[Act 31 of 1871] [30th October, 1871] Repealed by A.O. 1950 PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. (Received the assent of the Governor General on the 30th October
1871.) An Act to regulate the Weights and Measures of Capacity of British
India. Whereas it is expedient to provide for the ultimate adoption of an
uniform system of Weights and Measures of Capacity throughout British India; It
is hereby enacted as follows I. Preliminary. This Act may be called ?The Indian Weights and Measures of Capacity Act,
1871,? and extends to the whole of British India. II. Standards. The primary Standard of Weight shall be called a Ser, and shall be a
Weight of metal in the possession of the Government, of India, equal, when
weighed in a vacuum, to the weight known in France as the Kilogramme des
Archives. The Units of Weight and of Measures of Capacity shall be. for Weights, the said Ser; for Measures of Capacity, a measure containing one such per of water at
its maximum density, weighed in a vacuum. The Governor General in Council may, from time to time, by notification
in the Gazette of India, declare the magnitude and denominations of the
Weights and Measures of Capacity, other than the said units, to be authorized
under this Act: Provided, that every such Weight or Measure of Capacity shall be an
integral multiple or integral sub-multiple of one of the units aforesaid. The Governor General in Council may, in like manner, revoke such
notification. Unless it be otherwise ordered in any such notification, the
sub-divisions of all such Weights and Measures of Capacity shall be expressed,
in decimal parts. The Governor General in Council may, from time to time, by notification
in the Gazelle of India, define the limits of districts for the purposes
of this Act. Sub-districts how defined. The Local Government may, from time to time,
by notification in the official Gazette, define the limits of sub-districts for
the purposes of this Act. The Governor General in Council may provide, for such districts as he
thinks fit, proper primary standards and sets of the said authorized Weights
and Measures of Capacity. Such standards shall, for the purposes of this Act, he deemed the
standards for such districts. The Local Government may provide, for such sub-districts as it thinks
fit, copies of such of the said authorized Weights and Measures of Capacity as
shall be necessary to serve as local standards in such sub-districts. Such local standards shall be deemed correct, until they are proved to
be otherwise. III. Use of new Weights and Measures of
Capacity. Whenever the Governor General in Council considers that proper standard
Weights and Measures of Capacity have been made available for the verification
of the Weights and Measures of Capacity to be used by any Government Office or
Municipal Body or Railway Company, the Governor General in Council may, by
notification in the Gazette of India, direct that, after a date to be
fixed therein, all or any of the Weights and Measures of Capacity authorized as
aforesaid shall be used in dealings and contracts by such Office, Body or
Company; and may, in like manner, from time to time, alter or revoke such
direction. After the date fixed in any notification under section eight, all
dealings and contracts had and made by the Officers, Bodies or Companies,
mentioned in such notification, for any work to be done or goods to be sold or
delivered by Weight or Measure of Capacity shall, in the absence of a special
agreement to the contrary, be deemed to be had and made according to the
Weights or Measures of Capacity directed in such notification to be used by
such Officers, Bodies or Companies. IV. Wardens. The Governor General in Council and the Local Government, respectively,
shall appoint Wardens for the custody of the primary and local standards and
sets of authorized Weights and Measures of Capacity hereinbefore mentioned. The Governor General in Council, or the Local Government, respectively,
may, at any time, suspend or remove any such Warden and appoint another. The Governor General in Council may, from time to time, make rules
consistent with this Act for regulating the following matters. (a)
The
appointment of Wardens; (b)
The guidance
of Wardens in all matters connected with the performance of their duties; (c)
The
provision, replacement, custody and use of the standards; (d)
The
method of verifying local standards and Weights, Weighing Machines and Measures
of Capacity authorized under this Act, and Balances, and of certifying such
verification; provided that such verification shall not be required to be made
oftener than once in two years; (e)
The
errors which may be tolerated in Weights, Weighing Machines and Measures of
Capacity authorized under this Act, and in Balances; (f)
The
shapes, proportions and dimensions to be given, to Weights, Weighing Machines
and Measures of Capacity authorized under this Act, and to Balances, and the
materials of which they may be made; (g)
Marking
Weights and Measures of Capacity authorized under this Act with their several
denominations; (h)
The
conditions under which Government Offices, Municipal Bodies and Railway
Companies, shall be subject to inspection and verification of the Weights,
Weighing Machines and Measures of Capacity authorized under this Act, and of
the Balances used by them; (i)
The
fees to be paid for verifying, correcting and certifying the verification of
Weights, Weighing Machines and Measures of Capacity authorized under this Act,
and of Balances. Such rules shall be published in the Gazette of India. Rules, when specially applied, to have force of law. And the Governor
General in Council may, by notification in the Gazette of India, declare
that, from and after a day to be named therein, all or any of the said rules
shall come into force in respect of any Government Office, Municipal Body or
Railway Company, and thereupon, to the extent specified in such notification,
such rules or rule shall have the force of law. All officers of Government, municipal officers, and officers and
servants of Railway Companies, shall comply with such rules so far as they
concern them, and pay such fees as the said rules shall prescribe. The Warden may deface, or render incapable of use, or refuse to verify,
correct, or mark, anything brought to him for verification or correction, which
appears to him unfit for verification or correction. Any of the powers and duties conferred and imposed by this Act on a
Warden may he exercised and performed by any other officer whom the Local
Government may, from time to time, appoint. Whoever knowingly counter bits any mark used by a Warden under section
eleven, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
three years, and shall also he liable to fine. The Local Government may from time to time, prepare tables of the
equivalents of Weights and Measures of Capacity, other than hose authorized
under this Act, in terms of the Weights and Measures of Capacity so authorized,
and the equivalents so stated, after notification in the local Official
Gazette, shall be deemed the true equivalents.Indian
Weights and Measures of Capacity Act, 1871 [Repealed]
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