, and also to seize any movable property, to whomsoever the same may belong, which shall be found in or upon any house, building, land, or tenement for which such tax shall be due ; and if the amount due on account of such tax, together with the costs and charges payable by virtue of section 50, shall not be sooner paid or tendered to such Government Agent, to sell the property so seized by public auction at any time not less than ten nor more than thirty days from the time of such seizure. It shall be lawful for the Government Agent or any Assistant Government Agent to authorize any person specially in writing to seize and sell property as herein provided for.

42. It shall not be lawful for the Government Agent to seize any movable property which may be found in or upon any house, building, land, or tenement in respect of which such tax shall be due, for any arrears of tax due beyond two quarters next preceding such seizure, unless such movable property shall belong to any person who was the owner or a Joint owner of the said house, building, land, or tenement at the time the arrears beyond such two quarters accrued and became due ; or unless such movable property shall belong to any person who shall have occupied the said house, building, land, or tenement at the time when the said last-mentioned arrears accrued and became due.

43. Whenever it shall be necessary to seize and sell the property of any person making default in the payment of the said tax it shall be the duty of the officer authorized by this Ordinance to seize and sell the property to observe the order prescribed in sections 44, 45, 46 and 47 in carrying out such seizure and sale.

44. The movable property of the defaulter, wheresoever the same may be found, sufficient in the opinion of the officer seizing and selling the property to cover the amount of the tax due and the charges incurred in the recovery of the same may be seized and sold :

Provided that any movable property, to whomsoever the same may belong, which shall be found in or upon any house, building, land, or tenement for which such tax shall be due, may be seized and sold. But it shall not be lawful to seize any movable property which may be found in or upon any house, building, land, or tenement in respect of which such tax shall be due, for any arrears of tax due beyond two quarters next preceding such seizure, unless such movable property shall belong to any person who was the owner or a joint owner of the said house, building, land, or tenement at the time the arrears beyond such two quarters accrued and became due ; or unless such movable property shall belong to any person who shall have occupied the said house, building, land, or tenement at the time when the said last-mentioned arrears accrued and became due.

45. Failing such movable property, may be seized and sold the rents and profits of the house, building, land, or tenement for which such tax shall be due, for a term sufficient, in the opinion of the officer seizing and selling the property, to cover the amount of the tax due and the charges incurred in the recovery of the same.

46. Failing such rents and profits, may be seized and sold the materials of any house or building standing on the land for which such tax shall be due, and the timber growing thereon, sufficient, in the opinion of the officer seizing and selling the property, to cover such tax and the charges as aforesaid. And the purchaser of such materials or timber shall be entitled to pull down or cut and remove the same within the time allowed him for that purpose by the officer carrying out such seizure and sale.

47. Failing such building materials and timber, may be seized and sold the house, building, land, or tenement for which such tax shall be due ; or, if a portion thereof, sufficient to cover such tax and the charges as aforesaid, can, in the opinion of the officer seizing and selling the property, be conveniently separated from the rest, such portion only.

48. No officer shall be liable in damages by reason of his not duly observing such order, unless the person claiming such damages shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that the defaulter, or some person on his behalf, pointed out to such officer, at the time he was making the seizure of such defaulter’s property, free and unclaimed property sufficient to cover the amount of the tax or commutation, and charges as aforesaid, which was liable to seizure, in the first instance, according to the order hereby established but which such officer nevertheless failed to seize.

49. Any movable property seized as aforesaid may be removed by the Government Agent for safe custody, pending the sale thereof, to such place as he in may think fit; and in case of the seizure of immovable property, or of any property which cannot be conveniently removed, such Government Agent may place and keep a person in possession thereof pending such sale.

50. It shall be lawful for the Government Agent to demand, take, and receive from the person by whom the tax is due, or from the owner or any joint owner of any property which may be lawfully seized for non-payment of such tax, the several sums of money mentioned in the following table ; that is to say :

Table of Charges incurred in the Recovery of Tax

51. It shall be lawful for the Government Agent to break open or cause to be broken open, in the daytime, any house or building, for the purpose of seizing property in pursuance of this Ordinance.

