RAILWAY PROPERTY (UNLAWFUL
POSSESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2012 [REPEALED] THE
RAILWAY PROPERTY (UNLAWFUL POSSESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2012 [Act
No. 25 of 2012] [2nd
June, 2012] An
Act to amend the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966. Be it enacted by Parliament in the
Sixty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:- (1)
This
Act may be called the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Amendment Act,
2012. (2)
It
shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. In the Railway Property (Unlawful
Possession) Act, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),
in section 3,-(29 of 1966.) (i) for the marginal
heading, the following marginal heading shall be substituted, namely:- "Penalty for theft, dishonest
misappropriation or unlawful possession of railway property."; (ii)
for
the words "Whoever is found, or is proved", the words "Whoever
commits theft, or dishonestly misappropriates or is found, or is proved"
shall be substituted; (iii)
after
clause (b), the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:- 'Explanation.-For the purposes of this
section, "theft" and "dishonest misappropriation" shall
have the same meanings as assigned to them respectively in section
378 and section 403 of the Indian Penal Code.'.(45 of 1860.) In section 4 of the principal
Act,- (i) for the marginal
heading, the following marginal heading shall be substituted, namely:- "Punishment for abetment,
conspiracy or connivance at offences."; (ii)
for
the words "Any owner", the words "Whoever abets or conspires in
the commission of an offence punishable under this Act, or any owner"
shall be substituted; (iii)
the
following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:- 'Explanation.-For the purposes of this
section, the words "abet" and "conspire" shall have the
same meanings as assigned to them respectively in sections
107 and 120A of the Indian Penal Code.'.(45 of 1860.) In section 8 of the principal
Act,- (i) for the marginal
heading, the following marginal heading shall be substituted, namely:- "Inquiry how to be made."; (ii) in sub-section (1),
for the words "When any person is arrested", the words "When an
officer of the Force receives information about the commission of an offence
punishable under this Act, or when any person is arrested" shall be
substituted. Statement of Objects
and Reasons - RAILWAY PROPERTY (UNLAWFUL POSSESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2012 STATEMENT
OF OBJECTS AND REASONS 1.
The
Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act was enacted in the year 1966 so as
to bring within its ambit the unlawful possession of goods entrusted to the
railways and to make the punishment for such offences more deterrent. It was
also intended to equip the Railway Protection Force with requisite powers of
investigation and prosecution for offences related to railway property. 2.
Since
the enactment of the Act, the Railway Protection Force has safeguarded the
railway property against unlawful possession, theft, etc. and has gained
adequate expertise in handling such matters. At present sections 3 and 4 of the
Act related to the offences of unlawful possession and theft of railway
property do not cover the offences due to abetment or conspiracy to an offence
of theft and misappropriation of railway property. It has been realised that
the ambit of sections 3 and 4 needs to be enlarged so as to cover all facets of
crime related to the theft of railway property to make the Act more effective
in curbing the offence of theft of railway property. It is also necessary to
amend section 8 of the Act so that an inquiry officer can proceed to inquire
into thefts of railway property on receipt of information about the commission
of an offence punishable under the Act. 3.
The
Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
Preamble
- THE RAILWAY PROPERTY (UNLAWFUL POSSESSION) AMENDMENT ACT, 2012PREAMBLE