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act 012 of 1852 : Repealing Act 2 of 1848 Act, 1852 [Repealed]

Repealing Act 2 of 1848 Act, 1852 [Repealed]

ACTNO. 12 OF 1852
02 August, 1853
Repealed in (except s.50), Act 14 of 1856
S.50 Repealed by Act 28 of 1856
Passed by the Governor General of India in Council, on the 20th February 1852.
An Act to repeal Act No. II. of 1848, and to confer certain powers on the Commissioners for the Improvement of the Town of Calcutta.

Whereas by Section LXV. of Act No. X. of 1852 it is, among other things, enacted that certain funds therein mentioned should be applied by the Commissioners for the Improvement of the Town of Calcutta in cleansing, improving, and embellishing the said Town: And whereas it is expedient that the said Commissioners should be invested with further powers for the effectual accomplishment of the purposes aforesaid. It is hereby enacted as follows:

Section 1. Act II. of 1848, and the Bye-Laws made in pursuance thereof, and the Regulation for the Good Order and Civil Government of the Settlement of Fort William in Bengal, passed in Council on the 28th day of October 1814, are hereby repealed. Act X. of 1852, repealing Act XVI. of 1847, shall not be construed so as to revive Act XXIV. of 1840.

1. Act II. of 1848, and the Bye-Laws made in pursuance thereof, and the Regulation for the Good Order and Civil Government of the Settlement of Fort William in Bengal, passed in Council on the 28th day of October 1814, are hereby repealed. Act X. of 1852, repealing Act XVI. of 1847, shall not be construed so as to revive Act XXIV. of 1840.

Section 2. Commissioners to appoint Surveyors and other Officers

The said Commissioners may, subject to confirmation or disallowance by the Governor of Bengal, nominate, appoint and employ, respectively, such Surveyors, Inspectors, and other necessary Officers and Servants as may be necessary or proper for the execution of the powers hereby vested in them; and such Surveyors, Inspectors, Officers and Servants shall receive such salaries as to the Governor of Bengal shall seem meet.

Section 3. Commissioners to have Management and control over streets, drains, &c

The management and control over all the streets within the said Town of Calcutta, existing at the time of the passing of this Act, and of all parts of the said Town which shall hereafter become streets, and the pavements and other materials therein, and all erections and buildings, materials, implements or other things provided for the said streets by or under the authority of the Governor of Bengal, or by the Magistrates of Calcutta, or by the said Commissioners, and also the management and control of all public tanks, aqueducts and canals, and of all sewers and drains, whether public or private; now made or hereafter to be made within the said Town, are hereby vested in the said Commissioners for the purposes of this Act.

Section 4. Commissioners empowered to make or widen or stop up streets

The said Commissioners, by and with the consent of the Governor of Bengal, may lay out, make, build and construct streets, and may alter and widen narrow streets, and may turn, divert, discontinue or stop up streets, within the said Town, regard being had to the compensation of owners of lands which may be required to be vested in the said Commissioners for any such purposes, and of owners of lands which may be damaged or deteriorated in value by the turning, diverting, discontinuing, or stopping up of any such streets, and in case of dispute, the amount of such compensation shall be ascertained and paid in the manner and according to the provisions contained in Act XXII. of 1847, which is hereby declared to be applicable to all claims for compensation made in respect of any acts done by the said Commissioners under the authority of this Act. Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the said Commissioners, or any other person, to make or lay out any new street, unless the same, being a carriage road, be at least 50 feet wide, exclusive of the drains at the sides thereof, or not being a carriage road, be at least 20 feet wide, exclusive of the drains at the sides thereof.

Section 5. Power to Commissioners to pave and water streets, &c., erect pumps, &c., and make convenient tanks, &c

The said Commissioners, with the consent and approbation of the Governor of Bengal, shall pave, metal, and water such of the public streets existing in the said Town at the time of the passing of this Act, or at any future time, as they shall think fit; and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to excavate and provide convenient tanks or runs of water through the said Town, and to sink wells, and lay, erect, and place pipes, gutters, conduits and pumps in any of the said streets, and may remove and alter the same when and in such manner the said Commissioners shall think proper.

Section 6. Power to Commissioners to purchase lands, &c., for the purposes of this Act

The said Commissioners, by and with the consent of the said Governor of Bengal, may, by agreement or in conformity with the provisions of Act XXII. of 1847, purchase or take absolutely or on lease, for such terms as they may think fit, any water-works, streams of water, lands, fixtures or other property which the said Commissioners may deem it necessary to purchase or take for any work or purpose which they are required or authorized to do and execute under this Act, or the said Act No. X. of 1852, and when the said Commissioners take and purchase any lands for the purposes of this Act otherwise than with the consent of the owners and occupiers thereof, they shall, in exercising the powers so given, be subject to the provisions and restrictions contained in the said Act No. XXII. of 1847; and the said Commissioners shall make to the owners and occupiers of and all other parties interested in any such lands taken for the purposes of this Act, full compensation for the value of the lands so taken, and for all damages sustained by such owners, occupiers and other parties, by reason of the exercise, as regards such lands, of the powers vested in the Commissioners by this Act; and the amount of such compensation shall be determined in the manner provided by the said Act No. XXII. of 1847, for determining questions of compensation with regard to lands purchased or taken under the provisions thereof; and all the provisions of the said Act No. XXII. of 1847 shall be applicable to determine the amount of any such compensation, and to enforce the payment or other satisfaction thereof.

Section 7. Power to Commissioners to sell lends, &c

The Commissioners, by and with the consent of the Governor of Bengal, may sell or dispose of any lands or other property vested in or acquired by them under the powers herein, or in the said Act No. XXII. of 1847, contained, which it may appear to the Commissioners may be properly sold or disposed of; and for completing and carrying any such sale of lands into effect, the Commissioners may make and execute a conveyance of the lands sold and disposed of as aforesaid unto the purchaser, or as he shall direct, and such conveyance shall be under the hands of three of the Commissioners, and under the seal of the Commissioners, and a receipt, under the hands of three of the Commissioners, shall be a sufficient discharge to the purchaser of any such lands for the purchase-money in such receipt expressed to be received, and the money to arise from such sale shall be applied to such of the purposes of this Act as the Commissioners shall think fit.

Section 8. Power to Commissioners to improve and cleanse or to discontinue drains, &c

The said Commissioners iriay from time to time, as they shall see fit, widen, deepen, embank, alter, arch over, amend, clean and scour out all or any of the sewers or drains within the said Town as may be necessary, and also cleanse and drain off into any sewers or drains, and fill up and level or otherwise abate all stagnant pools, ditches, tanks and other receptacles of foul water and filth existing within the said Town, whether the same be the private property of any person or persons or otherwise, and the said Commissioners, if they shall think fit; may take up, stop, fill in, and discontinue any sewers of drains which they shall deem useless or unnecessary; Provided always that the expenses incurred in respect of any such works done or executed on the private property of any person, if not defrayed by such person on demand thereof, may be recovered by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of such person, and any two of the said Commissioners may issue their warrant of distress accordingly.

