POLICE REGULATIONS, BENGAL. PART 13

480. (a) A Court Sub-Inspector shall take and forward for search to the Finger Print Bureau, Calenta the finger prints of every unidentified person arrested as a suspect or under-trial on a criminal charge of an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a. tern of one year or more. For this purpose every person in custody, whose true name, parentage, residence and antecedents have not been satisfactorily established at the time of his first production in court, will be considered to be unidentified.

• The finger print slips of under-trial prisoners sent up by the Railway Police shah be prepared and submitted for search by the District Police Court officers attache4 to the courts to which persons are sent up except that the finger print slips of prisoners sent up by the Railway Police to the Sealdah Police Court and Howrah Court shall prepared and sent by the Railway Police Court officers posted to those courts.

NOTE.—(i) Police officers are autborised to take the finger prints of persons only under sections 4 and S of the identification of Prisoners’ Act, 1920 (XXXIII of 1920, of which the former provides for the taking of finger impressions of (1) after arrest and (2) when arrested for an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of one year and upwards, and the latter for the taking of finger impressions of persons with the orders of the Magistrate for The purpose of any investigation or proceeding under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

(ii) Duplicate finger print slip shall be taken and submitted to the Finger Print Bureau for search if it is found that for unavoidable reasons and after exercising all possible care the impressions of the subject remain blurred and indistinct.

481. (a’) The finger print slips of persons taken under regulation 493(a) shall also be sent direct for search (i) to the bureau of the province of which the persons are alleged, or are suspected to be residents and (ii) to the bureau or bureaux of the province provinces where their operations are believed to extend.

• in addition to the above, when an unidentified person is, or is reasonably suspected to be, a resident of another province, a copy of his finger print slip will also be sent direct to the Finger Print Bureau of that province for search.
• Finger print slips of persons believed to be Bhamptas shall be sent to the Bombay Bureau for search.
• Finger print slips~ of men arrested in districts on the borders of other provinces, whose identity is doubtful, shall be sent for search ‘to the ’Finger Print Bureau of the neighbounng province as well as to Calcutta.

482. (a) The finger print of an under-trial prisoner should be dispatched for search with a search slip (B. P. Form No. 53) attached. The portion of this form to be filled in by the Court officer is noted on the form. The certificate on the search slip as to the dispatch of a verification roll to the native district of the suspect or under-trial prisoner and the names of the bureaux, to which copies of the finger print slip have been sent for search, should be carefully

• When finger impressions of an under-trial prisoner are sent to a bureau for search, the trial shall not be delayed, but where necessary, an application shall be made before the sentence is passed on the accused for ‘the remand of the case, pending reply from the bureau of bureaux.
• Slips for despatch by post shall be folded along the red lines only.

483. Approvers so important cases after due compliance with the provisions of the Identification of Prisoners’ Act, 1920 (XXXIII of 1920) should have their photographs and finger prints (three sets) taken without delay. There have been cases of approvers absconding at important stages of an investigation or trial.
484. On receipt of information from jail that a non-P.R. convict is about to be sent to a lunatic asylum, his finger print slips shall be prepared, endorsed in red ink “non-P.R. prisoner sent to a lunatic asylum” and sent for record to—.

• the bureau of the province of conviction,
• the bureau of the province of which the lunatic is a native,

The names of such persons shall be entered in the court conviction register and the police-station concerned informed so that an entry may be made in the Village Crime Note-Book. If the lunatic is a convict or a resident of a different district, the finger print slips so prepared shall be sent to that district for action. The words “non P. R. prisoner admitted to a lunatic asylum” shall be noted in red ink at the top of these slips.

485. Finger print experts employed in districts shall not be deputed to give evidence in cases, civil or criminal, other than those in which the identity of under-trial prisoners, traced by the Finger Print Bureau, is to be proved by a comparison of their finger impressions with those on record m the bureau.
486. All convicts, whose finger prints are taken under regulation 492, are known as “P. R” (Police Registered), except boys sent to the Reformatory School, whose finger prints will be taken before they are sent there. As regards females, see regulation 501. No person will be liable to surveillance on his release merely by reason of being “P.R.”. By this system a classification made for police purposes is transcribed into the jail registers, thereby enabling the police to trace dangerous convicts throughout their jail career.

NOTE.—Reformatory school boys “include Borstal school boys”.

590. (a) P. R. prisoners shall be divided into three classes,

(1)     P.R.,

• R.T., and
• R.T., 565.

Class (1) indicates prisoners who are to be released from the jail where they are confined on the expiration of their sentence; class (2) indicates those who are to be transferred for release to the jails either of their native districts or of their district of domicile; except persons convicted under the Goondas Act, 1923 (Ben. Act I of 1923) or the Presidency Area (Emergency) Security Act, 1926 (Ben. Act HI of 1926), who shall not be released from any jail within the area from which they have been externed (see notes below) and class (3) are convicts against whom orders under section 565 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been passed.

Class (1) shall comprise persons about whose release it is desirable to give the police timely warning, but who are likely to avail themselves at once at the means furnished them by the Jail Department and return home, and who are not likely to revert to crime where they are unknown.

