(Received the assent of the Governor General on the 14th November, 1879).
An Act to provide for the trial of offences committed in places beyond British India and for the Extradition of Criminals.
PREAMBLE
Whereas by treaty, capitulation, agreement, grant, usage, sufferance and other lawful means the Governor General of India in Council has power and jurisdiction within divers places beyond the limits of British India; and whereas such power and jurisdiction have, from time to time, been delegated to Political Agents and others acting under the authority of the Governor General in Council; and whereas doubts having arisen how far the exercise of such power and jurisdiction, and the delegation thereof, were controlled by and dependent on the laws of British India, the Foreign Jurisdiction and Extradition Act, 1872, was passed to remove such doubts, and also to consolidate and amend the law relating to the exercise and delegation of such power and jurisdiction, and to offences committed by British subjects beyond the limits of British India, and to the extradition of criminals; and whereas it is expedient to repeal that Act and re-enact it with the amendments hereinafter appearing; It is hereby enacted as follows:
PRELIMINARY
This Act may be called The Foreign Jurisdiction and Extradition Act, 1879 :
Extent. It extends to the whole of British India; to all Native Indian subjects of Her Majesty beyond the limits of British India; and
to all European British subjects within the dominions of Princes and States in India in alliance with Her Majesty;
Commencement. and it shall come into force on the passing thereof.
Saving of other laws and of treaties. But nothing contained in this Act shall affect the provisions of any law or treaty for the time being in force as to the extradition of offenders; and the procedure provided by any such law or treaty shall he followed in every case to which it applies.
The Foreign Jurisdiction and Extradition Act, 1872, is repealed but all existing appointments, delegations, certificates, requisitions and rules made, and all existing notifications, summonses, warrants, orders and directions issued, under that Act shall, in so far as they are consistent herewith, be deemed to have been respectively made and issued hereunder.
In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context,
Political Agent. Political Agent means and includes
(1) the principal officer representing the British Indian Government in any territory or place beyond the limits of British India:
(2) any officer in British India appointed by the Governor General in Council, or the Governor in Council of the Presidency of Port St. George or Bombay, to exercise all or any of the powers of a Political Agent under this Act for any place not forming part of British India; and
European British subject. European British subject means a European British subject as defined in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
POWERS OF BRITISH OFFICERS IN PLACES BEYOND BRITISH INDIA
The Governor General in Council may exercise any power or jurisdiction which he for the time being has within any country or place beyond the limits of British India, and may delegate the same to any servant of the British Indian Government, in such manner and to such extent as the Governor General in Council from time to time thinks fit.
A notification in the Gazette of India of the exercise by the Governor General in Council of any such power or jurisdiction, and of the delegation thereof by him to any person or class of persons, and of the rules of procedure or other conditions to which such persons are to conform, and of the local area within which their powers are to be exercised, shall be conclusive proof of the truth of the matters stated in the notification.
The Governor General in Council may appoint any European British subject, either by name or by virtue of his office, in any such country or place to be a Justice of the Peace; and every such Justice of the Peace shall have in proceedings against European British subjects, or persons accused of having committed offences conjointly with such subjects, all the powers conferred by the Code of Criminal Procedure on Magistrates of the first class who are Justices of the Peace and European British subjects.
The Governor General in Council may direct to what Court having jurisdiction over European British subjects any such Justice of the Peace is to commit for trial.
All Political Agents and all Justices of the Peace appointed before the twenty-fifth day of April, 1872, by the Governor General in Council or the Governor in Council of the Presidency of Fort St. George or Bombay, in or for any such country or place as aforesaid, shall be deemed to be and to have been appointed, and to have and to have had jurisdiction, under the provisions of this Act.
The law relating to offences and to criminal procedure for the time being in force in British India shall, subject as to procedure to such modifications as the Governor General in Council from time to time direct, extend
(a) to all European British subjects in the dominions of Princes and States in India in alliance with Her Majesty; and
(b) to all Native Indian subjects of Her Majesty in any place beyond the limits of British India.
INQUIRIES IN BRITISH INDIA INTO CRIMES COMMITTED BY BRITISH SUBJECTS IN PLACES BEYOND BRITISH INDIA
When a European British subject commits an offence in the dominions of a Prince or State in India in alliance with Her Majesty, or
when a Native Indian subject of Her Majesty commits an offence at any place beyond the limits of British India,
he may be dealt with in respect of such offence as if it had been committed at any place within British India at which he may be found:
Political Agent to certify fitness of inquiry into charge. Provided that no charge as to any such offence shall be inquired into in British India unless the Political Agent, if there be such, for the territory in which the offence is alleged to have been committed, certifies that, in his opinion, the charge is one which ought to be inquired into in British India:
Provided also that any proceedings taken against any person under this section which would be a bar to subsequent proceedings against such person for the same offence if such offence had been committed in British India shall be a bar against further proceedings against him under this Act in respect of the same offence at any place beyond the limits of British India.