Section 9. Power to Commissioners to enter, examine, and lay open houses, lands, &c., for that purpose: Compensation in certain cases

Every Commissioner and the Surveyor to the Commissioners, with such subordinate Officers or persons as they may require shall, when it shall be necessary or convenient for the purpose of making any survey or examination of any sewers or drains, or of making or repairing or cleansing any sewers, drains, or works within the said Town, or of carrying into execution any of the powers entrusted to the Commissioners by this Act, or Act No. X. of 1852, have full power and authority, at all reasonable hours in the day-time, to enter, examine, and lay open, or to direct their subordinate Officers to enter, examine, and lay open, any house; building or other erection, or any lands, without being liable to any action at Law or suit in Equity, or any other legal proceedings or molestation whatsoever for or on account of such entry, examination, or works, or of anything done or to be done in any part of such house, building, erection, or land, in pursuance of this Act; Provided always, that except in cases of emergency, none of the persons above mentioned shall enter, examine or lay open any house, building or other erection, or lands which may be occupied at the time unless with the consent of the occupier thereof, without previously giving the said occupier twenty-four hours notice of their intended entry and of the object thereof; Provided also, that compensation shall be made for any damage occasioned by such entry and works to all persons other than the owners and occupiers of any land or building in respect of which any private drain or sewer, or the state of drainage shall be inspected, cleansed, or repaired, and other than the owners or occupiers of any premises where any nuisance may exist, and other than the person who may have caused such nuisance; and provided also, that in case no nuisance shall be found to exist in or on the house, building or other erection, or lands so entered, examined and laid open as aforesaid, the said Commissioners shall, out of the rates and taxes aforesaid, cause the said house, building, or other erection, or lands, to be restored to the same state and condition in all respects as the same were in before they were so entered, examined, or laid open.

Section 10. Power to Commissioners in case of ruinous or dangerous buildings

If any house, building, or wall, or anything affixed thereon, within the limits of the said Town, be deemed by the Commissioners or their Surveyor to be in a ruinous state, or likely to fall, and also dangerous to passengers or the occupiers of neighbouring buildings, such Surveyor shall immediately cause a proper board or fence to be put up for the protection of passengers, and shall cause notice in writing to be given to the owner of such house, building, or wall, or other thing if he be known and resident within the said limits, and shall also cause such notice to be put on the doer or other conspicuous part of the said premises, or otherwise to be given to the occupier thereof (if any), requiring such owner or occupier forthwith to take down, secure, or repair such house, building, wall or other thing, as the case shall require; and if such owner or occupier do not begin to repair, take down, or secure such house, building, wall, or other thing, within the space of three days after such notice has been given or put up as aforesaid, and complete the same as speedily as the nature of the case will, admit, the said Commissioners shall, with all convenient speed, cause all or so much of such house, building, wall, or other thing, as shall be in a ruinous condition, or likely to fall, and also dangerous as aforesaid, to be taken down, repaired, rebuilt, or otherwise secured in such manner as shall be requisite; and all the expenses of putting up every such fence, and of taking down, repairing, rebuilding or securing such building, wall, or other thing, shall be paid by the owner thereof, if such owner can be found within the said limits; and if, on demand of the expenses aforesaid, he neglect or refuse to pay the same, then such expenses may be levied by distress on the goods and chattels of the owner of the said house, building, wall, or other thing, and any two Commissioners may issue their warrant of distress accordingly.

Section 11.

11. If any such house, building, wall, or other, thing, or any part of the same, be pulled down by virtue of the powers aforesaid, the Commissioners may sell the materials thereof, or so much of the same as shall be pulled down, and apply the proceeds of such sale in payment of the expenses incurred in respect of such house, building, wall, or other thing, and the Commissioners shall restore any overplus arising from such sale to the owner of such house, building, wall or other thing, on demand nevertheless the Commissioners, although they sell such materials for the purposes aforesaid, shall have the same remedies for compelling the payment of so much of the said expenses as may remain due after the application of the proceeds of such sale, as are hereinbefore given to them for compelling the payment of the whole of the said expenses.

Section 12. Power to Commissioners to make canals, aqueducts, sewers, drains, &c

The said Commissioners, by and with the consent of the Governor of Bengal, may construct, make, and lay, or cause to be constructed, made, and laid, such reservoirs, canals, aqueducts, channels, tanks, sewers, drains, bridges banks, conduits, machinery, engines, waste-gates, stop-gates, stop-cocks, sluices, tunnels, water-pipes, and other works, as shall, in their opinion, be necessary and proper for obtaining water and supplying the same, to the said Town, and for the effectual draining and cleansing of the said Town, and for the properly flushing and cleansing out such sewers in, under, or across all or any of the streets therein, whether dedicated to the public use or not, and if needful through and across all under-ground cellars, and vaults, which they may find under any of the said streets, doing as little damage as may be; and also to cause such and so many rings and openings to be made or left in the sides, of the said sewers, as will be sufficient for the making or branching any drain or drains from any or all of the houses built, and which may probably be built, adjoining or near thereto, into any of the said sewers, as the said Commissioners shall think necessary for that purpose; and in case it shall be found necessary for completing any of the aforesaid works to build, carry, or continue the same in, into, through, or over, any enclosed lands, or other place not being a public way, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to build, carry, or continue the same in, into, through, or over the said lands or other places accordingly, and the said Commissioners shall cause such sewers to communicate with and empty themselves into any public river, stream, canal, or watercourse, whether within or without the said Town, or shall cause the refuse from such sewers to be conveyed by an appropriate channel to the most convenient site for its deposit collection, and sale, and its application as manure for agricultural purposes or otherwise, as they shall deem most expedient, but so that the same shall in no case become a public nuisance or annoyance to the neighbourhood.

Section 13. Power to Commissioners when constructing drains and aqueducts without the jurisdiction of Supreme Court

For the purpose of constructing any aqueducts for bringing water to the town of Calcutta from any place without the local limits of the jurisdiction of Her Majesty's Supreme Court of Judicature, or for the purpose of making sewers or drains to communicate with or empty themselves into any public sewer, lake, stream, canal, or water-course without the said limits, it shall be lawful, whenever a plan for any such aqueduct, sewer, or drain shall have been approved by the Governor of Bengal, for every Commissioner and for the Surveyor and Secretary to the Commissioners, with such Assistants as they may require, to exercise, in the construction of such aqueduct, sewer, or drain throughout the line of country through which the said aqueduct, sewer, or drain is to run, all the powers Which by this Act, it is lawful for them to exercise within the said local limits, and which may be necessary for the construction of such aqueduct, sewer or drain, without being subject to any action or molestation whatever for so doing; and it shall also be lawful for any Magistrate of any district through which the said aqueduct, Sewer, or drain is to run, in furtherance, of the construction: of such aqueduct, sewer, or drain, to do such acts within the limits of his own district as it is by this Act lawful for a Magistrate of the Town of Calcutta to do, in furtherance of any work to be executed by the said Commissioners within the said local limits.

Section 14. Power to Commissioners to execute works by contract

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, instead of executing any of the works which by this Act they are authorized to execute by themselves, their servants, and assistants, to execute the same by contract with any individual or company who may be willing to undertake the same, and in that case; it shall be lawful for such individual or company to exercise and enjoy all the powers and privileges which by this Act it is lawful for the said Commissioners to exercise and enjoy in the execution of any such works. Provided always, that no Commissioner, or Officer, or servant of the Commissioners, shall be in any wise concerned or interested in any contract or work made with or executed for the Commissioners, and if any such Commissioner, or Officer, or servant, be so concerned or interested, or shall, under colour of his office or employment, exact, take, or accept any fee or reward whatsoever, other than his proper salary, wages, fees, and allowances, he shall be incapable of afterwards holding or continuing in the office of Commissioner, or any office or employment under the Commissioners, and shall forfeit and pay the sum of Company's Rupees five hundred, which may be recovered by any person, with full costs of suit, by action of debt.