Class (2) shall comprise convicts of a dangerous type who are likely to revert to crime before returning borne if released at a distance from their homes. Amongst them may be included (i) members of known criminal tribes imprisoned for an offence of any kind, (ii) all members of notorious criminal communities bound down under section 109 or 110 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, (iii) members of wandering gangs, (iv) convicts who have no regular residence, (v) all convicts undergoing imprisonment for smuggling opium or cocaine, (vi) persons convicted under the Goondas Act, 1923 (Ben. Act I of 1923) or the Presidency Area (Emergency) Security

Act, 1926 (Ben. Act III of 1926), and (vii) habituals or persons who are considered likely to take steps to avoid police surveillance.

Class (3) shall comprise prisoners on whom orders under section 565 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been passed. They shall be made P.R.T.

NOTE.—In the case of persons convicted under the Goondas Act or the Security Act, the following procedure is prescribed:—

Persons externed from Bengal under section 6(1) of the Goondas Act or section 4(2) of the Security Act shall be made P.R.T. either to the jail of the district of their domicile or (if their domicile is in an Indian State) to the jail of the district in British India nearest to their domicile.

Persons externed from the Presidency, area under section 6(1)(b) of the Goondas Act, or section 4(1) of the Security Act shall be made P.R.T. to any jail in Bengal outside that area.

• (i) P. R. slips of P. R. T. prisoners shall show the jail from which they are to be released.
• Members of criminal tribes shall be transferred to their province of origin for release.
• Members of wandering gangs shall be released from the jails of the district in which they are sent up for trial. A convict who has no regular residence shall be released from the jail of the district in which he was last convicted.
• R.T./565 prisoners shall be released from the jail of their native district as laid down in rule 541 of the Bengal Jail Code.
• Persons originally residents of foreign districts or provinces, who, for any reason, have become permanently domiciled in any part of Bengal, shall be transferred for release to the jail of the district of domicile, and not to that of the district of original residence.

Nom.—Alipore/Howrah/Dum Dum shall be shown as the jail of release in the P.R. slips of prisoners to be released from the Howrah Jail.

501. (a) For every convict made P.R. the Court officer or other local proficient shall prepare the finger print slip and note the words “F. P. taken” on the P.R. slip (B. P. Form No. 95), in the jail admission register, the prisoner’s history ticket and the court conviction register. In the case of railway criminals, the words “railway criminals” shall be written in red ink at the top of the slip.

P.R. slips in duplicate shall be issued for persons convicted of offences under sections 395, 396, 397, 400, 401, 402 and 412 of the Indian Penal Code, and all non-Asiatic convicts, one being marked in red ink “for C.I.D.”.

(b) The P.R. slip shall be made over by the Court officer to the jailor and a receipt obtained.

• In the case of female persons made P.R., the finger print slips shall always be prepared in the presence of a matron (where such a matron exists), or of a female convict officer in charge. The police officer deputed to take finger impressions of female prisoners shall be accompanied by an assistant jailor or a head warder when going to the female ward.
• The words “unidentified” shall be written in red ink on the P.R. slips of all unidentified prisoners and “political” on those of all prisoners convicted of offences having a political complexion.

502. (a) Finger impressions of P.R. prisoners shall be taken before they are transferred from jail of the district of conviction, The P.R. slips of a prisoner whose finger prints have not been taken before his transfer shall be sent along with a dispatch cheque in B.P. Form No. 96 to the Court officer of the district to which he is transferred. The Court officer shall have the prisoner’s finger impression taken, and shall communicate the fact to tb~ Court officer from whom the P.R. slip has been received.

• The finger prints of boys going to the Reformatory School shall be taken before they are sent. NOTE -‘Reformatory school boys” include “Borstal school boys”.

503. (a) Finger print slips of P.R. prisoners in -Railway police cases, except those convicted in the Sealdah and Howrah courts, shall be prepared and submitted to the Finger Print Bureau by the Court officer of the District Police.

(b) Orders passed by the Superintendent of Railway Police shall be communicated to the Court officer concerned, who shall issue a P. R. slip and take the necessary action and shall inform the Superintendent of Railway Police that he has done so.

504. The officer takeing the prints is responsible not only for the impressions but also for correctness of the convictions and other details entered on the reverse of the slip; his signature to the slip will be held to show that he has verified the sentence and previous convictions from the judicial record and the personal details of the convict from the Court office and jail records.
505. (a) Every slip sent for record in the Finger Print Bureau after conviction shall be endorsed in red ink at the top on the reverse side “identified” or “unidentified” as the case may be (six regulation 490). In the case of reconvicted persons whose finger prints are known or believed ‘to be already on record, the slip will be endorsed in a similar manner with the word “reconvicted” in order that they may attract special notice in the Finger Print Bureau and thus provide against two slips of the same person being kept on record. The finger print slip of a seaman convicted of arms smuggling shall be marked with the words “seaman—arms smuggler” in red ink at the top.

