Chapter VI EXECUTIVE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE POLICE

It shall be the duty of every Police Officer,— (a) promptly to serve every summons and obey and execute every warrant or other order lawfully issued to him by competent authority, and to endeavour by all lawful means to give effect to the lawful commands of his superior; (b) to the best of his ability to obtain intelligence concerning the commission of cognizable offences or designs to commit such offences; (c) to lay such information and to take such other steps, consistent with law and with the orders of his superiors, as shall be best calculated to bring offenders to justice; (d) to prevent the commission of offences; (da) to prevent the breach of the public peace; (e) to prevent to the best of his ability the commission of public nuisances; (f) to apprehend without unreasonable delay all persons whom he is legally authorised to apprehend and for whose apprehension there is sufficient reason; (g) to aid another Police Officer when called on by him or in case of need in the discharge of his duty, in such ways as would be lawful and reasonable on the part of the officer aided; (h) to discharge such duties as are imposed upon him by any law for the time being in force. (i) to communicate without delay to the appropriate officer of a local authority any information which he receives, of the design to commit or of the commission of any offence under the relevant law constituting such local authority or under any rule, bye-law or regulation made under such law; (j) to assist any officer or servant of a local authority or any person to whom the powers of such officer or servant has been lawfully delegated, reasonably demanding his aid for the lawful exercise of any power vesting in such officer or servant of the local authority, or such person, under the relevant law constituting such local authority or under any rule, bye-law or regulation made under such law.

66. Power to enter places of public resort. Every Police Officer may, subject to the rules and orders made by the Government or by a person lawfully authorised, enter for any of the purposes referred to in section 65 without a warrant and inspect any place of public resort which he has reason to believe is used as a shop for the sale of liquor or intoxicating drugs or a place of resort of loose and disorderly characters.

67. Power to search suspected persons in a street. When in a street or a place of public resort a person has possession or apparent possession of any article which a Police Officer in good faith suspects to be stolen property, such Police Officer may search or examine the same and may require an account thereof, and, should the account given by the possessor be manifestly false or suspicious, may seize such article and report the facts to a Judicial Magistrate, who shall thereon proceed according to sections 523 and 525 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, or any other law in force.

68. Duties of Police Officers towards the public. It shall be the duty of every Police Officer,— (a) to afford every assistance within his power to disabled or helpless persons in the streets, and to take charge of intoxicated persons and of lunatics at large who appear dangerous or incapable of taking care of themselves; (b) to take prompt measures to procure necessary help for any person under arrest or in custody, who is wounded or sick and whilst guarding or conducting any such person, to have due regard to his condition; (c) to arrange for the proper sustenance and shelter of every person who is under arrest or in custody; (d) in conducting searches, to refrain from needless rudeness and the causing of unnecessary annoyance; (e) in dealing with women and children to act with strict regard to decency and with reasonable gentleness; (f) to use his best endeavors to prevent any loss or damage by fire; (g) to use his best endeavor to avert any accident or danger to the public.

It shall be the duty of a Police Officer,— (a) to regulate and control the traffic in the streets, to prevent obstructions therein and, to the best of his ability, to prevent infraction of any rule or order made under this Act, or any other law in force for observance by the public in or near the streets; (b) to keep order in the streets and at and within public bathing, washing and landing places, fairs, bazaars, temples and all other places of public resort and in the neighborhood of places of public worship during the time of public worship; (c) to regulate resort to public bathing, washing and landing places, to prevent overcrowding thereat and in public ferry, boats and, to the best of his ability, to prevent the infraction of any rule or order lawfully made for observance by the public at any such place or on any such boat.

All persons shall be bound to conform to the reasonable directions of a Police Officer given in fulfillment of any of his duties under this Act. section 70 and may either take such person before a Judicial Magistrate or, in trivial cases, may release him when the occasion is past.

A Police Officer may restrain or remove any person resisting or refusing or omitting to conform to any direction referred to in

72. Enforcement of orders issued under sections 35, 36 or 38. Whenever a notification has been duly issued under section 35 or an order has been made under section 36 or 38 it shall be lawful for any Magistrate in a district or Police Officer to require any person acting or about to act contrary thereto to desist or to abstain from so doing, and, in case of refusal or disobedience, to arrest the person offending. Such Executive Magistrate or Police Officer may also seize any object or thing used or about to be used in contravention of such notification, or order as aforesaid and the thing seized shall be disposed of according to the order of any District Magistrate having jurisdiction at the place.

73. Duty of Police to see orders issued under sections 42, 54, 55, 56 or 63 are carried out. It shall be the duty of the police to see that every regulation and direction made by an authority under sections 42, 54, 55, 56 or 63 is duly obeyed, to warn persons who from ignorance fail to obey the same and to arrest any person who wilfully disobeys the same.

A Police Officer may arrest without warrant any person committing in his presence in any street or public place any non-cognizable offence punishable under this Act, or under any rule made thereunder and for which no express provision has been made elsewhere, or under any other law for the time being in force, if such person,— (i) after being warned by a Police Officer persists in committing such offence, or (ii) refuses to accompany the Police Officer to a police station on being required so to do.