Section 15. Power to Commissioners to contact for supply of water, and to grant leases for that purpose

The said Commissioners may, with the consent and approbation of the said Governor, contract and agree with any person for Supplying the Said Town, of any part thereof, with water, and may also, with the like consent and approbation, grant to any person contracting to supply the said Town, or any part thereof, with water, a lease, for any term not exceeding twenty-one years, of any water-works, machinery, streams, waters, lands, tenements, easements, rights, privileges, and advantages, belonging to or acquired by, or which may belong to or be acquired by or be vested in the said Commissioners, under any of the powers or authorities in this or any other Act contained, so as to enable such person or persons so contracting the more effectually and efficiently to procure and supply water in pursuance of atty such contract or agreement; and every such lease so to be granted by the said Commissioners may he made subject to such conditions and stipulations as to the supplying water, for the purposes of this Act, or any of them, as may he agreed upon between the respective parties thereto. Provided always, that no lease or contract made in pursuance of the powers hereinbefore contained shall be valid or effectual, for any purpose whatsoever, unless the said Governor's approval of the same shall be testified by writing, endorsed on such lease or contract, under the hand of the Secretary to the Government of Bengal.

Section 16. Power to Commissioners to enter on lands adjacent to works, &c

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, their Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer, subject to the restrictions in this Act contained, to enter upon the lands of any corporation or person adjoining to, or being within the distance of one hundred yards of the works by this Act authorized to be made, or any part thereof, for the purpose of depositing upon such lands, or any part thereof, any soil, gravel, sand, lime, brick, stone, or other materials, or for any other purposes connected with the formation of the said works, without making any previous payment, tender, or deposit, the said Commissioners, their Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer, doing as little damage as may be in the exercise of the several powers hereby granted to them, and making compensation for such temporary occupation or temporary damage of the said lands to the owners and occupiers thereof, from time to time, and as often as any such temporary occupation shall be taken or any such temporary damage done, and making compensation to the owners also for the permanent injury (if any) to such lands; and in case the parties differ respecting the amount of the compensation, or the respective shares of several claimants of compensation, then and in every such case the said disputes respectively shall be settled and adjusted by arbitration, or by the verdict of a Jury, summoned and assembled in manner provided in Act No XXII. of 1847. Provided always that before the said Commissioners make any such temporary use as aforesaid of the lands adjoining or lying near to the said works, they Shall give fourteen days' notice of such their intention to the owners and occupiers of such lands, and shall separate and set apart by sufficient fences so much of the lands us shall be required to be used as aforesaid from the other lands adjoining thereto.

Section 17. Commissioners when executing works to provide convenient reads drains, &c., for use of adjoining lands when present roads, &c., are stopped, &c

The said Commissioners, when executing any works hereby authorized to be made, shall, at their own expense, make and provide a sufficient number of convenient roads watering-places, wells, water-courses, drains, and channels for the irrigation and for the use of the adjoining lands, and for irrigating the same in those parts where the present roads, ways, watering-places, wells, watercourses, drains, and channels, shall and may be taken away or interrupted, injured, or rendered inconvenient or useless by reason of the execution of the said works, and in case of any difference arising between the said Commissioners and the owners of such adjoining lands, such difference shall be settled by arbitration, or by the verdict of a Jury summoned and assembled in manner provided in Act No. XXII. of 1847.

Section 18. Power to Commissioners to make compensation out of rates, &c

The said Commissioners shall make full compensation out of the rates and taxes to be levied by them to all persons sustaining any damage by reason of the exercise of any of the powers vested in the Commissioners, or their Officers or servants, under and by virtue of this Act.

Section 19. Power to Commissioners to prosecute in certain cases

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to direct any prosecution before any Court or Justice of the Peace for any public nuisance whatsoever which shall be permitted, suffered, or committed within the said Town, and to order proceedings to be taken for the recovery of any penalties, and for the punishment of any persons offending against the provisions of this Act, and to direct and order the expenses of such prosecutions and other proceedings to be paid and borne by and out of the funds placed at their disposal under the provisions of this or any other Act.

Section 20. Power to Commissioners to prefer bill of indictment in certain cases

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, if they shall not think fit to take any other proceeding's prescribed by this Act, to prefer any hill of indictment or information, or to take any other proceeding's against any person who shall obstruct or molest the said Commissioners, or their Secretary. Surveyor, or other Officer or servant, or any workman or other person employed by them in the performance and execution of their or his duty, under or by virtue or in consequence of this Act, or who shall steal, take, or carry away, or wilfully deface or injure any property, article, or thing belonging to the said Commissioners, and in every such case it shall be sufficient to state generally the property, article, or thing, in respect of which such proceeding shall have been taken, to be the property of the said Commissioners.

Section 21. Power to Commissioners to arrest unknown offenders without warrant

It shall be lawful for any of the Commissioners, their Secretary, Surveyor, Inspectors, Overseers, or any servants or persons employed by them, and for any Inspector of Police or Policeman employed in the said Town, and such other person or persons whom he or they shall call to his or their assistance, without any summons or warrant, or other authority than this Act, to seize and detain any unknown person who shall commit any offence against the provisions of this Act, and to take him immediately to a Police Station, where he shall be detained in default of Bail until he can be taken before any Justice of the Peace, who is hereby required to proceed and act with respect to such offender according to the provisions of this Act.

Section 22. Power to Commissioners to enter and inspect bazars slaughter-houses, &c., an to seize unwholesome articles exposed for sale

The Commissioners, or any one of them, or any person appointed by them for that purpose, may at all reasonable times, with or without assistants, enter into and inspect any market, building, shop, stall, or place, kept or used for the sale of butcher's meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables, or as a slaughter-house, and may examine any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, or vegetables which may he therein, and in case any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, or vegetables appear to be intended for the food of man, and to be unfit for such food, may seize, remove, and destroy the same at the expense of the owner thereof, or the owner, Occupier, or farmer of any such public market, bazar, or slaughterhouse, or private shop or stall within the Town, wherein the same shall be exposed or allowed to be exposed for sale.

Section 23. Power to Commissioners to remove obstructions in streets

The Commissioners or their Surveyor shall have full power and authority to remove, or order the removal of any wall, fence, rail, post, or other obstruction or encroachment in any street, or in or over any drain, sewer, or aqueduct within the said, Town, whether the proprietary right to such street, drain, sewer, or aqueduct shall be in dispute or not; Provided always that nothing in this Act shall be construed to give the said Commissioners or their Surveyor power to remove such wall, fence, or other obstruction after the decree or order of any competent Court has declared the land, walled, fenced, or railed in, to be private property.

Section 24. Power to Commissioners to fill up unwholesome tanks

When any private tank, or low marshy ground, shall appear to the Commissioners to be offencive to the neighbour hood or unwholesome, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to require, by notice in writing, the owner thereof to cleanse or fill up the same, and if the said tank shall remain uncleansed or not filled up for seven days after such notice, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to enter into and upon the adjoining lands, and to cleanse or fill up the said tank as they shall think fit, and the expense incurred thereby shall be paid by the owner of such tank, to be recovered in manner hereinafter mentioned.

Section 25. Power to Commissioners to affix boards or plates to houses

The Commissioners may affix on or to the wall of any house or compound, or in or to any wall within the said Town, as they shall think fit, any board or metal plate to indicate the name of the street in which such house, compound, or wall is situate, or any lamp for the purpose of lighting the street.