(b) In order to minimise the work in the Finger Print Bureau the finger prints of reconvicted persons shall be taken on blue band slips (B. P. Form No. 94A) which 4iall be forwarded to the bureau with a separate despatch cheque (B. P. Form No. 96).

• A prisoner who has been traced by the bureau, but whose residence has not been ascertained, shall be shown in the finger print slip sent to the bureau for record as traced/unidentified (see regulation 490).
• To enable the Finger Print Bureau to send prompt intimation to the districts concerned when a member of a registered criminal tribe is arrested, all police officers shall invariably use the special red band form (B. P. Form No. 93) for recording the finger prints of persons registered under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924.

In order to assist the Criminal Intelligence Bureau to obtain satisfactory information regarding inter-provincial crime and a more exact knowledge of the field of activity of different criminal classes, officers furnising finger impression slips for record shall pay particular attention to the headings “caste” and “residence

An endeavour shall always be made to locate each criminal by verification of his residence or by giving an approximate idea of his habitat, noting the class to which he belongs and the language he

In the case of person classed as wanderers, an attempt should always be made to locate them to some extent by stating the area which ~they usually frequent.

506. The unniber .of finger print slips require4 for record is as follows :-

• of ordinary P.R. convicts convicted in their home province, one copy will be taken for record in the bureau of the province of conviction;
• of all other P. R. convicts copies will, be taken, viz., one for record in the bureau of the province of conviction, one. for the bureau of the province of which the person is, or is alleged to be, a resident and one or more copies for the bureau or bureaux where his operations are known or believed to extend, noting on each copy of the finger print slip- the names of the different bureaux where the slip is being sent for record.
• The linger, print slips of seamen convicted of arms smuggling shall also be sent for record to the Finger Print Bureau of Maritime C.I.D.’S, viz., Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Karachi and India (Rangoon).

NOTE.- Duplicate finger print slip shall be taken for record of all P.R. convicts if it is found that for unavoidable reasons ,and after exercising all possible care the impressions remain blurred or indistinct.

507. (a) All finger print slips of convicts shall be kept by the Court officer in open files and arranged according to the date of release until they can be tested by an expert (see regulation 654). The slips of prisoners who are transferred to other jails before their slips are tested shall be sift along with a despatch cheque in B. P. Form No. 96 to the Court officer of the district to which they are transferred, and shall be placed by him with his own slips awaiting test. Such slips shall, after test, be returned to the Court officer of the district of conviction for transmission to the Provincial Finger Print Bureau.

• Finger print slips of prisoners transferred to the Presidency Jail shall be sent neither to the Calcutta Police nor to the Court officer, All pore, but to the Finger Print Bureau.
• Court officers shall compare the convictions noted on finger print slips received from other districts for test with the prisoner’s warrant of commitment, High Court Form No. 38, and the jail admission register, and rectify at once any errors and omissions that may be found.

508. On the arrival of an expert the file of slips pending test will be made over to him, and he shall proceed to test them at the jail. In making the test the expert will satisfy himself that the prints have been properly taken and are those of the convict named on the slip, that all particulars recorded on the slip are correct and properly filled in, that all convictions have been correctly entered, and that the required number of copies have been taken. Any mistakes should be brought to the notice of the Superintendent for necessary action. Finger print slips on which the prints are blurred or indistinct should be rejected and replaced by fresh slips prepared by the expert personally. After having tested the slips, the expert will note the word “Tested’’ with his initials and the date, (I) against the prisoners names in the jail admission registers, (ii) on the back of the P R. slips, and (iii) on the history tickets. The expert will also sign each slip that he has tested, and his signature to the slip will be held to be a certificate that the test has been made in strict accordance with this regulation (see regulation 654).
509. When an expert cannot visit a district in time to test the finger prints of a prisoner before his release, the finger print slip of such prisoner should be tested by a proficient other than the one who prepared the slip. A proficient testing a slip under this regulation will he guided by the instructions laid down for testing by an expert in the previous regulation provided that if he considers the prints on the slip to be blurred or indistinct, he will prepare a duplicate slip and both slips will be sent to the bureau for decision, which should be placed on record. If more than one copy of the slip has been taken, he will take an equal number of duplicates.
510. In the case of persons convicted of the offences and in the circumstances mentioned in regulation 492, who are sentenced to fine, whipping, a short term of imprisonment or to find security, it is not possible to apply the above regulation owing to the rapidity with which such convicts pass out of custody. The finger prints of such shall be taken by the Court officers immediately after sentence is passed, and the slip submitted to the Superintendent for orders whether it is to be forwarded or not to the Finger Print Bureau for permanent record. It will not be possible to subject finger print slips prepared under the above circumstances to the usual test by an expert; and they should be sent without test except in the case of persons convicted under sections 109 and 110 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, who are sent to jail in default of furnishing security.
511. Finger print slips, after being tested, will be sent by the Court officer along with a despatch cheque in B. P. Form No. 96 direct to the Finger Print Bureau or Bureaux concerned for record, provided that the time of appeal is over, or the appeal, if any, has been decided.

