Chapter V Chapter V

Executive Powers and Duties of the Police

Duties of Police Officers.- It shall be the duty of every police officer to-

1. (a) promptly serve every summons, obey and executive all orders and warrants lawfully issued to him by any competent authority, and endeavour by all lawful means to give effect to the lawful commands of his superior officers ;
2. (b) Collect and communicate, to the best of his ability, intelligence concerning the commission of cognisable offence or designs to commit such offence and lay such information and take such other steps consistent with law and with the orders of his superior officers as shall best be calculated to bring offenders to justice and prevent the commission of cognisable, and within his view, of non-cognisable offences ;
3. (c) preserve the peace and collect and communicate intelligence affecting or likely to affect the public peace ;
4. (d) prevent to the best of his ability the commission of public nuisances ;
5. (e) apprehend all persons whom he is legally authorised to apprehended and for whose apprehension sufficient ground exists ;
6. (f) 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 ;
7. (g) discharge such duties as are imposed upon him by any law for the time being in force ;
8. (h) use his best endeavours to prevent any injury attempted to be committed in his view to any public property or the removal of or injury to any public landmark or mark used for navigation ;
   • (i) afford every assistance within his power to disable or helpless persons in the streets and take charge of intoxicated persons and of lunatics at large who appear dangerous or incapable of taking care of themselves ;
9. (j) 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 ;
10. (k) arrange for the proper sustenance and shelter of every person who is under arrest or in custody ;
11. (l) use his best endeavours-
    • (i) to prevent any loss or damage by fire, and
    • (ii) to avert any accident or danger to the public ;
12. (m) regulate and control the traffic in the streets to prevent obstruction therein and to the best of his ability prevent the infraction of any rule or order made under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force for observance by the public in or near the streets ;
13. (n) keep order to the streets, and at public bathing, washing and landing places, fairs and all other places of public resort, and in places of public worship and the neighbourhood thereof during the time of public worship ;
14. (o) regulate resort to public bathing, washing, and landing places prevent overcrowding thereat and in public conveyances and to the best of his ability prevent the infraction of any rule or order lawfully made for observance at any such place or on any such conveyance ;
15. (p) take charge of all unclaimed property found by or made over to him and to furnish without any unreasonable delay an inventory thereof to a Magistrate ;
16. (q) prevent entry without reasonable excuse into or on any dwelling house or other building or on any land or ground, attached thereto or on any boat, vehicle or vessel, or on any ground, belonging to the Government or appropriated to public purposes ; and
17. (r) perform all duties imposed on his by rules for the time being in force under this Act in the manner and subject to the conditions therein prescribed.

Powers of police on the occasion of fire .-(1) On the occasion of a fire in any locality, any police officer, above the rank of a constable or any member of the fire services above the rank of a fireman, may-

1. (a) remove or order the removal of any persons who by their presence interfere with or impede the operations for extinguishing the fire or for saving life or property ;
2. (b) close any street or passage in or near which any fire is burning ;
3. (c) by himself or those acting under his orders break into or through, or pull down, or use for the passage of house, or other appliances, any premises for the purpose of extinguishing the fire, doing as little damage as possible ;
4. (d) cause the mains and pipes of any area to be shut off so as to give greater pressure of water in the place where the fire has occurred;
5. (e) call on the persons in charge of any fire-engine to render such assistance as may be possible ; and
6. (f) generally, take such measures as may appear necessary for the preservation of life and property.

1. (2) Any damage done on the occasion of fire by members of the fire services or of any fire-brigade or by police officers or their assistants in the due execution of the duties shall be deemed to be damage by fire within the meaning of any policy of insurance against fire. But noting in this section shall exempt any police officer or any member of the fire services or of any fire-brigade from liability to damages on account of any acts done by him without reasonable cause.
2. (3) All charges on account of establishments and appliances for extinguishing fire maintained by the police under the orders of the Government for general use, and all expenses incurred on the occasion of any by the police in the execution of their duty shall, if the duty of extinguishing fire is cast upon any local authority be paid from the fund of that local authority upon the Inspector-General certifying the amount thereof : Provided that no charges on account of establishments and appliances for extinguishing fire shall be recovered from any local authority which maintains such establishments and appliances and such establishments and appliances are employed for extinguishing fire.

Power to deal with property suspected to be stolen .-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 for and examine the same and may require an account thereof, and should the account given by the possesser be manifest, false or suspicious, may detain such articles after taking an inventory of the same and attested by two persons of the locality and report the facts to the nearest Magistrate who shall thereupon make such order respecting the custody or production of the articles as he may think proper.

Powers to search for stolen property in certain cases without warrant .-In any local area to which this section may be extended by the Government by notification in the Gazette, any police officer above the rank of a constable having responsible ground to suspect that stolen property is concealed or lodged in any dwelling house or other place and is likely to be removed before a search-warrant can be obtained, may search such house or place subject to the general provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, relating to searches.

Pawn-broker, etc., to report stolen property if tendered for pawn or sale .-Any police officer may deliver to any pawn-broker, dealer in second hand property or worker in metals, a list of any property believed to have been stolen, and thereupon it shall be the duty of such pawn-broker, dealer or worker as aforesaid, upon any article answering the description of any of the property set for him any such list being offered him in pawn, for sale or otherwise, to inquire the name and address of the persons offering such article, to seize and detain the article, and forthwith to communicate to the nearest police station the fact of such article having been offered and such name and address as may be given by the person offering it. Any pawn-broker, dealer or worker as aforesaid failing to comply with the requirement of this section without reasonable excuse shall be liable on conviction to fine not exceeding fifty rupees for every such offence.

Police officer above the rank of a constable may enter and inspect liquor shop, etc., without warrant Police officer above the rank of a constable may enter and inspect liquor shop, etc., without warrant -Any police officer above the rank of a constable may for any of the purposes mentioned in section 29 enter and inspect any shop in which liquor intoxicating drug is kept or sold, gaming house or other place of resort of loose or disorderly characters without a warrant.

Applicability of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure .-The provisions of sections 523, 524 and 525 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, shall, as nearly as may be practicable, apply to all property detained or taken charge of by the police under this Act.

A superior police officer may himself perform duties imposed on his inferior, etc .-A police officer may perform any duty assigned by law or by a lawful order to any other subordinate to him; and in case of any duty imposed on such subordinate, a superior police officer, 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.

Police officer may lay information, etc .-Any police officer may lay any information before a Magistrate, and apply for a summons, warrant, search warrant or such other legal process as may by law issue against any person committing an offence.

Persons bound to conform to reasonable directions of police ,-(1) All persons shall be bound to conform to the reasonable direction of a police officer given in fulfilment of any of the duties enjoined on, or in exercise of any of the powers vested in him under this Act.

1. (2) A police officer may restrain or remove any person resisting or refusing or omitting to conform to any such direction as aforesaid.