52. It shall be lawful for the occupant of any house, building, land, or tenement, not being the owner or joint owner thereof, whose property shall have been seized as aforesaid, or who, to avoid such seizure, or after seizure to avoid a sale of such property, shall have paid the amount of tax due in respect of such house, building, land, or tenement, and the costs demandable by virtue of this Ordinance, to deduct the amount paid by him from the first payment of rent due by him on account of the said house, building, land, or tenement to the owner or owners thereof, and the receipt of the Government Agent for the amount so paid shall be deemed an acquittance in full for the like amount of rent:

Provided always that nothing herein contained shall authorize any such deduction from his rent by any occupant who, by the terms of his lease or other agreement, was himself bound and liable to pay such tax.

53. In the event of a sale of property seized, the Government Agent shall, after deducting the amount due on account of such tax, and also the costs and charges payable by virtue of section 50 (which said costs and charges the Government Agent’ is hereby authorized to retain), restore the overplus arising from such sale, if any there be, to the owner or to some joint owner of the property sold ; and the Government Agent shall, upon application in that behalf, grant a receipt for the amount of the tax recovered, and of such costs and charges, to the owner or joint owner of such property.

54. If land or other immovable property be sold for non-payment of tax, a certificate substantially in form B in the Schedule, signed by the Government Agent, shall be sufficient to vest the property in the purchaser, any law or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. Such certificate shall be liable to the stamp duty fixed on conveyances of immovable property, and to any registration or other charges authorized by law, such duty and charges being payable by the purchaser.

55. The Inspector-General of Police may from time to time, subject always to the approbation of the said Minister, frame orders and regulations for the observance of the police officers who shall be placed under his control as aforesaid, and also for the general government of such persons, as to their places of residence, classification, rank, and particular services, as well as their distribution and inspection, and all such orders and regulations relative to the said police force as he may deem expedient for preventing neglect or abuse, and for rendering such force efficient in the discharge of its duties ; and every police officer who shall neglect or violate any such orders or regulations, or any duty imposed upon him by this or any other enactment, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding fifty rupees (which fine or any part thereof may be deducted from any salary then or at -any time thereafter due to such offender), or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding one month.

56. Every police officer shall for all purposes in this Ordinance contained be considered to be always on duty, and shall have the powers of a police officer in every part of Ceylon.

It shall be his duty-

57. Every police officer to whom any description of warrant shall have been addressed for execution is hereby authorized and empowered to execute any such warrant in any and every part of Ceylon as well as in any town, rural district, or place other than large towns or rural districts, in which a police force shall under the provisions of this Ordinance have been established, anything in this Ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding:

Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall justify any police officer executing any warrant or process illegally issued or entrusted to him for service, or shall relieve him from any penalty or liability incurred in respect of the execution of any warrant improperly or illegally issued, or in respect of any neglect of duty or abuse of the powers hereby conferred.

58. Every police officer empowered to act as such within any town or place adjacent to any port shall within such port have all such powers, protections, and privileges, and be liable to all such duties and responsibilities as by law he has and is liable to within such town or place.

59. It shall be lawful for the Minister, from time to time to make, and when made to revoke, alter, or amend rules-

60. Every police officer, when acting as such within any port, shall obey and execute any lawful order which may be issued to him by the Master Attendant or the principal officer of customs of such port in all matters relating thereto, and to offences and offenders therein.”

61. Any police officer committing a breach of any rule made under section 59, or refusing to obey or execute any lawful order issued to him under section 60, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or to simple imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

62. In sections 58, 59 and 60, unless the context otherwise requires-

” port ” includes all harbours, roadsteads, and places of anchorage in Ceylon ; and where the limits of any port have been or may hereafter be defined by the” Minister under section 2 of the Masters Attendant Ordinance or section 2 of the Ceylon Ports Authority Act*, as the case may be, those limits shall be taken to apply to such port for the purpose of the said sections.(See also section 86 (3) of the Ceylon Ports Authority Act.)