NOTE.—In order to attract special notice in Finger Print Bureau and thus provide against unnecessary retention of finger print slips of unimportant criminals beyond prescribed periods, the words ‘identified” or ‘unidentified”, as the case may be, shall be written in red ink on the top of the reverse side of all slips sent to the bureau concerned for record.

512. When a person whose finger print slip is on record or an under-trial prisoner whose finger print slips has already been prepared for search is declared a proclaimed offender, or escapes from jail or lawful custody, or absconds after committing some offence intimation of the fact or the finger print slip of the under-trial prisoner already prepared shall immediately be sent by the Court officer to the local 1861.1 bureau as well as to the foreign bureaux direct informing each bureau of the names of the various bureaux to which such reports or finger print slips have been sent. If such a person evades surveillance or is lost sight of or if such an under-trial prisoner escapes or absconds before he has been sent to the court the officers in charge of the Police- stations concerned shall immediately inform the Court officer to enable him to send the required information. When communicating such information, the name, caste, parentage and residence of the individual, the number and the date of the first information report and the name of the police- station at which it is registered, shall be quoted. If the prisoner’s finger print slip has not been tested it shall be forwarded with the report.
513. On the admission of a P. R. prisoner by transfer the jail authorities shall note in the jail admission register the fact that he has been made P. R., and shall transcribe the entries “F. P. taken” and “Tested” from the P. R. slip.
514. If a P. R. prisoner dies in jail, the Superintendent of Police, if the deceased was convicted in his district, shall forward a death report in B. P. Form No. 84 to the Provincial Bureau. Should such prisoner die in jail after transfer, the Superintendent of Police of the district in which the jail is situated shall forward the death report to the Superintendent of Police of the district in which the deceased was convicted who shall forward the same to the Provincial Bureau.
515. (a) It is important that police officers of all ranks should be acquainted with the appearance of criminals not only of their own but of other jurisdictions and Superintendents of Police should, therefore, insist upon all officers, who may be present at headquarters, attending jail parades subject to the proviso that the number of police officers forming the parade party does not exceed 20. Constables also should be included in these parades. Under the rules in the Bengal Jail Court no member of the police jail party shall be permitted to hold any communication with a prisoner except such as is necessary for the purpose of identification. These parades, however, will afford police officers an opportunity of recognising old offenders and of acquainting themselves with the personal appearance of pnsoners, particularly unidentified prisoners and prisoners about to be released, and will further furnish indication to officers possessed of intelligence and the faculty of observation as to what prisoners are likely to give information, if interviewed.

(b) A parade shall he held every Sunday morning of all prisoners who have within the week been made P. R. and also all P. R. prisoners due for release within the ensuing week.

• The jail parade report shall be prepared on Saturday afternoon, by an Assistant Sub-Inspector or officer specially deputed for the purpose, in B. P. Form No. 97 in accordance with the instructions printed on it. He shall enter the names of all perons falling within regulation 492, who are to be made P. R. lie shall have access to the jail registers and records with Ste permission of the jail authorities, and shall collect together the warrants, High Court form, and P. R. slips of the prisoners whose names he enters in the report for the purpose of checking whether She P. R. orders have been correctly made and also for checking the entries in the jail admission register. lie shall also collect the names of Criminal Tribes Act members to be released during the next week and communicate the date of release of such members to the officer in charge of the nearest police-station.
• The officer detailed for the parade shall be present in uniform at the jail at 07-30 hours and the parade shall be held at 08-00 hours.
• Females will not be paraded, but will be entered in the report.
• The Court officer shall refer to the jail admission register, the release diary, the warrants, etc., and satisfy himself that the report drawn up on the previous day is correct and complete. He shall check the entries relating to the P. R. and finger print work in the jail admission register and history ticket with those on the back of the P. R. slip, and shall supply any omissions which he may discover in the admission register and the history ticket; but no alteration shall be made in the P. R. slip without enquiry. When the prisoners have assembled, he shall scrutinize the case of each individual and fill in column 6 of the jail parade report. In the case of prisoners admitted by transfer, he shall see if there has been any omission to make a prisoner P. R. or to fake or test his finger print. If no P. R slip has been received for a prisoner who ought to be made P. R; the matter shall be referred to the Superintendent of Police concerned for consideration, but no reference shall be made to the Calcutta Police regarding the omission to pass P. R. orders or to take the finger prints of persons convicted in Calcutta as the finger prints of every person convicted in Calcutta are taken by the Calcutta Police and sent to the Finger Print Bureau for record whether they are made P. R. or not.
• All prisoners who remain unidentified up to the time of their release from jail, shall be interviewed after their release with a view to ascertaining, if possible, where they came from and where they are going to. The officer holding the weekly jail parade shall differentiate such impending releases by noting in red ink the w6rd “Unidentified” in column 8, part IV, of the jail parade report,, against the name of each unidentified prisoner and in the case of railway criminals shall write the words “Railway Criminals” in red ink to enable the Superintendent of Police to arrange for the interview as the prisoners come out from jail. Such treasons shall, whenever possible, be shadowed or followed on their release, with a view to tracing their antecedents and ascertaining their old associates to whom they are likely to return and the result of all such action taken shall be noted in the remarks column of the register of unidentified persons (B. P. Form No. 98).
• The jail parade report shall be put up before the Superintendent of Police on, the following Monday for orders. As soon as action has been taken on orders passed by him, it shall be again put up before him, and he shall satisfy self that all orders passed by him have been obeyed.
• In the case of railway criminals an extract from part IV of the register shall be sent to the Superintendent of Railway Police concerned immediately after the preparation of the jail parade report. The extract shall also show the name of the police-station from which the convict was sent up on trial.
• A register shall be maintained in the Court office showing the names of the officers attending each parade which shall be inspected periodically by the Superintendent of Police and by the Deputy Inspector-General when required.