Section 26. Power to Commissioners to kill dogs

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners or their subordinate Officers, as they shall think fit, to kill and destroy, or to order to be killed and destroyed, all dogs that may be found loose in the said streets, and not accompanying their owners or some person in charge of them.

Section 27. Commissioners to repair streets, &c

The said Commissioners shall, so far as the funds at their disposal will admit, keep in good and sufficient repair every street now or at any future time existing in the said Town.

Section 28. Commissioners to take precautions when streets and drains under repair

When any of the streets, sewers, or drains in the said Town are being made, or shall be under repair, the Commissioners or their Surveyor, or other subordinate Officer, shall take proper precautions against danger by shoreing up and protecting the adjoining houses, and shall fix and place, or cause to be fixed and placed such and so many bars, chains, or posts across or in any of the said streets to prevent the passing and repassing of carriages, carts or other vehicles, cattle or horses, during the time of such works and repairs being carried on as shall be necessary, and the said Commissioners and their said Surveyor shall cause any sewer pr drain or other works, during the construction or repair thereof by them, to be well and sufficiently lighted during the night to prevent accidents.

Section 29. Commissioners to light the Town

The said Commissioners, so far as the funds at their disposal will admit, shall provide lamps for lighting such parts of the said Town as the said Commissioners shall consider to require the same, and shall keep the said lamps in fit order for public use, and shall keep and employ a sufficient number of persons to cleanse, prepare, repair, and light the same, and shall also from time to time, as shall be required, increase or otherwise alter the number and situation of the said lamps, as to them shall appear necessary for the lighting of the said town.

Section 30. Commissioners to keep town clean remove dirt, &c

The said Commissioners and their said Surveyor and other Officers shall cause all the public streets of the said Town, together with the foot-pavements or foot-paths therein, from time to time to be properly swept and cleansed, and all dust, dirt, soil, ashes, rubbish and filth of every sort which may he found thereon to be collected and removed therefrom at convenient hours and times, and shall cause all or any of the privies, cesspools, and drains within the said Town to be cleansed and emptied in a sufficient and proper manner by the owners or occupiers of the premises; and the said Surveyor, or other subordinate Officer of the Commissioners, shall give such orders and directions to the owners and occupiers aforesaid as to the said Surveyor or other Officer as aforesaid, acting under the orders and control of the said Commissioners/shall appear proper and necessary, and the said Commissioners may, in their discretion, order and direct where, and in what places, and how, and in what manner, the dust, dirt, soil, night-soil, ashes, rubbish and filth collected in the said Town shall be deposited and disposed of.

Section 31. Owners to prevent effluvia from drains, &c

The owners of any private drains in the said Town shall by providing proper traps or other coverings, or by ventilation, or by such other ways and means as shall be practicable for that purpose, prevent as far as possible the effluvia of sewers and drains from exhaling from gully-holes, gratings, or any other openings whatsoever of drains or sewers in streets or other places, and in case the owner of any private sewer or drain shall neglect or delay so to do, the Surveyor of the said Commissioners shall give him notice to prevent as far as possible the effluvia of such sewer or drain from so exhaling, and if the same shall not be done by such owner within ten days after such notice shall have been given to him, the said Surveyor shall forthwith provide and apply proper traps or other coverings, or such other means as aforesaid, so as effectually to prevent such effluvia from exhaling, and the expense incurred thereby shall be paid by the owner of such sewer or drain, to be recovered in manner hereinafter mentioned.

Section 32. Commissioners to issue certificates prohibiting improper burial-places

If upon the representation of the Surveyor of the Commissioners, and after inquiry by such other ways and means as the Commissioners may think fit to direct, the said Commissioners shall certify, (such certificate to be published in the Calcutta Gazette and in one of the English and Bengal-lee newspapers respectively usually circulated within the Town), that any burial-ground situated within the said town is in such a state as to be dangerous to the health of persons living in the neighbourhood thereof, or that any church or other place of public worship within the Town is dangerous to the health of persons frequenting the same by reason of the state of the vaults or graves within the walls of or underneath the same and that sufficient means of interment exist within a convenient distance from such burial-ground, church, or place of public worship, it shall not be lawful, after a time to be named in such certificate, to bury or permit or suffer to be buried any further corpses or coffin ill, within, or under the ground, church, or place of worship to which the certificate relates, except in so far as may be allowed by such certificate and whosoever after notice of such certificate buries or causes, permits, or suffers to be buried any corpse or coffin contrary to this enactment, shall for every such offence be liable, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, to a penalty not exceeding Company's rupees five hundred.

Section 33. No vault or burial-place henceforth to be constructed without leave Commissioners

No vault or grave shall be constructed or made within the walls of or underneath any church or other place of public worship built in the said Town after the passing of Act, and no burial-ground shall be made or formed within the said Town after the passing of this Act without the consent of the Commissioners first had and obtained, and whosoever shall bury or cause, permit, or suffer to be buried any corpse or coffin in any vault, grave or burial-ground constructed, made, or formed contrary to this enactment, shall for every such offence be liable, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, to a penalty not exceeding Company's rupees five hundred.

Section 34. No writ to be sued out against them till after one month's notice &c., action to be brought in three months; Commissioners may tender amends

No writ or process shall be issued out against or served upon any Commissioners or any Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer or person whomsoever, acting under the direction of the Commissioners for any thing done or may tender amends intended to be done under the powers of this Act, until the expiration of one month next after notice in writing shall have been delivered to him or left at his office or place of abode, explicitly stating the cause of action, and the name and place of abode of the intended plaintiff, and of his attorney or agent in the cause, and upon the trial of any such action the plaintiff shall not he permitted to go into evidence of any cause of action except such as is stated in the notice so delivered, and unless such notice be proved, the Court shall find for the defendant, and every such action shall be brought or commenced within three calendar months next after the accrual of the cause of action, and not afterwards, and if any party shall have committed any irregularity, trespass, or other wrongful proceedings in the execution of this Act or by virtue of any power or authority hereby given, and if before action brought in respect thereof such party shall make tender of sufficient amends to the party injured, such last-mentioned party shall not recover in any such action when brought, and if no such tender shall have been made, it shall be lawful for the defendant in such action, by leave of the Court where such action shall be pending, at any time before issue joined, to pay into Court such sum of money as he shall think fit, and thereupon such proceedings shall he had as in other cases where defendants are allowed to pay money into Court.

Section 35. Commissioners and their servants not to be personally liable when act done bon fide.

35. Commissioners and their servants not to be personally liable when act done bon fide. No matter or thing done, or contract entered into by the Commissioner or any one of them, or by any Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer or person whomsoever, acting under the direction of the Commissioners, shall, if the matter or thing were done, or the contract were entered into bon fide for the purpose of executing this Act, Subject them or any of them personally to any action, liability, claim, or demand whatsoever, and any expense incurred by any such Commissioners, Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer or person acting as last aforesaid, shall be borne and repaid out of the funds under the control of the Commissioners.

