[Act
2 of 1880] [24th
January, 1880] Not part of Indian Law (Act
42 of 1953) PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR
GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. (Received the assent of the
Governor General on the 24th of January 1880.) An Act to amend the law
relating to District Cesses and Rural Police in British Burma. Preamble.? WHEREAS it is
expedient to make better provision in British Burma for the maintenance of
Rural Police and of a local postal service, the construction of works of public
utility, sanitary improvement, and the promotion of education; and whereas it is also
expedient to declare and amend the law relating to Rural Police in the said
Province; It is hereby enacted as follows. This Act may be called ?The
Burma District Cesses and Rural Police Act, 1880?: Commencement.? and it shall
come into force on such date as the Chief Commissioner of British Burma may, by
notification in the local Gazette, direct. Local extent.? It extends to
all the territories for the time being administered by the said Chief
Commissioner: Provided that the said Chief
Commissioner may, from time to time, by notification in the local Gazette,
exempt any portion of the said territories from its operation and cancel such
exemption: Provided also that nothing
herein contained applies to any town to which the British Burma Municipal. Act,
1874, for the time being extends. In this Act, unless there is
something repugnant in the subject or context,? ?land-revenue? means revenue
assessed upon land under the provisions of the Burma Land and Revenue Act,
1876: and ?Revenue-officer? means any
person appointed a Revenue-officer under the same Act. The following portions of
the said Burma Land and Revenue Act, 1876, are repealed (namely): sections 31
and 32, in sections 37 and 46 the words ?five per cent cess,? and the word
?cess? wherever it occurs in the said Act; but all cesses imposed under that
Act shall be deemed to have been imposed under this Act. On all lands assessed to
land-revenue there shah be levied in addition thereto an annual cess of ten per
cent on the amount of such revenue. In every town, village or
hamlet in which at the date on which this Act comes into force a house-tax is
levied, such tax shall continue to be levied. The Chief Commissioner may
from time to time, by notification in the local Gazette, direct that in any
specified town, village or hamlet there shall be levied from the occupier of
each house an annual cess, to be fixed in manner hereinafter provided, but
which shall in no case exceed two rupees: Provided that such cess
shall not be levied? (a)
in any place in which the house-tax referred
to in section five is levied, or (b)
in respect of any monastery, pagoda, sacred
building, Government-building, public rest-house or school: Provided also that in
respect of any house occupied by a person bound to pay cess under section four
no larger amount shall be levied under this section than will, together with
the cess so payable by such person amount to two rupees. ?House? in this section
means any building used as a human dwelling or for the custody of property. The Chief Commissioner may
from time to time, by notification in the official Gazette, direct that any tax
or cess levied in any place under section five or section six shall cease, or
that any person or class of persons shall be exempted from the whole or any
specified part of such tax or cess. Subject to the other
provisions of this Act and to any rules made hereunder and for the time being
in force, the Deputy Commissioner of the district may from time to time? (a)
declare what shall for the purposes of this
Act be held to be a house; (b)
fix the amount of cess to be levied in
respect of each house; (c)
remit such cess in whole or in part. A separate account shall be
kept for each district of all cesses and house-tax levied under this Act in
such district; and such cesses and tax shall be appropriated in each year in
that district, in such proportions as the Chief Commissioner may from time to
time direct, to all or any of the following local objects (namely) (a)
the maintenance of the Rural Police appointed
under this Act; (b)
the maintenance of a local postal service; (c)
the construction and maintenance of
district-roads and other communications, and the improvement of river-channels; (d)
other works of public utility; (e)
sanitary improvement; and (f)
the promotion of education: Provided that the Chief
Commissioner may, on the thirty-first day of March in any year, transfer the
whole or part of any balance then standing under either of the heads (b) or (c)
in the account of any district to the corresponding head in the account of any
other district in the same division. All cesses and house-tax
levied under this Act shall he payable for the year of assessment of
land-revenue as fixed under the Burma Land and Revenue Act, 1876, section 41,
and shall be payable at the place at which and to the person to whom the
land-revenue is from time to time payable, or at such other place and to such
other person as the Chief Commissioner may direct. Sums assessed on the amount
of land-revenue shall fall due on the date on which the land-revenue falls due. Sums assessed on houses
shall fall duo on such dates as the Chief Commissioner may from time to time in
that behalf direct. All sums assessed under this
Act on the amount of any land-revenue may be recovered as if they were part of
such revenue. All other sums payable under
this Act may be recovered in the manner prescribed in sections 44 and 45 of the
Burma Land and Revenue Act, 1876. The Rural Police shall be of
two classes? (a)
headmen of hamlets or groups of hamlets, or
of villages or towns, or sections of villages or towns, hereinafter called
headmen; (b)
headmen of circuits, hereinafter called
goungs. Subject to the rules made
under this Act and for the time being in force, the Deputy Commissioner of the
district shall have power to appoint, suspend and remove headmen and goungs,
and to fix the limits of the beats of headmen and the circuits of goungs: Provided that all
kyaydangyees and yazawut goungs holding office as such in any local areas on
the date on which this Act comes into force shall be deemed to be respectively
headmen and goungs appointed under this Act, and such local areas shall be
deemed to have been fixed as their beats and circuits respectively under this
Act. Every headman shall perform
the following duties (namely). (a)
he shall give immediate information to the