(1) The police shall take temporary charge,— (a) of all unclaimed property found by or made over to them; and (b) of all property found lying in any public street, if the owner or person in charge of such property on being directed to remove the same, refuses or omits to do so. (2) The taking of temporary charge of any property under sub-section (1) shall be forthwith reported to a Judicial Magistrate and the procedure laid down in sections 457, 458 and 459 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, shall be applicable in respect of the disposal of such property as if it were property seized by a Police Officer under the said Code. (h) exhibits, contrary to any regulation made and notified by the Commissioner or a District Magistrate, as the case may be, any mimetic, musical or other performances of a nature to attract crowds or carries or places bulky advertisements, pictures, figures, or emblems in any street whereby an obstruction to passengers or annoyance to the inhabitants may be occasioned; (i) uses or operates at any place any apparatus for amplifying any musical or other sound, such as a megaphone or loudspeaker, any time between ten o’clock in the night and six o’clock in the morning, whereby any annoyance, disturbance, or discomfort is caused to the inhabitants in the vicinity; (j) obeys a call of nature or permits a child to do so or bathes or washes his person in or near to and within sight of a street or public place (except in some place set apart for the purpose by order of a competent authority) so as to cause annoyance to the neighbouring residents or to passers by; (k) negligently lets loose any horse or other animal, so as to cause danger, injury, alarm or annoyance to the public, or suffers a ferocious dog to be at large without a muzzle, or sets on or urges a dog or other animal to attack, worry or put in fear any person or animal; (l) bathes or washes in or by the side of a public well, tank, or reservoir, not set apart for such purpose by order of a competent authority or in or by the side of any pond, pool aqueduct, part of a river, stream, nalla or other source or means of water supply in which such bathing or washing is forbidden by order of the competent authority; (m) defiles or causes to be defiled, the water in any public well, tank, reservoir, pond, pool, aqueduct or a part of a river, stream, nalla or other source or means of water-supply, so as to render the same less fit for any purpose for which it is set apart by the order of the competent authority; (n) obstructs or incommodes a person bathing at a place set apart for that purpose as aforesaid, by wilful intrusion or by using such place for any purpose for which it is not so set apart; (o) wilfully and indecently exposes his person, uses indecent language or behaves indecently or riotously or in a disorderly manner in a street or place of public resort, or in any public office; (p) is drunk and incapable of taking care of himself in a street or place of public resort; (q) wilfully pushes, presses, hustles or obstructs any passenger in a street, or disturbs the public peace or order, by violent movements, menacing gestures, wanton personal annoyance, screaming, shouting, wilfully frightening horses or cattle, or otherwise; (r) uses in any street any threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or posts up or affixes or exhibits any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting paper or drawing with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or whereby a breach of the peace may be occasioned; (s) begs importunately for alms, or exposes or exhibits, with the object of exacting charity, any deformity or disease or any offensive sore or wound in or near to and within sight of any street; (t) throws or lays down any dirt, filth, rubbish or any stones or building materials in any street, or causes any offensive matter to run from any house, factory, dung-heap or the like into any street (u) neglects to fence in or duly to protect any well, tank, or other dangerous place or structure; (v) without the consent of the owner or occupier, affixes or causes to be affixed any bill, notice or other paper upon any building, wall or fence, or writes upon or defaces or marks any such building, wall or fence; (w) without the consent of the Government or the public authority concerned, affixes or causes to be affixed any bill, notice or other paper upon any lamp-post, tree, letter-box, transformer, street or any other property belonging to Government or any public authority, or writes upon or defaces or marks or causes to be written upon or defaced or marked, any such lamp-post, tree, letter-box, transformer, street or other property; (x) spits or throws any dust, ashes, refuse or rubbish in or near to any street, public place or place of public resort so as to cause annoyance to any passerby; (y) or spits in any court, police station, public office or building occupied by Government or any public body, in contravention of a notice by a competent authority in charge of such place and affixed to such court, station, office or building, shall be punished with fine which may extend to Rs. 100, provided that imprisonment in default of payment of such fine shall not exceed eight days notwithstanding anything in section 67 of the Indian Penal Code. (2) (a) The provisions of sub-section (1) or any clause or clauses thereof may be extended by the State Government by notification,— (i) to such local area as may be specified in such notification; or (ii) to such local area for such period as may be specified in such notification. (b) The State Government may at any time rescind any notification issued under sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) of clause (a): Provided that the issue of a notification under this clause shall not preclude the issue of notification from time to time under sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) in respect of the same local area.

A Police Officer may take charge of any animal which may be found straying in a street and may take or send the same to the nearest cattle pound and the owner and other person concerned shall thereon become subject to the provisions of the Cattle Trespass Act in force.

A Police Officer of rank superior to that of a constable may perform any duty assigned by law or by a lawful order to any officer subordinate to him; and in case of any duty imposed on such subordinate, a superior where it shall appear to him necessary may aid, supplement, supersede or prevent any action of such subordinate by his own action or that of any person lawfully acting under his command or authority, whenever the same shall appear necessary or expedient for giving more complete or convenient effect to the law or for avoiding an infringement thereof.