THE POLICE ACT, 1888

(3 of 1888)

 

[17th February 1888]

 

CONTENTS

 

1.         Title and extent.

 

2.         Constitution of police-forces for special purposes

 

3.         Employment of police-officers beyond the State to which they belong.

 

4.         Consent of State Government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction

 

THE POLICE ACT, 1888

 

An Act to amend the law relating to the Regulation of Police

 

WHEREAS it is expedient to relax those provisions of Acts for the regulation of police which restrict the employment of police-officers to be presidency, province or place of the police-establishment of which they are members; It is hereby enacted as follows: -

 

1.         Title and extent. -

 

(1)        This Act may be called the Police Act, 1888.

 

(2)        It extends to the whole of India.

 

2.         Constitution of police-forces for special purposes. -

 

(1)        Notwithstanding anything contained in the Madras District Police Act, 1859 (24 of 1859), the Indian Police Act, 1861 (5 of 1861), the Bombay District Police Act, 1890 (Bom.  Act 4 of 1890) or any Act relating to the Police in any presidency town, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, create a special police-district embracing parts of two or more States, and extend every pail of the said district the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police-force belonging to a State specified in the notification.

 

(2)        Subject to any orders, which the Central Government may make in this behalf, members of the said Police Force shall have, within every part of any State or which any part is included in the said district, the powers, duties, privileges and liabilities which, as police officers, they have in their own State.

 

(3)        Any member of the police-force whom the Central Government shall generally or specially empower to act under this sub-section may, subject to any orders which the Central Government may make in this behalf, exercise within any State any part of which is included in the said district any of the powers of the officer-in-charge of police station in that State, and when so exercising any such powers, shall, subject to any such order as aforesaid, be deemed to be an officer-in-charge of a police-station discharging the functions of such an officer within the limits of his station.

 

(4)        A part of a State included in the said district shall not by reason of that inclusion cease, for the purposes of any enactment relating to police, to be part of the State.

 

3.         Employment of police-officers beyond the State to which they belong. -Notwithstanding anything in any of the Acts mentioned or referred to in the last foregoing section, but subject to any orders which the Central Government may make in this behalf, a member of the police force of any State may discharge the functions of a police-officer in any part of any other State and shall, while so discharging such functions, be deemed to be a member of the police-force of that part and be vested with the powers, functions and privileges and be subject to the liabilities of a police-officer belonging to that police force.

 

4.         Consent of State Government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction. -Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to enable the police of one State to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area within another State, not being a railway area, without the consent of the Government of that other State.