63. Any person who in any street or road, thoroughfare, or passage, within the of limits of any town, commits any of the following offences, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or to imprisonment not exceeding three months, and it shall be lawful for any police officer to take into custody without a warrant any person who within his view commits any such offence:-

64.

65. Every person taken into custody by any police officer without warrant (except persons detained for the mere purpose of ascertaining their name and residence) shall forthwith be delivered into the custody of the officer in charge of a station in order that such person may be secured until he can be brought before a Magistrate to be dealt with according to law, or may give bail for his appearance before a Magistrate, if the officer in charge shall deem it prudent to take bail as hereinafter mentioned :

Provided always that where bail is not taken, the prisoner shall be brought before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours, unless circumstances render delay unavoidable.

66. It shall be lawful for any officer in charge of a station to bind by recognizance any person to appear as prosecutor or as a witness before the Magistrate by whom any grave charge is being or is about to be investigated ; and if any such prosecutor or witness shall refuse to execute such recognizance, it shall be competent to such officer to forward the person in custody to the proper court.

67. Every recognizance so taken shall be without fee or reward, and shall be conditioned for the appearance of the person thereby bound before any Magistrate at such time and place as may be required, and the time and place of appearance, and the sum thereby acknowledged, not exceeding one thousand rupees, shall be specified in the said recognizance, or in the condition thereof ; and the officer taking the recognizance shall return the same forthwith to the Magistrate before whom the party is bound to appear.

68. It shall be lawful for any police officer without a warrant to enter and inspect all drinking shops, gaming houses, and other resorts of loose and disorderly characters, all premises of persons suspected of receiving stolen property, any locality, vessel, boat, or conveyance in any part whereof he shall have just cause to believe that crime has been or is about to be committed, or which he reasonably suspects to contain stolen property, and then and there to take all necessary measures for the effectual prevention and detection of crime, and .to take charge of all property reasonably suspected to have been stolen, and of all articles or things which may serve as evidence of the crime supposed to have been committed, and to take charge of all unclaimed property.

69.

70. No police officer shall receive any complaint of any petty offence, or take into his custody any person brought to him accused of such petty offences as trespass, assault, quarrelling, or the like ; and it shall be lawful for any police officer to refuse to receive and act upon any charge of an offence of a grave character, if he shall, on inquiry made of the complainant alone, see good grounds for doubting its truth :

Provided always that if the charge be not of such a nature as under ordinary circumstances would justify the police officer in refusing to receive it, the particular reasons for refusing it are to be recorded by such officer at the time.

71. It shall be lawful for any police officer to lay any information before any Magistrate, and to apply for summons, warrant, search warrant, or such other legal process as may by law issue, and may be expedient under the circumstances, against any person committing an offence against any law or enactment, or against any regulation for the protection of the revenue, or against any person committing or failing to remove any public nuisance or unwarrantable obstructions, keeping a disorderly house, harbouring thieves, disturbing the peace, obstructing the due course of justice, and the like ; and to prosecute such offenders up to final judgment.

72. A court, before which an offender is convicted of an offence under any of the enactments specified in the Schedule to the Informers Reward Ordinance or under any of the enactments to which the provisions of section 2 of the Informers Reward Ordinance have been extended, may, in respect of any fine imposed for such offence, direct that a sum not exceeding one-half of such fine or one-half of such amount as may be actually recovered from such offender, be paid to the Police Reward Fund established under this Ordinance :

Provided, however, that where the court has directed or intends to direct that any other payments be paid out of such fine, the total amount of the payments that the court shall direct to be paid out of such fine shall not exceed the aforesaid sum.

73.

74. If, in the execution of process, it shall be found necessary for the officer of the police employed to serve such process to go any distance beyond five miles, the person at whose instance the process is issued shall be bound to lodge with the Magistrate at the time he applies for the process a sum sufficient to cover the officer’s travelling allowances, at such rates as the Minister shall from time to time appoint.

