Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Act, 20001
| [Act 47 of 2000, Repealed by Act 23 of 2016*] | [8th December, 2000] |
An Act further to amend the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1 Received the assent of the President on December 8, 2000 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1.
* Ed.: Act 47 of 2000 repealed by Act 23 of 2016, S. 2 & Sch. I. See also S. 4 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2016:
"4. Savings.- The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to;
and this Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred, or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing;
nor shall this Act affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed;
nor shall the repeal by this Act of any enactment revive or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force."
Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The entry and exit of persons from India was governed by the Indian Passport Act, 1920. The said Act was amended in 1967 to change its short title as the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and a new legislation, namely, the Passports Act, 1967 was also enacted to provide for the issue of passports and travel documents to regulate the departure from India of citizens of India and other persons and for matters incidental or ancillary thereto. The provisions contained in Section 12 of the Passports Act, 1967 were amended in 1993 to provide for an imprisonment for a term extending up to five years or fine up to fifty thousand rupees. Sub-section (4) of Section 12 provides double the penalty for a previously convicted person. As compared to this, the penalty provided for the offences under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the rules made thereunder, which is presently three months imprisonment or with fine or both, is not deterrent enough. The existing Act came into force when Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar did not exist as separate countries, and the country did not face the situation that prevails along our borders today. In view of the problems being faced by the border States from these countries by illegal migration, clandestine activities, such as, smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics, and movement of persons having links with terrorists and terrorist organizations, it is felt necessary to enhance the penalty provided in the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 so as to bring it at par with the penalty provided in Section 12 of the Passport Act, 1967.
2. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
1. Short title.-This Act may be called the Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Act, 2000.
2. Amendment of Section 3.-In Section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 (34 of 1920) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in sub-section (3), for the words "punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both", the words "punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both" shall be substituted.
3. Insertion of new Section 3-A.-After Section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
"3-A. Punishment for subsequent offences.-Whoever having been convicted of an offence under any rule or order made under this Act is again convicted of an offence under this Act shall be punishable with double the penalty provided for the later offence.".
4. Amendment of Section 4.-In Section 4 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), for the words and figures "Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898),", the words and figures "Section 57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)," shall be substituted.