Chapter V DEDUCTIONS FROM PAY AND ALLOWANCES

(1) The following deductions may be made from the pay and allowances of an officer, that is to say,— (a) all pay and allowances due to an officer for every day he absents himself without leave, unless a satisfactory explanation has been given to, and accepted by, the Inspector-General under whom he is for the time being serving; (b) all pay and allowances for every day while he is in custody on a charge for an offence for which he is afterwards convicted by a criminal court or Force Court or by an officer exercising authority under section 58; (c) any sum required to make good the pay of any person subject to this Act which he has unlawfully retained or unlawfully refused to pay; (d) any sum required to make good such compensation for any expenses, loss, damage or destruction occasioned by the commission of an offence as may be determined by the Force Court by which he is convicted of such offence or by an officer exercising authority under section 58; (e) all pay and allowances ordered by Force Court; (f) any sum required to be paid as fine awarded by a criminal court or a Force Court; (g) any sum required to make good any loss, damage or destruction of public or Force property which, after due investigation, appears to the Inspector-General under whom the officer is for the time being serving, to have been occasioned by the wrongful act or negligence on the part of the officer; (h) all pay and allowances forfeited by order of the Central Government if the officer is found by a court of inquiry constituted by the Director-General in this behalf, to have deserted to the enemy, or while in enemy hands, to have served with, or under the orders of, the enemy, or in any manner to have aided the enemy, or to have allowed himself to be taken prisoner by the enemy through want of due precaution or through disobedience of orders or wilful neglect of duty, or having been taken prisoner by the enemy, to have failed to rejoin his service when it was possible to do so; (i) any sum required by order of the Central Government to be paid for the maintenance of his wife or his legitimate or illegitimate child or step child towards the cost of any relief given by the said Government to the said wife or child. (2) Subject to the provisions of section 63, the following deductions may be made from the pay and allowances of a person subject to this Act, other than an officer, that is to say,— (a) all pay and allowances for every day of absence either on desertion or without leave, or as a prisoner of war unless a satisfactory explanation has been given and accepted by his commanding officer and for every day of imprisonment awarded by a criminal court, Force Court or an officer exercising authority under section 56; (b) all pay and allowances for every day while he is in custody on a charge for an offence of which he is afterwards convicted by a criminal court or Force Court or on a charge of absence without leave for which he is afterwards awarded imprisonment by an officer exercising authority under section 56; (c) all pay and allowances for every day on which he is in hospital on account of sickness certified by the medical officer attending on him to have been caused by an offence under this Act committed by him; (d) for every day on which he is in hospital on account of sickness certified by the medical officer attending on him to have been caused by his own misconduct or imprudence, such sum as may be specified by the order of the Director-General; (e) all pay and allowances ordered by Force Court or by an officer exercising authority under any of the sections 56 and 58 to be forfeited or stopped; (f) all pay and allowances for every day between his being recovered from the enemy and his dismissal from the service in consequence of his conduct when being taken prisoner by, or while in the hands of the enemy; (g) any sum required to make good such compensation for any expenses, loss, damage or destruction caused by him to the Central Government or to any building or property or any private fund of the Force as may be awarded by his commanding officer; (h) any sum required to pay a fine awarded by a criminal court, Force Court exercising jurisdiction under section 49 or an officer exercising authority under any of the sections 56 and 60; (i) any sum required by order of the Central Government or any prescribed officer to be paid for the maintenance of his wife, or his legitimate child or illegitimate child or step child or towards the cost of any relief given by the said Government to the said wife or child. (3) For computation of time of absence or custody under this section,— (a) no person shall be treated as absent or in custody for a day unless the absence or custody has lasted, whether wholly in one day, or partly in one day and partly in another for six consecutive hours or upwards; (b) any absence or custody for less than a day may be reckoned as absence or custody for a day if such absence or custody prevented the absentee from fulfilling any duty as member of the Force which was thereby thrown upon some other person; (c) absence or custody for twelve consecutive hours or upwards may be reckoned as absence or custody for the whole of each day during any portion of which the person was absent or in custody; (d) a period of absence, or imprisonment, which commences before, and ends after, midnight may be reckoned as a day.

In the case of any person subject to this Act who is in custody or under suspension from duty on a charge for an offence, the prescribed officer may direct that the whole or any part of the pay and allowances of such person shall be withheld, pending the result of his trial on the charge against him, in order to give effect to the provisions of clause (b) of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 61.

The total deductions from the pay and allowances of a person made under clauses (e) and (g) to (i) of sub-section (2) of section 61 shall not, except where he is sentenced to dismissal or removal, exceed in any one month one-half of his pay and allowances for that month.

Any sum authorised by this Act to be deducted from the pay and allowances of any person may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovering the same, be deducted from any public money due to him other than a pension.

Where the conduct of any person subject to this Act when being taken prisoner by, or while in the hands of, the enemy, is to be inquired into under this Act or any other law, the Director-General or any officer authorised by him may order that the whole or any part of the pay and allowances of such person shall be withheld pending the result of such enquiry.

Any deduction from pay and allowances authorised by this Act may be remitted in such manner and to such extent, and by such authority, as may from time to time be prescribed.

(1) In the case of all persons subject to this Act, being prisoners of war, whose pay and allowances have been forfeited under clause (h) of sub-section (1) or clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 61 but in respect of whom a remission has been made under section 66, it shall be lawful for proper provisions to be made by the Central Government or by the Director-General when so authorised by the Central Government out of such pay and allowances for any dependants of such persons and any such remission shall in that case be deemed to apply only to the balance thereafter remaining of such pay and allowances. (2) It shall be lawful for proper provision to be made by the Central Government or by the Director-General when so authorised by the Central Government for any dependants of any person subject to this Act who is a prisoner of war, or is missing, out of his pay and allowances.

For the purposes of section 67, a person shall be deemed to continue to be a prisoner of war until the conclusion of any inquiry into his conduct such as is referred to in section 65 and if he is dismissed from the service in consequence of such conduct, until the date of such dismissal.