goung of the circuit in which his beat is situated, or the officer in charge of
the police-station appointed for his beat, of all disputes within his beat
which may come to his knowledge and which are likely to lead to any not or
serious affray: (b)
he shall report to the goung or
Police-officer aforesaid the arrival in, or in the neighbourhood of, his beat
of suspicious characters and of persons who have been convicted under the
Indian Penal Code, chapter XII (Of offences relating to coin and
Government-stamps) and chapter XVII (Of offences against property), and the
movements of all bad characters within his beat: (c)
he shall report to the goung or
Police-officer aforesaid all breaches of laws and rules relating to excise and
opium which occur within his beat and come to his knowledge: (d)
he shall to the best of his ability supply
any local information which any Magistrate or Revenue-officer or officer of
police may require, and promptly execute all lawful orders issued to him by or
by authority of the Deputy Commissioner: (e)
he shall attend the Revenue-officer of the
circle, so long as such officer is within his beat for the purpose of assessing
or collecting land-revenue, cesses or taxes, and shall give him all available
information regarding the cultivation of land and other matters relating to the
revenue: (f)
he shall, in accordance with such rules as
may from time to time be made by the Chief Commissioner, keep up a register of all
births, marriages and deaths within his beat, and collect and register any
other vital statistics which may be prescribed by such rales: (g)
he shall afford all assistance in his power
to Government-officers, and, on the order of the Deputy Commissioner, to other
persons, in procuring, food, labour, carriage and other requisites of travel. The duties of a goung in
respect of his circuit shall, mutatis mutandis, be the same as those of a
headman in respect of his beat. For the purpose of
preventing the commission of any offence or arresting any offenders whom he is
authorized to arrest, any headman or goung may require any male person between
the ages of eighteen and sixty within his beat or circuit at the time to assist
him in preventing the commission of such offence or in making such arrest, and
in guarding and escorting the person arrested. Obligation to render help.?
Every person as aforesaid shall, in the absence of reasonable excuse, the
burden of proving which shall lie upon him, be bound to comply with any
requisition made to him under this section. The Chief Commissioner may
from time to time, by notification in the local Gazette, make rules consistent
with this Act? (a)
conferring upon headmen and goungs any
powers, protection or privileges which may be exercised or enjoyed by a
Police-officer under any enactment for the time being in force; (b)
imposing upon headmen and goungs any duties
imposed on a Police-officer by any enactment for the time being in force; and (c)
regulating the exercise, enjoyment and
discharge of such powers, protection, privileges and duties by such headmen and
goungs. Every headman or goung who? (a)
is guilty of cowardice or of wilful
misconduct in his office, or of neglect of duty; or (b)
except with the permission of the Deputy
Commissioner, withdraws from the duties of his office without having given to
the Deputy Commissioner at least two months notice of his intention to withdraw
from such duties; or (c)
offers any unnecessary personal violence to
any person in his custody, may, in addition to any other penalty to which he
may be liable, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one
month, or with fine which may extend to fifty rupees, or both. Bar of prosecution.? No
complaint against a headman or goung of any act or omission punishable under
this section shall be entertained by any Court unless the prosecution is
instituted by order of or under authority from the Deputy Commissioner. No prosecution against any
person for anything purporting to be done under section fourteen, fifteen or
sixteen, or under any rule made in exercise of the powers conferred by section
seventeen, shall be commenced after the expiration of three months next after
the act complained of has been committed. Notice of suit to be given.?
No suit shall be brought for anything so purporting to be done until the
expiration of one month next after notice in writing has been delivered at the
residence of such person, or at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of the
district in which the act was done, stating the cause of suit and the name and
place of abode of the plaintiff. Previous tender of amends.?
If any person to whom any such notice of suit is given shall before such suit
is brought tender sufficient amends to the plaintiff, such plaintiff shall not
recover. No prosecution shall be
instituted against any headman or goung for any act done by him in such
capacity, under the authority of a warrant issued by a Magistrate,
notwithstanding any defect of jurisdiction in such Magistrate. Miscellaneous If within or in the
immediate neighbourhood of any town, village or hamlet a dacoity or a robbery
is committed or attempted, or dacoits or robbers are harboured, sheltered or
assisted, and if the inhabitants of such town, village or hamlet without
reasonable excuse fall to render active assistance in preventing the offence or
in arresting and securing the offenders, the Chief Commissioner may, after such
enquiry as he deems necessary, impose upon such town, village or hamlet, or
upon any section thereof, a fine, to be assessed upon the inhabitants according
to his judgment of their respective means and of the circumstances of the case. For the purposes of this
Act, the Chief Commissioner may from time to time, by notification in the local
Gazette, invest any Revenue-officer with any of the powers, and impose on him
any of the duties, with which he may invest him or which he may impose upon him
under the Burma Land and Revenue Act, 1876, and the rules framed under it. All proceedings of any
Deputy Commissioner or Revenue-officer under this Act shall be subject to
control, revision and alteration by the Commissioner to whom he is subordinate
and by the Chief Commissioner. The Chief Commissioner may
from time to time make rules consistent with this Act for the guidance of
officers in all matters connected with its en-forcemeat. All such rules and all other
rules made under this Act shall be published in the local Gazette, and shall
thereupon have the force of law.Burma District Cesses and Rural Police Act,
1880
PREAMBLE