Whenever any such offence as is referred to in section nine is being inquired into or tried, the Local Government may, if it thinks fit, direct that copies of depositions made or exhibits produced before the Political Agent or a judicial officer in or for the place in which such offence is alleged to have been committed shall be received as evidence by the Court holding such inquiry or trial in any case in which such Court might issue a commission for taking evidence as to the matters to which such depositions or exhibits relate.
EXTRADITION
When an offence has been committed or is supposed to have been committed in any State against the law of such State by a person not being a European British subject, and such person escapes into or is in British India, the Political Agent for such State may issue a warrant for bis arrest and delivery at a place and to a person to be named in the warrant
if such Political Agent thinks that the offence is one which ought to be inquired into in such State;
and if the act said to have been done would, if done in British India, have constituted an offence against any of the sections of the Indian Penal Code mentioned in the schedule hereto annexed, or under any other section of the said Code, or any other law, which may, from time to time, be specified by the Governor General in Council by a notification in the Gazette of India.
Such warrant may be directed to the Magistrate of any district in which the accused person is believed to be, and shall be executed in the manner provided by the law for the time being in force with reference to the execution of warrants; and the accused person, when arrested, shall be forwarded to the place and delivered to the officer named in the warrant.
Such Political Agent may either dispose of the case himself, or, if he is generally or specially directed to do so by the Governor General in Council, or by the Governor of the Presidency of Fort St. George in Council or by the Governor of the Presidency of Bombay in Council, may give over the person so forwarded, whether he be a Native Indian subject of Her Majesty or not, to be tried by the ordinary Courts of the State in which the offence was committed.
Whenever a requisition is made to the Governor General in Council or any Local Government by or by the authority of the persons for the time being administering the executive government of any part of the dominions of Her Majesty, or the territory of any Foreign Prince or State, that any person accused of having committed an offence in such dominions or territory should be given up, the Governor General in Council or such Local Government, as the case may be, may issue an order to any Magistrate who would have had jurisdiction to inquire into the offence if it had been committed within the local limits of his jurisdiction, directing him to inquire into the truth of such accusation.
The Magistrate so directed shall issue a summons or warrant for the arrest of such person, according as the offence named appears to be one for which a summons or warrant would ordinarily issue; and shall inquire into the truth of such accusation, and shall report thereon to the Government by which he was directed to hold the said inquiry. If, upon receipt of such report, such Government is of opinion that the accused person ought to be given up to the persons making such requisition, it may issue a warrant for the custody and removal of such accused person and for his delivery at a place and to a person to be named in the warrant.
The provisions of section ten shall apply to inquiries held under this section.
Whenever any person accused or suspected of having committed an offence out of British India is within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a Magistrate in British India, and it appears to such Magistrate that the Political Agent for any State could, under the provisions of section eleven, issue a warrant for the arrest of such person, or that the persons for the time being administering the executive government of any part of the dominions of Her Majesty or the territory of any Foreign Prince or State could demand his surrender, such Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, issue a warrant for the arrest of such person, on such information or complaint and such evidence as would, in his opinion, justify the issue of such a warrant if the offence had been committed within the local limits of his jurisdiction.
Magistrate to inform Political Agent or Local Government. Any Magistrate issuing a warrant under this section shall, when the offence appears or is alleged to have been committed in a State for which there is a Political Agent, send immediate information of his proceedings to such Agent, and in other cases shall at once report his proceedings to the Local Government.
No person arrested on a warrant issued by a Magistrate under section fifteen shall be detained more than two months from the date of his arrest, unless within such period the Magistrate receives a warrant under section eleven from the Political Agent for any State for the delivery of such person, or an order with reference to him under section fourteen from the Governor General in Council or Local Government, or such person is in accordance with law delivered up to some Foreign Prince or State.
At any time before the receipt of such a warrant or order the Magistrate, if he thinks fit, may, and the Magistrate if so directed by the Local Government shall, discharge the accused person.
The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure in respect of bail shall apply in the case of any person arrested under section fifteen in the same manner as if such person were accused of committing in British India the offence with which he is charged.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Governor General in Council may, from time to time, make rules to provide for
(1) the confinement, diet and prison-discipline of British subjects, European or Native, imprisoned by Political Agents under this Act;
(2) the removal of accused persons under this Act, and their control and maintenance until such time as they are handed over to the persons named in the warrant as entitled to receive them; and
(3) generally to carry out the purposes of this Act.
The testimony of any witness may be obtained in relation to any criminal matter pending in any Court or tribunal in the territory of any Foreign Prince or State in like manner as it may be obtained in relation to any civil matter under the Code of Civil Procedure, chapter XXV; and the provisions of that chapter, shall be construed as if the term suit included a proceeding against a criminal:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply in the case of any criminal matter of a political character.
THE SCHEDULE
Sections 206, 208 and 224; sections 230 to 263, both inclusive; sections 299 to 304, both inclusive; sections 307, 310 and 311; sections 312 to 317, both inclusive; sections 323 to 333, both inclusive; sections 347 and 348; sections 360 to 373, both inclusive; sections 375 to 377, both inclusive; sections 378 to 414, both inclusive; sections 435 to 440, both inclusive; sections 443 to 446, both inclusive; sections 464 to 468, both inclusive; sections 471 to 477, both inclusive.