75. In all cases of fire or other calamity occurring within such town and limits, police officers shall repair to the place where the same has occurred for the protection of such persons and property as may be endangered thereby, and shall be authorized to call upon all persons to aid and assist them in that behalf; and every person so called upon who shall refuse or neglect to give such aid and assistance without good and sufficient excuse shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to any fine not exceeding ten rupees.

76. Every householder within such town and limits shall furnish the officer of police of his division, when required so to do by such officer under the order received to that effect from any Magistrate having jurisdiction within such town and limits, or from the Inspector-General of Police, with a list of all the inmates of his house, distinguishing the members of his family from the servants or others resident therein ; and he shall also, if it shall be so directed in the order of the Inspector-General of Police or Magistrate report any increase or diminution, or change in the same ; and he shall not, having received such notice under such order, harbour a stranger without giving such notice thereof to the principal officer of police of his division ; and every person failing in any duty imposed upon him by this clause shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81. For the purposes of sections 77 to 80-

” public meeting ” means any meeting in a public place and any meeting (irrespective of the place at which it is held) which the public or any section thereof are permitted to attend, whether on payment or otherwise ;

” public place ” means any highway, public park or garden, any sea beach, and any public bridge, road, lane, footway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not ; and includes any open space to which, for the time being, the public or any section thereof have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise.

82. Every police officer-

shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding three months’ pay, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding three months, or both.

83. Any police officer who shall be guilty of cowardice shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twelve months’ pay, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, not exceeding twelve months, or both.

84.

85.

86. It shall be lawful for any officer of police not below the grade of Sub-Inspector to give order either verbally or by notice in writing to any person causing any public nuisance mentioned in this Ordinance to abate and remove the same ; and if any person to whom such order or notice shall have been given shall refuse or neglect to comply with the same in a reasonable time, or if there be any doubt as to who is the proper person to whom such order or notice should be given, it shall be lawful for such officer to cause any such public nuisance to be forthwith abated or removed ; and for that purpose it shall be lawful for him, where necessary, to enter into or upon any house, garden, enclosure, land, or other premises, and to cause to enter therein or thereupon such persons, instruments, and things as may be necessary, and to proceed to do or cause to be done therein or thereupon all such things as may be necessary for such abatement or removal ; and upon the officer certifying to the proper Magistrate the costs which have been bona fide incurred in effecting such abatement or removal, such Magistrate shall summon the party or parties on account of whose non-compliance with any such order or notice such costs were incurred to appear before him on a certain day, then and there to make payment of such costs, where it shall appear after due investigation that such costs were properly incurred ; and if such party or parties shall refuse or fail to make such payment, the Magistrate shall proceed to recover such payment in such and the same manner as he would proceed to recover any fine or penalty incurred under any sentence of the court in which he presides :

Provided always that nothing in this Ordinance contained shall be construed to limit or interfere with in any way the common law right of any individual to abate any nuisance.

87. When any action, prosecution, or proceeding shall be brought against any police officer for any act done by him in such capacity, it shall be lawful for him to-plead that such act was done by him under the authority of warrant issued by a magisterial officer ; and such plea shall be proved by the production of the warrant directing the act and purporting to be signed by such magisterial officer; and the defendant shall thereupon be entitled to decree in his favour, notwithstanding any defect of jurisdiction in such magisterial officer, and no proof of the signature of such official shall be necessary, unless the court shall see reason to doubt its being genuine:

Provided always that any remedy which the party may have against the authority issuing such warrant shall remain entire.

88. All actions and prosecutions against any person which may be lawfully brought for anything done or intended to be done under the provisions of this Ordinance, or under the general police powers hereby given, shall be commenced within three months after the act complained of shall have been committed, and not otherwise ; and notice in writing of such action and of the cause thereof shall be given to the defendant, or to the principal officer of the district in which the act was committed, one month at least before the commencement of the action ; and no plaintiff shall recover in any such action if tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before such action brought or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid into court after such action brought, by or on behalf of the defendant.

89. All persons who shall make or cause to be made or have in rent or possess any well within any town and limits, and shall not surround the same with a wall two feet at least in height, and keep such wall of that height and in good and sufficient repair, shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to any fine not exceeding twenty rupees.