Section 36. Streets, drains, filth, &c., the property of Commissioners as Trustees

All the streets existing within the said Town at the time, of the passing of this Act, and all parts of the said Town which shall hereafter become streets, and also the pavements, stones and other materials therein, and all erections and building materials, implements or other things provided for the said streets, by or under the authority of the Government of Bengal, or by the Magistrates of Calcutta, or by the said Commissioners, and also all public sewers and drains within the said Town, together with all works, materials and things therewith connected and belonging, existing in the said Town at the time of the passing of this Act, or which shall hereafter be constructed and made therein by the said Commissioners or otherwise, and also all canals, aqueducts, conduits, tunnels, water-works, cisterns, pumps, pipes, tanks, reservoirs and wells which now are or shall hereafter be provided or lawfully applied to public use, and which are not the property of any private person, together with all buildings, engines, works, materials and things therewith connected, existing in the said Town at the time of the passing of this Act, or which shall hereafter be constructed and made therein at the costs of the said Commissioners or otherwise, and also all lands surrounding and belonging to public tanks and slips of ground alongside of any street, drain or aqueduct not the property of any private person, and also all lands belonging to the late Lottery Committee and not legally appropriated, and also all dirt, dust, dry and liquid filth, ashes and rubbish to be collected from the streets, houses, privies, sewers and cess-pools and elsewhere within the said Town shall be the property of and are hereby vested in the said Commissioners as Trustees for the purposes of this Act.

Section 37. Act not to exempt parties guilty of nuisance from prosecution or action

Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to render lawful any act or omission on the part of any person which is, or but for this Act would be deemed and adjudged to be a nuisance at common Law, nor to exempt any person guilty of a nuisance at common Law, from prosecution or action in respect thereof. Provided always, that if any person convicted of an offence under this Act, shall have paid the whole amount adjudged to be paid under such conviction, and the costs thereof, or shall have suffered imprisonment in respect of such offence, in every such case he shall be released from all further or other criminal proceedings for the same offence.

Section 38. Parties may make branch drains into public sewers, as Surveyor of Commissioners shall order. Penalty for offences against this Section

It shall be lawful for any person, at his own expense, to make or branch any drain into any of the sewers vested in the said Commissioners, or authorized to be made by virtue of this Act, or otherwise acquired by the said Commissioners, such drain being made of such a size and in such a manner of communication in all respects as the said Surveyor of the said Commissioners shall direct, and for that purpose to take up and remove with the permission of the Commissioners so much of the pavement and other materials of any street as may be required, unless the said Commissioners shall consent and agree, which they are hereby authorized to do, to form so much and such portion of such drain as shall lead from the point of communication in such sewer to the extremity of such street, and in case any person shall make or branch any drain into any of the said sewers so vested in the said Commissioners, or authorized to be made, under and by virtue of this Act, of different size or in a different manner and form of communication than shall be directed or appointed by the said Surveyor, every person so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, a sum not exceeding fifty rupees, and in default of payment shall be imprisoned for any period not exceeding one month, and the said Justice shall order the said person so offending to alter such drain as required by the said Commissioners within ten days, and in default the said Commissioners shall, at the expense of the maker of such drain, alter or destroy the same as they shall think fit, and in case the expense of making such alteration or destruction shall not be paid by the owner or maker of such drain, the expense incurred thereby shall be recovered in manner hereinafter mentioned.

Section 39. Commissioners may contract with owners to make such drains at their expense

It shall be lawful for the Said Commissioners to contract and agree with the owners of any houses or other tenements within the said Town, that any drains required to be constructed and made by such owners shall be constructed and made by the Surveyor of the said Commissioners, and the cost price of making such drains, (as certified by the said Surveyor of the said Commissioners,) shall be repaid by such owners to the said Commissioners, and in default of such payment the same may be recovered in the manner hereinafter provided.

Section 40. Notice to be given to Commissioners before any new sewer or building is commenced to be built, as Surveyor shall direct

Before beginning to dig or lay the foundations of any new house, building, or wall within the said Town or to rebuild any house, building, or wall therein, contiguous or near to any street, and not being within the compound wall of any premises, and also before making any sewer or drain for the purpose of draining water directly or indirectly from any land or tenement into any sewer under the jurisdiction of the said Commissioners, fourteen clear days' notice in writing shall be given to the Secretary to the said Commissioners by delivering the same to him or leaving it at his office by the, person intending to build or rebuild such house, building or wall, or to make such sewer or drain; and every foundation of any such house, building, or wall, and the drains within the same, shall be laid at such level as the Surveyor of the said Commissioners shall direct, and so as that no part of the said house, building, or wall shall project or encroach into or over the adjoining street, drain, or aqueduct, and so as that the said drains may be properly built with reference to the adjoining public drains, and every such branch drain shall be made in such direction, manner, and form, and of such materials and workmanship as the said Surveyor shall order, and the building or rebuilding of any such house, building, or wall shall be under the survey and control of the said Commissioners and their Surveyor so far as may be necessary to prevent any projection or encroachment in or over any street, drain, or aqueduct, and to insure that the level of the drains within such house, building, or wall shall be properly built with reference to the public drains; and in default of such notice as aforesaid, or if such building or drain shall be begun, or made without, or in any respect contrary to, any order of the said Surveyor, or of the provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to cause such building to be demolished, and to cause such drain to be re-laid, amended, destroyed, or re-made as the case may require, and to cause the expenses thereof to be levied and re-paid to them from and by the owner thereof in manner hereinafter provided.

Section 41. Penalties for certain offences in the streets

Every person upon conviction before any Justice of the Peace, on the testimony of one or more credible witnesses, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than fifty rupees, or in default of payment thereof, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding one month, who, within the limits of the said Town, shall commit any one of the following offences; (that is to say,)

1. For throwing dirt, &c., on streets. Every person who shall throw or put, or cause or order or allow his servants to throw or put, or from whose permises on streets shall be thrown or put, any dirt, dung, mud, dust, ashes, garden or stable refuse, or rubbish of any kind, or the carcase of any dog or other animal, or any flesh or other part of an animal, or any animal matter, upon any of the public streets, except between the hours of midnight and seven in the morning.

2. For throwing bottles, glass, &c. Every person who shall throw or put, or cause or allow to be thrown or put, or from whose premises shall be thrown any broken bottles, glass, china or crockery-ware upon or into any street, drain or aqueduct.

3. For keeping dirt, &c., in house. Every person who shall keep, or allow to be kept, for more than twenty-four hours, any dirt, dung, mud, dust, bones, ashes, night-soil, or other rubbish of a perishable and noisome kind in or upon any house, out-house, yard, or ground occupied by him.

4. For neglecting to keep drains, &c., clean. Every person being the owner or occupier of any private tatty, drain, sewer, cesspool, tannery, or other receptacle of filth, who shall neglect or refuse to keep the same in a clean and proper state, or to employ proper means to remove any noisome smell or the filth therefrom, or who shall expose the contents of such privy to the view of the passers by in the street.

5. For allowing house or ground to be in a filthy or unwholesome state. Every person being the owner or occupier of any house, hut, building, or lands whether tenantable or otherwise, who shall suffer the same to be in a filthy and unwholesome state, or overgrown with rank and noisome vegetation.

6. For allowing offensive liquids to drain into tanks or water-works. Every, person who shall cause or allow the water of any sink, sewer or drain or other offensive liquid, matter belonging to him, or running through, or being on ins land, to run drain or be carried, into or upon any of the streets, tanks, aqueducts, or reservoirs belonging to the Commissioners, or who shall commit or cause any act whatsoever whereby the water provided for the domestic use of the inhabitants of the Town shall be in any way fouled or corrupted, or who shall throw or put, or cause or order or allow his servants to throw or put, of from whose premises shall he thrown or put, any dirt, dung, mud, dust, ashes, night-soil, garden or stable-refuse or other rubbish, into any of the public sewers or drains, or into any reservoirs, tanks, aqueducts, or other water-works belonging to the Commissioners.