–           (k) Superintendents of Police shall endeavor to enlist the assistance of 6fli~ers attached to the jail staff in tracing the identity of unidentified prisoners, and they are authorised to pay a reward of Rs.5 to any jail official who shall be successful either in establishing the identity, of an unidentified convict or the previous conviction of a prisoner undergoing trial or imprisonment for an offence under Chapter XII or Chapter XVII of the Indian Penal Code.

516. (a) When the trial of a person whose finger print slip has been traced by the Finger Print Bureau has terminated, the result shall be communicated to the bureau in B. P. Form No. 99 accompanied by a fresh finger print slip. If the case ends in discharge or acquittal, the result shall be sent at once, but if it ends in conviction, the communication should be sent after the result of the appeal, if preferred, is known.

• The result of trial of persons traced by the bureau of other provinces shall be similarly communicated to those bureaux and in the same form.
• When a person traced by the bureau is not sent up for trial the investigating cheer shall communicate the fact direct to the bureau concerned.
• Finger prii4 slips of persons traced by the bureau should invariably be forwarded with separate despatch cheques and not with those of ordinary record slips.

517. (a) On the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month the P. R. slips of P. R. prisoners who are to be released during the following half month and also who had died during the preceding half month, irrespective of the place of conviction or residence, shall be obtained from the jail by the police officer deputed to prepare the jail parade report. The P. R. slips of P. R. convicts shall be treated as release notices.

• If P.R. slips are not received in time, the fact shall be reported by the Superintendent of Police to the Superintendent of the Jail.
• The P.R. slips of P.R. prisoners, whose P.R. slips have for any reason not been included in the fortnightly batch and whose release falls due before the despatch of another batch, shall be sent without delay by the jail authorities to the Superintendent of Police direct. In cases of non­observance of this regulation, the Superintendent of Police shall report the matter without delay to the Superintendent of Jail concerned, and send a copy of the report to the Deputy Inspector- General, Criminal Investigation Department.
• R., slip referring to other districts shall be forwarded to the district concerned for information. The number and date of despatch of a P.R. slip shall be quoted in column 8 of B.P. Form No. 84.The station officer shall report to the Superintendent a week after the release whether the released convict has returned home.
• R. slips of all P.R. prisoners released on bail shall be sent by the Superintendent of Jail to the Superintendent of Police, Who shall return them to the jail if the prisoner is again incarcerated.
• R. slips shall be ultimately pasted with their corresponding foils in the P.R. slip book. The name of the identifying warder noted on the P.R. slip shall be transcribed into the court conviction register by the Court officer.

518. Whenever non-Asiatic convicts are made P. R. under regulation 492, the Superintendent shall send their finger prints and photographs to the Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department, for transmission to the Director, Intelligence Bureau, Government of India.
519. The finger prints of a European ex-military prisoner, enlisted outside India, shall invariably ye taken on receipt of a requisition from the jail and furnished to the Superintendent of the Jail for transmission along with the application for transfer of the prisoner.
520. On receipt of a P. R. slip by the Court officer of a resident of his district convicted elsewhere, the Court officer shall at once ascertain from the police-station in which the convict’s home is situated whether information of his conviction was supplied by the police of the district in which he was convicted. If it is learnt that this information was not supplied the Court officer shall at once communicate with the Court officer of the district of conviction informing him of the omission and calling for a copy of the entry in the conviction register.
521. All juvenile convicts shall, on release, be taken to their homes by the police and handed over to their relations in the presence of two respectable residents of the neighborhood.

Superintendents of Jails shall send notice of the approaching release of such convicts the Superintendent of Police one day previously.

1. — Chemical examination of exhibits.
2. (a) Court officers shall receive from officers in charge of police-stations or investigating officers articles intended for chemical analysis, both in railway and district cases and, after obtaining the orders of the Magistrate shall send them to the Chemical Examiner for examination with a letter describing them (see Appendix XVIII).

• In cases where the cause of death as found by the court is not in accordance with the Chemical Examiner’s report, or where that ‘report is contested, a copy of the judgment and of the evidence regarding symptoms and post-mortem appearance shall be supplied to the Chemical Examiner, such copies being made in the office of the Superintendent.

523. In cases in which viscera have been preserved with a view to the possible necessity of sending them to the Chemical Examiner for examination, the Court officer shall obtain the order of the Magi sate who deals with the case whether the viscera should be destroyed, or if not, for how long they should be preserved.
524. Stock and materials requited for the preservations bf viscera, etc;, for chemical analysis in connection with criminal cases are parts of the -medical stores which are ‘kept at every district and subdivision. The charge for upkeep is debatable to the Medical Department, but the cost of packing and despatch of viscera shall be borne by the Law and Justice Budget.