90. No cart of any description whatsoever shall be left or permitted to remain in any street, way or avenue within any town and limits upon any pretence whatever without the permission of the principal officer of police, except for such time as shall be necessary for the purposes only of loading or unloading, or except in such places as shall at any time be appointed and notified by such officer ; and any owner or person in charge of any cart so left or permitted to remain as aforesaid shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding twenty rupees.

91. In no case shall any description of carriage be permitted to obstruct the passage of any street, way, or avenue, nor any two or more carriages of any description to stand abreast in any street, way, or avenue within such town and limits ; and the owner or person driving, loading or in charge of any such carriage not removing the same immediately when ordered or requested so to do by any officer of police, or by any private person, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding twenty rupees.

92. All persons who shall drive or conduct any carriage or other vehicle in a careless, reckless, or violent manner, or who shall ride upon any carriage or other vehicle drawn by horses, bullocks, or other cattle at a pace other than a walk unless the animal driven be so harnessed and bitted as to be perfectly under the control of the driver, or some person on foot able to guide and control the same, or who shall furiously ride or drive, or carelessly lead or let loose, any horse, bullock, or other animal in any street, to the danger and terror of passengers, or shall employ any incompetent person to drive or conduct any carriage or other vehicle, or to lead any horse, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding three months.

93. No elephant shall be permitted to pass along any street, road, or thoroughfare within any town and limits except between the hours of two and eight in the morning ; and every person riding, driving, or conducting any elephant, or causing any elephant to be ridden, driven, or conducted along any such street, road or thoroughfare, except between such hours as aforesaid, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees :

Provided always that nothing in this section contained shall apply to the employment of elephants in any town or limits under a written licence granted by the Government Agent of the district.

94. It shall be lawful for any person within whose view any of the offences specified in sections 90, 91, 92 and 93 shall have been committed, to seize and take the party having so offended to the nearest officer of police to be dealt with according to law, if such party shall refuse to give to such person on demand full information respecting his name, occupation, and residence ; and where such offender cannot be so seized or traced, but the carriage, cart, or animal in respect of which the offence in question was committed can be identified, it shall be lawful for any competent court to issue a warrant for the seizure of such carriage, cart, or animal, together with a summons to the owner thereof to appear before such court on a certain day to be mentioned in such summons ; and if such owner shall fail to attend in pursuance thereof without good and sufficient excuse, or if attending and not being himself the offender – he shall refuse to give all information in his power respecting the party by whom such offence was committed, such owner shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to the same punishment to which the party so having offended as aforesaid would have been liable on conviction thereof.

95. If any person forming part of any procession or of any assembly of more than twelve persons, except under military regulation or some regulation of police, which shall take place or be collected for some particular purpose anywhere within any town and limits, shall have about him or have placed anywhere near him so as to be capable of being used by him while forming part of such procession or of such assembly any gun, pistol, sword, creese, club, or other offensive weapon, every such person shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding two hundred rupees, or to imprisonment at hard labour for any period not exceeding twelve months ; and every person who shall have formed part of any such procession or assembly, and who it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the court before whom he shall be brought was aware that any such offensive weapon was carried or placed near any person forming part of such procession or assembly as aforesaid, and did not give information thereof to-some officer of police, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding one hundred rupees, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding six months.

96. All persons who shall at any time within any town and limits, either within or without any house’ or’ building, beat drums, or tom-toms, or have or use any other music calculated to frighten horses, or who shall make any noise in the night so as to disturb the repose of the inhabitants, or who shall at any time discharge firearms, crackers, or fireworks, or release any fire balloon or other combustible or explosive contrivance or article which is likely to cause injury to-person or property, except under military, regulation, or unless they -shall have obtained a licence from the Magistrate of the division, or from the Inspector-General of Police or Superintendent, who are hereby authorized to grant the same when it shall to them appear expedient, or who shall play at any games in or near any street, road, or thoroughfare, or fly any kite, or throw any stone or other missile, or wilfully or negligently make any noise, or do any act or thing in a manner calculated to terrify or injure any passenger, horse, or cattle, or to injure any property, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding three months.