7. For keeping common privy without licence. Every person who shall have or keep any common tatty, privy, or urinal, on any ground owned or occupied by him within the Town, without a licence first had from the Commissioners who are hereby authorized to, grant the same under the hand of their Secretary; such licence shall be, granted for one year, and shall be renewed or not every year according to the discretion of the Commissioners.

8. For keeping common privies filthy. Every person being the owner or farmer of any licensed tatty, privy, or urinal within the said Town who shall suffer such tatty, privy, or urinal to be kept in a filthy and unclean state, or shall neglect to employ proper means for cleaning and regulating it.

9. For destroying lamps or street-boards, &c. Every person; who shall wantonly or wilfully destroy, injure, or deface any of the lamps or lamp-posts in the said streets, or extinguish any light therein, or abstract or take away from any of the said lamps any oil or other matter or thing therein, or any part thereof, without the, order of the said Commissioners or of their said Surveyor, or who shall wantonly or wilfully destroy, injure, or deface any board bearing on it the name of any street or the number of any building or land within the said Town, or any notice of the said Commissioners fixed or posted up in any place.

10. For injuring streets, taking pavements, &c. Every person who shall displace, hike up, or make any alteration in the pavements, flags, stones, fences, posts, or other materials of any foot or carriage-way in any street, without the consent in writing of the said Commissioners or of their said Surveyor, or who shall cause any obstruction to or make any encroachments upon any street or upon any sewer, drain, aqueduct, or space of ground alongside a street, drain pr aqueduct.

11. For injuring, &c., any boards, &c., erected by commissioners. Every person who shall take down or remove any fences or boards, or any bars, chains, or posts erected by the said commissioners, or extinguish any light attached to or connected with the said fences, boards, bars, chains, or posts without the authority or consent of the said Commissioners or their Surveyor.

12. For carrying filth through streets except at certain hours. Every person who shall carry or cause to be carried in carts, pots, handies, or other vessels any night-soil or urine, or other noisome or offensive matter through the public streets except between the hours of midnight and eight in the morning, or who shall carry or cause to be earned any night-soil or urine in such manner that any offensive smell or drainings issue therefrom, or who shall place or set down in any public place any vessel containing night-soil or urine, or who Shall carry or Cause the same to be carried in any other than covered carts or vessels, or who shall throw or deposit any night-soil in or upon any street.

13. For bathing in a public street, &c. Every person who shall bathe or wash any part of his person in any public street, or upon or in any of the tanks, reservoirs, aqueducts, water-works, or drains belonging to the Commissioners except in such of the said tanks reservoirs, aqueducts, waterworks, or drains as the Commissioners shall set apart for that purpose.

14. For washing animals, &c. in jardtar of aqueducts. Every person who shall Wash or cause to be washed any horse, dog, or Other animal, or any cloth, wearing apparel, leather of skin of any animal, or any foul or offensive thin gonany street, in or near or drains belonging to the Commissioners, or on or in the road adjoining thereto, except in such of the said tanks, reservoirs, aqueducts, water-works, or drains as the said Commissioners shall set apart for that purpose.

15. For indecently exposing Person. Every person who shall wilfully and indecently expose his person, or who shall commit nuisance in any of the public streets.

16. For allowing water to flow from houses or pipes on public streets, and for refusing to alter the direction of water-spouts, &c. Every person-being the owner or occupier of any house, hut, or building within the Town which has a drain on the game side of the street wherein such house, hut, or building is situate, who shall cause or allow any water, or liquid matter from or on such house, hut, or building to flow or be carried through pipes, gutters, water-spouts or other means on any part of any public street, or on any place but his own land or the public drain, or who shall refuse or neglect to remove or alter the direction of any such pipe, gutter, or water-spout after the expiration often days' notice for that purpose given by the Surveyor of the said Commissioners; and any person being the owner or occupier, of any house, but or battling in the said Town which has not a drain on the same side of the street as such house, hut, or building, who shall convey the water from the said house, hut, or building in or upon any public street, through pipes or water-spouts the mouths, of which shall be higher than two feet from the ground.

17. For projections over streets, &c. Every person being the owner or occupier of any house hut, or building, who shall cause or allow any verandah; balcony, sunshade, or other part of any house, hut, or building to overhang and project into any public street or public place at a height of less than eleven feet from the level of the roadway or to a distance exceeding four feet from the house, and who shall refuse or neglect to take down and remove such verandah, balcony, sunshade or other projection after the expiration of fifteen days' notice for that purpose given bp the Surveyor.

18. For projections over streets after passing of this Act. Every person who shall, after the passing of this Act, erect or set up any verandah, balcony, sunshade, or other projection of any kind which may overhang and project into the road at any height and to any distance without licence first obtained from the Commissioners under the hand of their Surveyor.

19. For washing carriages in public streets. Every person who shall wash or cleanse, or cause or order or allow his servants to wash dr cleanse any carriage or other conveyance, or horse or other animal, or whose carriage or other conveyance, or horse or other animal shall be washed or cleansed in any public street or other public place.

20. For setting up boards and scaffolding in streets without leave, &c. Every person who shall place, set up, or build in any public. For setting up boards street within the Town any board, scaffolding, post, bar, rail, hoards, or other thing by way of in closure for the purpose of making mortar or of depositing, sifting, screening, or slackening any bricks, stone, lime, sand, or any other materials for building or repairing any house or other building, or for any other purpose whatsoever without licence first obtained from the Commissioners, who are hereby authorized to grant such licence, under the hand of their Surveyor, or who shall set up or build the same in any other manner, or allow or cause the same to be continued for any longer time than shall be allowed or expressed in such licence, or who shall cause or allow any of the building materials or other things to extend beyond the distance expressed in the licence.

21. For lighting obstructions, when allowed. Every person who shall have been allowed by the Commissioners to set up any scaffolding or deposit any bricks stone, lime, sand, or other building materials on the public streets, and who shall not cause a light to be set up every night from sunset to sunrise on every such erection or obstruction.

22. For erecting obstruction in streets whether proprietor's right be in dispute or not. Every person who shall build any wall, or erect any fence or obstruction, or setup any post so as to be an obstruction in any street, whether the proprietary right to such not street shall be in dispute or not.

23. For or exposing articles for sale in public street, &c. Every person who shall set out, place, or expose, or cause to be set out, placed, or exposed, whether for sale or otherwise any stall, booth, show-board, basket, cask, or meat, fish, vegetable, fruit, groceries, or any other merchandise or goods of any kind, or any stone, bricks, earthen-ware, hard-ware, timber, or any other thing whatsoever, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, in or upon any of the public streets or on or over any drain, sewer or aqueduct.

24. For sifting or cleansing grain, &c., in public streets. Every person who shall sift or clean, or cause to be sifted or cleansed, or exposed for any other purpose any cotton, grain, seeds, rice, coffee, onions, or any other vegetable matter whatsoever, or who shall sift brickdust or time on any public street, or on or over any public drain, sewer, reservoir, or aqueduct.

25. For leaving vehicles in public streets, &c. Every person who shall keep or leave any carriage, cart, hackery, or other conveyance, or any horse, ox or other animal, on any public street or on or over any public drain, sewer, or aqueduct, so as to cause an obstruction in the streets or public thoroughfare.

26. For making fires and discharging fire-arms and fire-works in streets. Every person who shall set fire to or burn any straw, hay, seeds, timber, or any other matter, or light any bonfire or fire in any public street, or discharge any kind of fire-arms or any air-gun, or let off or throw any kind of fire-works or send up any fire-balloon any wherein the said Town.

