Corporal Punishment (Madras and Bombay) Act, 1853 [Repealed]

[Act 1 of 1853]

[4th February, 1853]

Repealed by Act 17 of 1862

Passed by the Governor General of India in Council, on the 4th February, 1853.

An Act for providing in the Presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay for the punishment of Males of tender age for Petty Thefts.

Whereas it is expedient, until adequate improvements in Prison Discipline can be effected at the Presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay, to substitute corporal punishment for imprisonment, in case of offences committed by males of tender age, who should be punished rather in the way of school discipline than of ordinary criminal justice. It is enacted as follows:-

Section - 1.

Every Magistrate, Joint Magistrate or First Assistant Magistrate in either of the Presidencies of Fort St. George or Bombay; and every Deputy or Assistant Magistrate in either of the said Presidencies, to whom the Governor in Council of the Presidency in which he is such Deputy or Assistant Magistrate may grant authority, shall, on conviction of theft of property not exceeding in value rupees fifty, if the person convicted be a male, and shall appear to him, by inspection or other evidence, to be of such tender years as to require punishment rather in the way of school discipline than of ordinary criminal justice, sentence such person to corporal punishment with a light ratan, not exceeding ten stripes, to be inflicted on the bare palm of the hand, or through a light garment on the back.

Section - 2.

In cases of sentences to corporal punishment as aforesaid, no other punishment shall be superadded, and the punishment shall be inflicted on all occasions in the presence of the officer who awards it.