[Act 33 of 1857] [5th December, 1857] Repealed by Act 8 of 1868 PASSED BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF INDIA. (Received the assent of the Governor General on the 5th
December 1857.) AN ACT to make further provision relating to Foreigners. Whereas it is expedient to make further provision to enable
the several Governments of the British Territories in India to prevent the
subjects of Foreign States from residing or sojourning therein or from passing through or travelling in the same
without the consent of the said Governments: It is enacted as follows. Every Foreigner shall, on
his arrival in any part of the Territories in the possession and under the government
of the East India Company from any Port or place not within the said
Territories, or from any Port or place not subject to the provisions of this
Act, forthwith report himself to the Commissioner of Police, if he shall arrive
at any of the Presidency Towns; or, if he shall arrive, at any other place, to
the Magistrate or to such other Officer as shall be appointed to receive such
reports by the Governor General in Council, or (in places within their
respective jurisdictions) by the Executive Government of any Presidency or
place, or by the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, the Chief Commissioner of
Oude, or the Commissioners of Mysore, Coorg, Nagpore, Scindeg Pegu, and the
Tenasserim and Martaban Provinces respectively. Except a Foreigner being the master of a vessel or
employed there in. Provided that nothing contained in this Section shall
extend to any Foreigner being the Master or Commander of a ship or vessel, or employed therein. The report shall be in
writing; and shall be signed by the person reporting himself; and shall specify
his name or names, the nation to which he belongs, the place from which he
shall have come, the place or places of his destination, the object of his
pursuit, and the date of his arrival in the said Territories: and the report
shall be recorded by the Officer to whom it is made. If any person included in
the proviso to Section I shall remain in any part of the said Territories after
lie shall have ceased to be employed in a ship or vessel, he shall forth with
report himself in manner aforesaid. If any Foreigner shall
neglect to report himself as required by this Act, he may be dealt with in the
manner hereinafter provided in respect of Foreigners travelling without a license. No Foreigner shall travel
in or pass through any part of the Territories in the possession and under the
government of the East India Company without a license. Licenses under this Act may
be granted by the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign
Department; or by the Chief Secretary to the Governments of Fort St. George and
Bombay respectively; or by the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, the Chief
Commissioner of Oude, or the Commissioners of Mysore, Coorg, Nagpore, Scinde,
Pegu, and the Tenasserim and Martaban Provinces respectively; or by such other
Officers as shall be specially authorized so to do by the Governor General of
India in Council, or by the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, or
by any of the Chief Commissioners or Commissioners aforesaid. Every such license shall
state the name or names of the person to whom the license is granted, the
nation to which he belongs, the district or districts through which he is
authorized to pass, or the limits within which he is authorized to travel, and
the period (if any) during which the license is intended to have effect. The license may be granted
subject to such conditions (if any) as the Governor General in Council, or the
Executive Government on any I residency or place, or (as regards their several
jurisdictions) any of the said Chief Commissioners or Commissioners, may by any
general order direct; or as the Officer granting the license may deem
necessary: and the license may be revoked ac any time by the Governor General
in Council, or by the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, or by
the Officer granting the same. If any Foreigner travel in
or attempt to pass through any part of the said Territories without such
license as aforesaid, or the conditions of license beyond the districts or
limits mentioned therein, or after such license shall have been revoked, or
shall violate any of the conditions therein specified, he may be apprehended
without warrant by a Magistrate, Deputy Magistrate, or Assistant to a
Magistrate, or be any European Commissioned Officer in the Service of Her
Majesty or of the East India Company, or by a Member of a Volunteer Corps,
enrolled by authority of Government whilst on duty, or by any Police Officer. If any person be
apprehended by a person not being a Magistrate or a Police Officer, he shall be
delivered over as soon as possible to a Police Officer, and carried before a
Magistrate; and whenever any person shall be apprehended by or taken before a
Magistrate, such Magistrate shall forthwith report the case to the Government
to which he is subject, and shall cause the person brought before him to be
discharged, or to be conveyed to one of the Presidency Towns, or to he detained
pending the orders of such Government. All persons apprehended or
detained under the above-mentioned provisions of this Act, may be admitted to
bail by a Magistrate or by any of the Officers authorized to grant licenses,
and shall be put to as little inconvenience as possible during their detention
in custody. The Governor General in
Council, or the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, may order any
such person to remove himself from the said Territories by sea or by such other
route as the Government may direct; or the Government may cause him to be
removed from the said Territories by such route and in such manner as to the
Government shall seem fit. The Governor General in
Council, or the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, or any of the
Chief Commissioners or Commissioners mentioned in Section VI of this Act, may
by writing order any Foreigner within his jurisdiction to remove himself from
the Territories in the possession and under the government of the East India
Company, or to remove himself therefrom by a particular route to be specified
in the order. If any Foreigner ordered to
remove himself from the said Territories, or ordered to remove himself
therefrom by any particular route, shall neglect or refuse so to do; or if any
Foreigner, having removed himself from the said Territories in consequence of
an order issued under any of the provisions of this Act, or having been removed
from the said Territories under any of the said provisions, shall wilfully