27. For sounding musical instruments or metals in streets. Every person who shall beat or sound any musical or sounding instrument, or any brass or metal utensil in the public streets, except at such times and places as shall be from time to time appointed by the Chief Magistrate upon application made to him for that purpose.

28. For affixing bills, or otherwise defacing houses, &c. Every person, other than the said Commissioners or their servants, who shall affix any bill, notice, or any paper against or upon any building, wall fence, or board or who shall write open, deface, or mark with chalk, or paint, or in any way whatsoever, any building, wall, fence, or board without the consent of the owner or occupier thereof.

29. For exposing unwholesome food &c. Every person who shall expose or allow to be exposed within the limits of the said Town any animal, carcase, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, or vegetables in a decayed and unwholesome state and unfit for the food of man.

30. For slaughtering in streets. Every person who shall slaughter or cut up any beast, sheep, swine, or other animal in any public street, or so near thereunto that any blood or filth or other matter from the same shall flow or be carried into such street.

31. For keeping a market unclean &c. Every person being the owner, occupier, or farmer of any public market, bazar, or slaughter-house, who shall keep or allow the same to be kept in a filthy and unclean state, and shall refuse or neglect, after the expiration of two days' notice to be given by the said Commissioners or their Surveyor, Overseer, or Bazar Inspected, to cause such market, bazar, or slaughter-house to be properly cleansed and the filth thereof removed.

32. For keeping swine, &c., in the Town. Every person who shall keep in any street, house, put-house, yard, or ground with in the Town, any swine or a flock of more than twenty sheep, goats, or horned cattle.

Section 42. Bathing places at the river to be set apart

It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners, with the concurrence of the Chief Magistrate, to set apart, at their discretion, certain of the public ghauts on the Calcutta bank of the River Hooghly for the purpose of being used as bathing places, and every person who shall by landing goods or merchandise at the said ghauts, or who shall by anchoring or otherwise fastening or keeping boats or vessels of any description in any manner obstruct or incommode the bathers at any such ghaut, shall be liable, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or, at the discretion of such Justice, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month.

Section 43. Commissioners sad chief Magistrate, may allow illuminations on street

It shall he lawful for the said Commissioners, with the concurrence of the Chief Magistrate, at their discretion, to grant a licence to any person permitting him to put up posts on the side of any public street for the purpose of affixing thereon lamps to illuminate the said street on occasions of festivals or ceremonies; and any person who shall put up any such post, or affix any such lamp for any purpose, without licence first had and obtained from the Commissioners under the hand of the Secretary or Surveyor, shall, on conviction thereof before a Justice of the Peace, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in default of payment, shall be imprisoned for any period not exceeding one month.

Section 44. Slaughter-houses to be registered; penalty for not registered

Every person being the owner, occupier, or farmer of any public market, bazar, or slaughter-house within the Town, shall cause such market, bazar, or slaughter-house to be roistered at the office of the Commissioners, with a description of the place, size, number of shops and stalls, and kinds of goods therein exposed for sale; and if he shall refuse or neglect so to register the same he shall forfeit and pay, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, a sum not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in default of payment thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding one month.

44. Penalty for making and using any new slaughter house within the Town without the consent of Commissioners, &c. No place shall be used or occupied as a slaughter-house, within the said Town, which was not in such use and occupation at the time of the passing of this Act, and has not so continued ever since, unless and until a licence for the erection thereof, or for the use and occupation thereof, as a slaughter-house has been obtained from the Commissioners, and every person who, without having first obtained such licence as aforesaid, shall use as a slaughter-house any place within the said limits not used as such, at the time of the passing of this Act, and so continued to be used ever since, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, a sum not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in default of payment shall be liable to be imprisoned. For any period not exceeding one month.

46. Owners of bazars, tanneries, &c., shall have sufficient drains. Every person being the owner, occupier, or farmer of any market, bazar, tannery, or slaughter-house within the said Town is required to have such a number of drains therein as shall be considered sufficient by the Commissioners, and shall have all the floors and drains paved with stone or burnt brick, and he shall have also therein a supply of water sufficient in the judgment of the Commissioners to keep the whole place in a clean and wholesome state at all times, and in default thereof for four weeks after notice given to him by the Surveyor, Overseer, or Inspector of Markets that such market, bazar, tannery, or slaughter-house is defective in any of the said particulars, shall forfeit and pay, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, a sum not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in default of payment shall be liable to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding two months.

47. Penalty for establishing any new tannery &c., Town. Any person who, after the passing of this Act, shall establish any new tannery or other manufactory within the said Town, from which an offensive or unwholesome smell may arise, shall forfeit and pay, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, a sum not exceeding two hundred rupees, and in default of payment shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two months.

48. Doors in future to be made to open inward, and doors opening outwards may be altered by the Commissioners. All doors and gates put up after the passing of this Act within the limits of the said Town, and which open upon any street, shall be hung or placed so as not to open outwards; and if any such door or gate be hung or placed so as to open outwards on any street, the occupier of such house, building, yard, or land shall, within eight days after notice from the Commissioners to that effect, cause the same to be altered so as not to open outwards, and in case he neglects so to do the Commissioners may make such alteration, and the expenses of such alteration shall be paid to the Commissioners by such occupier, and shall be recoverable from him in manner hereafter mentioned. And if any such door or gate was before the passing of this Act hung so as to open outwards upon any street, the Commissioners may alter the same, or cause the same to be altered, so that no part thereof when open shall project over any public way.

49. Number of house to be affixed to it. Every person being the owner or occupier of a house in the Town, shall fix, at his own expense, in a conspicuous place outside of the house or of his gate, in the street, the number of the same, as recorded in the assessment books, and no other number, and the said number shall be in legible figures at least three inches in length, and any person who, after the expiration of three months after the publication of this Act, shall neglect or refuse to have such number affixed, shall, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding fifty rupees.

50. Occupiers to keep lamp lighted Outside their gates in the streets. Every person being the occupier of a house in the said Town, and rated at a gross monthly rental of rupees seventy and upwards for the same, shall fix, at his own expense, in a conspicuous place outside of his house, or if the said house be in a compound, outside of his gate, in the street, a lamp, of a pattern to be approved or allowed by the Commissioners, and the said occupier shall keep and maintain a good and sufficient light burning in the said lamp throughout the night, and any person who, after the expiration of three months next after the passing of this Act, shall neglect or refuse to have such lamp affixed as aforesaid, or who shall on any night after the expiration of the said three months, neglect or refuse to keep a good and sufficient light burning therein as aforesaid, shall, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding one hundred rupees.

51. Provision for repetition of offences. When any person shall have been convicted under the provisions of this Act, and shall not, within seven days after such conviction, discontinue the nuisance or cases to commit the offence for which he was so convicted, such person shall be again liable to the penalties and punishments provided by this Act for such nuisance or offence, and may be again convicted or sentenced under this Act accordingly, and in cases where by the provisions of this Act Offenders are required to have notice given them to remove the obstruction or nuisance previous to being liable to the penalties imposed by this Act, if such parties being once warned shall be convicted, and shall again offend against the provisions of this Act, it shall not be necessary to repeat the notice aforesaid, but the parties may be summoned at once.