• —Court malkhana and custody of property.

525. (a) The Magistrate shall provide a secure room in -every Court to serve as a malkhana in which all property sent to court and taken charge of by the Court officer shall be kept.

( b) The keys of this -room -shill be kept by the Court officer, who is answerable that no one makes’ away with the property or tampers with exhibits in cases. In the room shall be a strong box with a good lock for ornaments, money or documents. Every article shall ‘be neatly lebelled to tally with the number in the register. No private property of the officers may be kept in the malkhana.

• Before going out on tour the Court officer shall make over to the next senior officer not below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector—
• the key of the inalkahana, and
• all exhibits kept in the strong box that might possibly be required during his absence. He should obtain a detailed receipt for these and note the fact in the daily under-trial case -report. The key of the strong box shall be made over in -a sealed -cover to the Second Magistrate.

The exhibits which are handed over by the Court officer, together with valuables or documents that may be received in the court during his absence, shall be kept in a second strong box in the , malkhana. The Court officer shall, on return from tour, examine the contents of the se~6iid strong box and give a receipt in exchange, noting -the fact in his daily report.

526. (a) The Sub-Inspector in charge of the ‘court malkhana shall keep a register in B. P. Form No. 100 of all property that he is bound by any law or regulation to take into his possession.

• When any property is to be given back to the owners the order for return shall be written in column 10 and the authority sanctioning it shall initial his order,. the receipt of the person receiving the property shall be taken in the register in column 14.
• To ayoid harassment, small articles shall be returned to owners through officers in charge of police-stations whenever owners express a wish that this point whoen they come to give evidence. The articles will be sent to police-stations through the monthly pay escorts. The officer

in charge of the police-station concerned shall obtain the owners’ receipt in duplicate, one copy being sent to the Court officer to be ‘sled in the court malkhana register and the other copy being kept cm record at the said police-station. In the case of heavy articles, the’ District Magistrate shall determine whether the property should -be returned to the owners at the expense of- the Provincial Government, the cost being met from the Magistrate’s contingent grant, or whether the owners should take back their property from the court. In Sessions cases, where the order of the Sessions Judge is required, the Public Prosecutor shall move the Sessions Judge under section 517 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to pass orders of disposal.

• When property is no longer required by the courts, such portion of it as consists of cash, bullion, gold and silver ornaments, or other valuable artides of small compass, shall be deposited in the treasury, articles other than cash being kept in a separate small box in charge of the treasurer.
• Orders shall be taken to convert perishable unclaimed property cash at the earliest (late the law allows.
• A list of articles found on the person of an accused by the police shall be forwarded with the case diary or final report of the case in accordance with regulation 322. The articles shall be sent with the prisoner in charge of his escort. Court officers shall report to the Superintendent any breach of this rcgulation.
• Court officers shall also see that prisoners hold receipts granted by station officers for such articles.
• On 1st January each year all outstanding items in the malkhana register shall be brought forward in red ink. The Court Inspector at sadar and the Circle Inspector at the subdivision shall certify that all outstanding entries have been correctly brought forward.

For arms, ammunition. etc., see Appendix XIV.

• In the case of property which has been proclaimed under section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the date of expiry of the period of proclamation shall be entered in the remarks column of the register, so as to enable the Court officer to obtain orders regarding the disposal of the property.
• The Court officer shall put up his malkhana register for a thorough inspection once a month by an officer of a rank not lower than that of Deputy Superintendent, at headquarters, and by the Subdivisional Police Officer or Circle Inspector, as the case may be, at each subdivisional headquarters.

NOTE.—(i) All Court officers shall be asked to move Magistrates and Sessions Judges when ordering property to be confiscated, etc., to direct that interesting exhibits, such as articles which indicate new methods of committing crime, shall be sent to the Deputy Tnspector-General, Criminal investigation Department, for disposal.

(ii) Court officers shall obtain from the trying Magistrates or Sessions Judges orders for preservation by the Criminal Investigation Department, East Pakistan, of fired cartridge cases and bullets found at the scene of dacoity or other crimes of violence. These cases and bullets shall be preserved by the Criminal Investigation Department for seven years for the purpose of necessary classification and indexing and for examination by Expert with such cartridge-cases and bullets as may be subsequently received.

In similar cases ending in Final Report the Court officers shall obtain similar orders from a competent Magistrate and forthwith communicate the orders to the Officer-in-Charge of the Thana concerned to send the fired-cartridge-cases and bullets to the C.LD. for preservation.