97.

98. Any person who shall spread false reports with the view to alarm the inhabitants of any place within Ceylon and create a panic shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding twelve months ; and if he shall be convicted a second time, or shall persist in the offence after warning to desist, he shall be liable to corporal punishment not exceeding twenty lashes.

99. No filth, or dirt, or dead or disabled animal shall be cast or allowed to remain in any street, road, canal, or other thoroughfare within any such town and limits, and every inhabitant within any such town and limits shall keep the space and street or road, and all surface drains, ditches, and gutters before his house clean, and the owners or occupiers of all private avenues, passages, yards, and ways,and all slaughter houses shall keep the same clean, and shall remove the offal to such place as the principal police officer of the division may point out under the directions of the Superintendent of Police ; and any person wilfully offending against this section shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to any fine not exceeding twenty rupees.

100. It shall be lawful for the Inspector- General of Police or where there is a Municipality for the Municipal Council or its officers, to notify from time to time in as public a manner as he conveniently can, the place or places in any such town and limits within which persons shall not be allowed to ease themselves under the penalty hereinafter mentioned ; and every person who shall, after such notification shall have been given, ease himself in any place comprehended in such notification, except in some house, outhouse, or enclosed place, with the leave of the occupant thereof, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any penalty not exceeding ten rupees :

Provided always that nothing in this section contained shall be construed into a declaration that persons cannot commit a nuisance by easing themselves in such places as are not comprehended in such notification as aforesaid.

101. All houses and gardens within such parts of any of the said towns and limits as the Minister shall from time to time direct by Order to be for that purpose published in the Gazette shall, within six months after such Order shall have been so published be surrounded with walls or good fences, and be cleared and kept clean of brush and underwood ; and every person neglecting within such time so to surround his house and garden, or to clear and to keep the same clear of brush and underwood, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable to any fine not exceeding twenty rupees :

Provided always that the proprietors of adjoining lands which shall require to be fenced or walled under the provisions of this section shall be liable to make and keep in repair each one-half of such fence or wall, except where by any law or custom such liability shall be otherwise determined.

102. Whereas the punishments assigned to certain offenders under this Ordinance are beyond the jurisdiction of Magistrates Courts, but it would be frequently more advantageous that such offences should be brought to trial before such courts in order that the punishment of offenders may be more prompt, even though it should be less severe : It is therefore enacted, that in case of any person committing an offence under this Ordinance, and which offence could not otherwise be cognizable by a Magistrate’s Court by reason of the punishment to which the same is subject, a certificate shall be presented to any Magistrate’s Court, signed by the Attorney-General or by some competent State Counsel, to the effect that such officer is content that such offence or act shall be prosecuted before such court, it shall be competent to such court to take cognizance of such offence or act, and to award in respect thereof so much of the punishment assigned thereto as Magistrates’ Courts are empowered by law to award.

The preceding provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of any offence under any of the sections 77 to 80 (inclusive) ; and the Magistrate summarily trying any such offence may impose the full punishment prescribed therefor, notwithstanding that such punishment exceeds the limits placed upon the jurisdiction of a. Magistrate by any other law.

103. Nothing contained in this Ordinance shall be construed to prevent any person from Being prosecuted for any offence made punishable on conviction by this Ordinance, or to prevent any person from being liable under any other law to any other or higher penalty or punishment than is provided for such offence by this Ordinance :

Provided always that no person shall be punished twice for the same offence.

104. The following words and expressions in this Ordinance shall have the meaning hereby assigned to them, unless there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction :

” cattle” shall, besides horned cattle, include horses, asses, mules, sheep, goats, and swine ;

” Government Agent ” shall include an Assistant Government Agent of the district;’

” person” shall include a company or corporation ;

” police officer ” means a member of the regular police force and includes all persons enlisted under this Ordinance ;

” town ” shall include any village or limits set out for the purposes of this Ordinance.