return to the said Territories without a license in writing granted by the
Governor General of India in Council or by the Government or Officer under
whose order he shall have removed himself or been removed such Foreigner may be
apprehended and detained in safe custody, until he shall be discharged
therefrom by order of the Governor General in Council, or of the Executive
Government, or of one of the said Chief Commissioners or Commissioners mentioned
in Section VI of this Act, within whose jurisdiction he shall be so apprehended
or detained, upon such terms and conditions as the said Governor General in
Council, Executive Government, Chief Commissioner, or Commissioner shall deem
sufficient for the peace and security of the British Territories, and of the
allies of Her Majesty and of the East India Company, and of the neighbouring
Princes and States. The Governor General in
Council, or the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, or any of the
Chief Commissioners or Commissioners mentioned in Section VI of this Act, may
by order prohibit any person or persons, or any class or classes of persons,
not being a natural-born subject or subjects of Her Majesty within the meaning
of Section LXXXI, 3 and 4 William IV, c. 85, from travelling in or passing
through any part of the said Territories, or from passing from any part of
India to another, without a license to be granted by such Officer or Officers
as shall be specified in the order; and if such person shall wilfully disobey
such order, he may be apprehended without warrant by any of the Officers
specified in Section IX of this Act, and carried before a Magistrate and dealt
with under the provisions of Section X, in the same manner as if he were a
Foreigner; and the Government may order such person to be detained in safe
custody, or under the surveillance of the Police, so long as it may be deemed
necessary for the peace and security of the British Territories. It shall be lawful for the
Commissioner of Police, or for a Magistrate, or his Assistant, or for any
Officer appointed to receive reports as mentioned in the first Section of this
Act, or for any Police Officer under the authority of such Commissioner or
Magistrate, to enter any ship or vessel in any Port or place within the
Territories in the possession and under the control of the East India Company,
in order to ascertain whether any Foreigner bound to report his arrival under
Section I of this Act, is on board of such ship or vessel; and it shall be
lawful for such Commissioner of Police, or other Officer as aforesaid, to adopt
such means as may be reasonably necessary for that purpose; and the Master or Commander
of such ship or vessel shall also, before any of the passengers are allowed to
disembark, if he shall be required so to do by such Commissioner of Police, or
other Officer as aforesaid, deliver to him a list, in writing, of the
passengers on board, specifying the Ports or places at which they embarked, and
the Ports or places of their disembarkation or intended disembarkation, and
answer, to the best of his knowledge, all such questions touching the
passengers on board the said ship or vessel, or touching those who may have
disembarked in any part of India, as shall be put to him by the Commissioner of
Police, or other Officer as aforesaid. Foreigner refusing to give account
of himself not to be allowed to disembark. If any Foreigner on board such ship
or vessel in any part of India shall refuse to give an account of his objects
of pursuit in India, or if his account thereof shall not be satisfactory, the
Officer may refuse to allow him to disembark, or he may be dealt with in the
same manner as a Foreigner travelling in India without a license. Whoever intentionally
obstructs any Officer in the exercise of any of the powers vested in him by
this Act, shall, upon conviction before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not
exceeding exceeding one thousand Rupees, or to imprisonment for any term not
exceeding six months, or to both. If the Master or Commander
of any ship or vessel shall wilfully neglect or refuse to comply with the
requisitions of this Act, he shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be
liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand Rupees. Whoever shall wilfully give
a false answer to any question which by this Act he is bound to answer, or
shall make any false report, shall, upon conviction before a Magistrate, be
liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, and shall be
liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand Rupees. The word ?Foreigner? in
this Act shall be deemed to mean a person not being either a natural-born
subject of Her Majesty within the meaning of Section LXXXI, 3 and 4 William IV,
c. 85, or a native of a place in the possession and under the Government of the
East India Company. ?Magistrate?. The word
?Magistrate? shall include every person exercising the full powers of a
Magistrate, and a Justice of the Peace. If a question shall arise
whether any person alleged to be a Foreigner and to be subject to the
provisions of this Act is a Foreigner or not, or is or is not subject to the
provisions of this Act, the onus of proving that such person is not a Foreigner
or is not subject to the provisions of this Act, shall lie upon such person. This Act shall continue in
force for two years; and it shall not extend to the Settlement of Prince of
Wales' Island, Singapore, and Malacca, or to the Territory of Aden, unless the
same shall be specially declared applicable to such Settlement or Territory by
the Governor General of India in Council. The foregoing provisions of
this Act shall not extend to any Foreign Minister duly accredited by his
Government, nor to any Consul or Vice-Consul, nor to any person under the age
of fourteen years, nor to any person in the service of the British Government.
The Governor General In Council, or (as regards their respective jurisdictions)
the Executive Government of any Presidency or place, or any of the Chief
Commissioners or Commissioners mentioned, in Section VI of this Act, may exempt
any person, or any class of persons, either wholly or partially, or temporarily
or otherwise, from all or any of the provisions of this Act; and may at any
time revoke any exemption. Any Officer of Government
or other person who, prior to the passing of this Act, may have done anything
which would have been justified by this Act if it had been in force at the
time, is hereby indemnified for so doing; and no action or other proceeding
shall be commenced or prosecuted in respect of anything so done.Foreigners
Act, 1857 [Repealed]
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