52. Obstruction of Commissioners or their officers. Any person who shall wilfully obstruct or molest the said Commissioners or any of them, or their Secretary, Surveyor, or other Officer or Workman employed by them under the provisions of this Act, or any person or company with whom they may have contracted under the provisions of this Act, or any person employed by them in the performance or execution of any duty or thing which they are respectively required or authorized to do under this Act, shall, for every such offence, on conviction before a Justice of the Peace, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding one hundred rupees, or, in the discretion of the said Justice before whom he is convicted, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding three months.

53. No person liable for penalty unless complaint made within three months. No person shall be liable to the payment of any penalty or forfeiture imposed by virtue of this Act for any offence complained of before a Justice of the Peace, unless the complaint respecting such offence shall have been made before such Justice within three months next after the commission of such offence. Provided always that nothing in this Section contained shall be construed so as to prevent the removal at any time of any obstruction or encroachment in or upon any of the streets or lands, or the imposing or levying at any time of any penalty or forfeiture in respect thereof.

54. Manner in which damages, costs, and expenses are to be ascertained. In all cases where any damages, costs, or expenses are by this Act directed to be paid, and the method of ascertaining the amount or of enforcing the paying thereof is not provided for, such amount in case of dispute shall be ascertained and determined by arbitration, in like manner as is provided for proceeding by arbitration under Act No. XXII. of 1847, and if the parties cannot agree upon two persons or arbitrators, or the arbitrators foil to pronounce their award as aforesaid, then by any two Justices of Calcutta, and if the amount so ascertained be not paid by the said Commissioners or by the other party liable to pay the same, as the case may be, within seven days after demand thereof, the amount may be recovered by action of debt or on the case in Her Majesty's Supreme Court of Judicature or the Calcutta Court of Small Causes.

55. Commissioners to publish short particulars of offences. The said Commissioners shall publish short particulars of the several offences for which any penalty or punishment is imposed by this Act, affecting other persons than Officers or servants of the said Commissioners, and of the amount of every such penalty and punishment, and shall cause such particulars to be painted on a board, or to be printed upon paper and posted on a board in English and Bengallee, and shall cause such board to be hung up or affixed in some conspicuous place in the Office of the Secretary of the said Commissioners, and when any such penalties are of local application, shall cause such boards to be affixed in some conspicuous place of the immediate neighbourhood to which such penalties are applicable or have reference.

56. All penalties not otherwise provided may be recovered before Magistrate form of procedure. Every penalty or forfeiture imposed by this Act, or any expense incurred by the said Commissioners in respect of any private drains, sewers, doors, or other things as aforesaid, the recovery of which is not otherwise provided for, may be recovered by summary proceeding before any Justice of the Peace of Calcutta, and on complaint being made to any such Justice, he shall issue his summons requiring the party complained against to appear before him, at a time and place to be named in such summons, and every such summons shall be served on the party offending, either in person or by leaving the same at his usual or last known place of abode, and upon the appearance of the party complained against, or in his absence, after proof of the due service of such summons, it shall be lawful for such Justice to proceed to the hearing of the complaint, which complaint shall be reduced to writing, and upon proof of the offence, or of the expense having been incurred, either by the confession of the party complained against or upon the oath or solemn affirmation of one credible witness or more, it shall be lawful for such Justice to convict the offender or party summoned as aforesaid, and upon such conviction to adjudge the offender to pay the penalty, or forfeiture, or suffer the punishment, or to pay the expense incurred under the provisions of this Act, as well as such costs attending the conviction as such Justice shall think fit, which penalty or forfeiture and costs so adjudged may be levied by distress.

57. Manner of executing distress. Where in this Act any sum of money, whether in the nature of penalty or otherwise, is directed to be levied by distress, such sum of money shall be levied by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the party liable to pay the same, and the overplus arising from such goods and chattels, after satisfying such sum of money and the expenses of the distress and sale, shall be returned on demand to the party whose goods shall have been distrained, or instead of proceeding by distress and sale, or in case of failure to realize by distress the whole or any part of any penalties, forfeitures, or expenses imposed or incurred under the provisions of this Act, the Commissioners, or any one or more of them, if they think fit, may authorize their Secretary or other person to sue the person liable to pay such penalty, forfeiture, or expenses, or any part thereof, in the Calcutta Court of Small Causes; and the costs, if any, incurred in any such suit, which are not recovered in the suit, may be defrayed out of the taxes levied under the provisions of Act X. of 1852.

58. No distress unlawful for want of form, &c. No distress levied by virtue of this Act shall be deemed unlawful, nor shall any party making the same be deemed a trespasser, on account of any defect or want of form in the summons, conviction, warrant of distress, or other proceeding relating thereto, nor shall any such party be deemed a trespasser ab initio on account of any irregularity afterwards committed by him, but all persons aggrieved by such defect or irregularity may recover full satisfaction for the special damage in an action on the case in Her Majesty's said Supreme Court, or in the Calcutta Court of Small Causes.

59. No distress unlawful for want of form, &c. The Justice of the Peace by whom any such penalty or forfeiture shall be imposed may, when the application thereof is not otherwise provided for, award not more than one-half thereof or any less sum to the informer, if he shall think fit so to do, and shall award the remainder or the whole thereof to the said Commissioners, to be by them applied to the purposes of this Act as to them shall appear fit, and shall order the same to be paid over to the Secretary of the said Commissioners for that purpose, whose receipt shall be a good and sufficient discharge to the person so paying the same.

60. Parties liable to penalty shall pay damage done to Commissioners also. If through any act, neglect, or default, on account whereof any person shall have incurred any penalty imposed by this Act, any damage to the property of the said Commissioners shall have been committed by such person, be shall be liable to make good such damage, as well as to pay such penalty, and if the amount of such damage shall not be paid on demand, the same may be recovered by action of debt, or on the case, in the Calcutta Court of Small Causes, or in Her Majesty's said Supreme Court of Judicature.

61. Power to Justice to summon witnesses; penalty for not appearing. It shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace to summon any person to appear before him as a witness in any matter in which such Justice shall have jurisdiction under the provisions of this Act, at a time and place to be mentioned in such summons, and require from him, on oath or solemn affirmation, that he will testify the truth in such matter; and if any person so summoned shall without reasonable cause refuse or neglect to appear at the time and place appointed for that purpose, having been paid or tendered a reasonable sum for his expenses, if from distance or any other cause he shall be lawfully entitled to claim such expenses, or if any person, appearing shall refuse to be examined on his oath or solemn affirmation according to law, or to give evidence before such Justice, every such person shall for every such offence forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding two hundred rupees, or, at the discretion of such Justice, shall be imprisoned for any term not exceeding one month.

62. Meaning of words in this Act. The following words and expressions in this Act shall have the several meanings hereby assigned to them, unless there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction; (that is to say,) words importing the singular number shall include the plural number, and words importing the plural number shall include the singular number; words importing the masculine gender only shall include females; the word person shall include corporations, whether aggregate or sole; the words oath, affirmation, and solemn affirmation, when used alone, shall include oath or affirmation or other declaration lawfully substituted for an oath in such case by any legislative Act of the Governor General of India in Council, or by any Act of the Parliament of Great Britain extended to India; the word street shall include any public square, circus, street, court, alley, foot-path, highway, lane, road, thoroughfare, public passage, or other public place within the said Town; the word lands shall include messuages, buildings, walls, tenements, and hereditaments of any tenure as well as lands; the words the said Commissioners shall mean the Commissioners for the time being appointed or acting under the provisions of Act No. X. of 1852, and the word month shall mean Calendar month.