527. When a case, in which any person is concerned, is disposed of, the Magistrate’s orders as to the disposal of property found on him shall be obtained. In case of imprisonment, the property shall be sent to the jailor. If on conviction a fine is imposed and not paid, a distress warrant shall immediately be obtained, and the property found in possession of the party shall be attached and sold in payment of the fine.
528. (a) Court officers should submit applications to Judicial officers when passing orders under sections 517, 523 or 524 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for the disposal of counterfeit coins or any implements, such as punches for repairing dies, dies for striking coins, and moulds for casting coins, to consider whether the coins or implement should not be forwarded to the nearest treasury or sub-treasury officer for transmission to the Master of the Mint. The remittance to the Mint should be made through the Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department and should be accompanied by a statement showing the number and date of the case to which the coins or implements relate.

(b) The Central Government have ruled that the disposal of exhibits in a note forgery case is a matter for the decision of the court which tries the case. Where the exhibits are ordered to be delivered to the police for destruction, if any particular exhibits are of special interest and should be preserved the Court officer should obtain the court’s order to send them to the Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department, for this puipose.

529. Rules for the depositing and disposal of weapons in the malkhanas are detailed in Appendix XIV.

• —Registers and Records—Reports and Returns.

530. A list of periodical reports and returns due to and from the Court office is given in Appendix XII.
531. (a) A list of registers and files to be maintained in the Court office is given in Appendix XIII.

(b) In the following regulations are given instructions regarding certain of the registers and returns not dealt with elsewhere.

532. In every Court office a register of papers received and dispatched shall be maintained in Bengal Forms Nos. 16 and 19 in which only papers not entered in any other register, such as verification rolls, monthly copies of station cash accounts, etc., will be recorded.
533. (a) A register in B. P. Form No. 101 shall be kept in each Court office. Reports should be prepared daily in duplicate by the Court officer, one copy being sent to the Superintendent and the other remaining in the Court office. This report will include sessions and bad-livelihood eases. The fact that diet and traveling expenses of prosecution witnesses have or have not been paid, or any delay in the payment thereof, shall be entered in column 11, with reasons in case of non-payment or delay. The Superintendent shall submit it to the District Magistrate drawing his attention where necessary to any points requiring his notice; specially any undue delay in disposal of cases non-payment of diet and travelling expenses to prosecution witnesses, or delay in the payment thereof, by underlining or encircling in red ink the entries relating thereto. If in spite of repeated entries no improvement is noticed the Superintendent should take the matter up personally with the District. Magistrate. On return from the Magistrate, the reports shall be filed in the office of the Superintendent. Whenever a ease is adjourned owing to non-appearance of a police officer as witness, the fact and the reason for his lion-appearance shall be noted in column

• of the form. If no reason is given, the Superintendent shall call for one which will, be shown to the District Magistrate, if required.
• Extracts relating to railway police cases shall be forthwith submitted direct to the Superintendent of the Railway Police concerned who will file them in his office after necessary action.

534. (a) A register in B. P. Form No. 98 of unidentified persons sent up by the police shall be maintained in all Court offices. (For definition of “unidentified”, see regulation 493.)

• When such an unidentified person is in custody of the police, detail concerning him shall be entered in the register by the Court officer.
• The names of unidentified persons sent up by the Railway Police shall be entered in the register of unidentified persons by th~ police officers attached to the courts in which such persons are tried, and the words “Railway Police” noted in the remarks column of the register..
• Subdivisional Court officers shall at once despatch a copy of every entry made in their subdivisional registers to the sadar Court officer, who shall enter it in the sadar court register a separate part being kept for each subdivision. After the disposal of the case, the Subdivisional Court Officer shall send copies of the entries in the remaining columns of the form which could not be previously filled up, for, entry in the sadar court register.
• When a person is identified as a registered member of a criminal tribe or a member of a criminal tribe who has escaped registration, the fact should be noted in column 9, and in column
• should be noted the action taken against him under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924. When a person concerned in a case of arms smuggling is ascertained to be a seaman, the words “Seaman—arms smuggler” should be noted in red ink in column 12.
• The name of the district from which the name, residence and other particulars of an unidentified person are ascertained shall invariably be noted in column 11, the entry being worded thus—

“Verified as a resident of such and such a district.”

535. (a) A register in 13. P. Form No. 102 shall be maintained in the Court office, in which all appeals in police cases shall be entered.

• The register shall he put up once a week at headquarters before the Superintendent and at subdivisions before the Subdivisional Police Officer or Circle Inspector, and they shall satisfy themselves that proper provision for conducting such cases has been made, and that no failure of justice has occurred owing to the Crown not being represented. Copies of any entries referring to appeals in cases sent up by the Railway Police shall be sent to the Superintendent of the Railway Police concerned.
• In cases of delay in receipt of the notice of appeal, the matter shall be brought to the notice of the District Magistrate.
• Results of appeal shall be communicated in B. P. Form No. 103 to the officers concerned. Care must be taken by Court officers to see that their connected registers are corrected in accordance with these results.

536. (a) A register in Bengal Form No. 3817 shall be kept in order that the Magistrate having jurisdiction shall see in a convenient form all cognizable cases reported to the police and the Magistrate who tries a case shall enter his order in the column allotted for this purpose.

• Cognizable cases in which the Magistrate issues process on complaint made to him or of his own motion, but in which no first information has been laid to the police or enquiry conducted by them, shall not be entered in the register.
• The senior Court officer is responsible that the register is properly written up, but in order to leave him free to prosecute cases the actual writing of the register and its submission to the Magistrate may be entrusted to the next senior officer below him.
• On receipt of the first information report of a case the Court officer shall fill in columns 1 to S of the register, and, after recording on the to p of the first information report its number in the general register, shall submit it and the register to the Magistrate, who will initial column 9. First information reports of heirous or important cases shall, however, be submitted to the Magistrate immediately after receipt.
• Every case which is reported at a police-station during a year, no matter when the crime was committed, shall be entered in the register and shall receive a consecutive number for that year, even though the first information may not have been received until after the end of the year. The monthly consecutive number shall also be given below the yearly number, thus 19 (yearly number)

3 (monthly number)

• Cognizable cases instituted by complaint or petition to a Magistrate, and referred to the police for investigation shall also be entered in the register, and shown in red ink in the crime compilation sheet.
• As soon as the final papers of a case are received by the Court officer, whether a charge- sheet or a final report from, he shall fill in columns 10 to 14 of the register and again submit it with the final report or charge-sheet to the Magistrate. The Magistrate, if a charge-sheet has been submitted, shall either take the case on to his own file or shall pass orders, to be entered in column 15 as to what Magistrate is to try the case. If a charge-sheet has not been submitted, but a final report, the Magistrate shall pass such preliminary order as he may consider necessary, e.g., for further enquiry or for the complainant to produce his witnesses, and such order shall be entered in column 15, or if no preliminary order is required he shall pass final orders and enter them in column 16. The entry in column 16 shall indicate clearly how the case is to be shown in the returns, what amount of property is to be entered as stolen and recovered in the khatian register, and how any property of which possession has been taken by the police is to be disposed of.
• When the case has been tried and disposed of, the Court officer shall enter in column 16 the order of the Magistrate as to the commitment, conviction, acquittal, or discharge of the accused, and obtain the Magistrate’s initial to the entry, which should indicate clearly how the case is to be shown and, where appropriate, the other details mentioned in clause (g) above.
• In cases of alleged theft of property in which investigation has been refused by the police on the ground that the matter in dispute should be decided by a civil court, property should not be shown by the Magistrate as stolen or recovered in the general register. Court officers should draw the attention of Magistrates to the above and make entries in the compilation sheet accordingly.
• The order in column 16 for entry of the cases in the returns shall take one of the following forms:—

Not investigated. Enter section                      ..

True. Enter section                                         ..

Intentionally false. Enter section                    ..

Mistake of law. Enter section                         ..

Mistake of fact. Enter section                         ..

Non-cognizable. Enter section                       ..

These represents the classification recognised for statistical purposes in Crime Statement A-I prescribed by the Cent ml Government, and all cases shall be brought under one or other of the above classes. Orders such as “dismissed”, “struck off as false”, “doubtful”, are not explicit and do not indicate how the case is to be entered. If a Magistrate, notwithstanding, treats a case as doubtful, it must be entered in the returns as true.

• The names of all accused persons charged with offences under Chapters XII and XVII of the Indian Penal Code, whose real names and residences are not known, shall be underlined in red ink the names of persons residing outside the district shall be doubly underlined.
• Persons who have been arrested and subsequently released by the police on bail and have not been required to appear before a

Magistrate shall not be shown as acquitted.

• The entries in columns 10 to 14 relating to a case in which the final report has not been submitted within 14 days from the date of drawing up the first information report shall be made in red ink. Similarly, entries in columns 15 and 16, subsequent to a case having been remanded four times, will be made in red ink.
• In case in which the accused are absconding and should be arrested, a conspicuous red cross shall be made in the column of remarks, so that it may be easily seen what cases are pending on this account. The various steps taken from time to time to cause the appearance of abseonders shall be briefly noted.
• To ensure absconders not being overlooked, the number of persons charged shall always be shown in column 8, and all these persons should be accounted for in column 12, thus:—

Sent up—Madar Baksh..

Not proved against—Shaikh Salirn.

Absconded—Muhammad Ali.

• When an offender who has been previously convicted is sent up for trial the letters “P. C” shall be written in red ink in column 12 against his name. If a case ends in conviction, the orders shall be entered on conviction and not on expiry of the period allowed for appeal. If a sentence be quashed or modified on appeal, a note of the order shall be made in red ink in the general register to ensure entry of the amended order in the compilation sheets, and information shall be sent to the police-station as required by regulation 535(d).
• Against the name of any convict regarding whom orders under section 565 of the Code of

Criminal Procedure, have been passed,  shall be noted in the general register in the column of remarks.

• In column 17 the Court officer shall enter a reference to the corresponding entry in the compilation sheets and note the date of the despatch of the final memorandum. Remands shall he noted in column 15.
• All railway cases shall be distinguished by a conspicuous red ink “R”.
• At the end of the year charge-sheet cases in which there are absconders shall be shown as pending.

537. A register in Bengal Form No. 5449F(B.P. Form No. 104) shall be maintained in all Court offices wherein all cases in which prosecutions have been instituted by the police but no first information reports were drawn up should be entered.