 bib no 161 of 1985 the railway protection force (amendment) bill, 1985 a billto amend the rvzilway protection force act, 1957 be it enacted by parliament in the thirty-sixth year of the repubue of india 81 follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the railway protection force (amend-short ment) act 1985 title' and 5 (2) it sbal1 come into force on such date as the central government commencement may, by' notification in the official gazette, appoint 2 in the railway protection force act, 1957, (hereinafter referred to os the principal act), for long title, the following long title shall be it of 1957 amend ment of 10111 title fo substit':lted~ namely:-loan act to provide fot the constitution and regulation of an armed force of the union for the better protection and security  of tauway property and fot matters connected therewith" 3 section 2 of the principal act shall be renumbered as sub-leetion : (1) thereot, and,-am_~" meat of lection 2 ,(a) in sub-6ection (1) as so renumbered-(it) for clause (b), the f<mowing clauses shall be substi- tuted, namely:-o (b) "director-general" means the director-general of the force appointed under sub-section (1) of section 4; (ba) "enrolled member of the force" means any subordinate ofbcer, under officer or any other member of the force of a rank lower than that of under ofbcer; (bb) "force custody" means the arrest or confinement of a member of the force in accordance with rules made under thiiact;'j " (ti) in clause (e), the words "other than the superior officer" shall be omitted; 5 , (iii) afttr clau'se (e) the following clause shall be inserted, i~;  namely:-10 _   1/ , (ea) "subordinate officer" means a person appointed to the force as an inspector, a sub-inspector or an assistant sub-inspector;'j (iv) after clause <f), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-'(fa) "under officer" means a person appointed to the )  force as a head constable or naikj'; (v) after sub-section (1) as to renumbered, the following 15 sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-"(2) any reference in this act to a law which is not in forc'<! in any area shall, in relation to that area, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, jf any, in force in that area" 20  4' in section 3 of the principal act,-amendment of mction s (a) in sub-section (1), for the words "a force", the words "an arnitki force of the union" shall be substituted; t7 ,-(b) in sub-section (2), for the words "superior officers and members", the words "superior officers, subordinate officers, under officers 25 and other enrol1ed members" shall be substituted  s in section 4 of the principal act,-amendment of leet10n 4 (a) for sub-section (1), the following 'sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-"(1) the central government may appoint a person to be 30 the director-general of the force and may appoint other persons to be inspectors-general, additional inspectors-general, deputy inspectors-general, assistant inspectors-general, senior commandants, commandants or assistant commandants of the force"; 35 f' '(b) in sub-section (2), for the expression "inspector-general", ,the expression "director-general" shall be substituted ' -i section 5 of the principal act shall be omitted omillion of aection 6 7 for section ti of the principal act, the following section shall be tubstituted, namely: -40 subutttutiobof new 'ie-'tionfor ,ect1on • :~   "6 the appointment of enrolled members of the force shall rest with the inspector-general, additional inspector-general or deputy inspector-general, who shall exercise that power in accordance witli rules made under this act: ' appointmentot member of the porce , provided that the power of appointment under this section may also be exercised by other superior o~er as the inspector-general additional inspector-general or deputy' inspectorgeneral concerned  may, by order, specify in this behalf"' ' 8 iii section 7 of the principal act,-5, amendment of section 7 (a) in sub-section (1), for the words "chief security officer", at both the places where they occur, the words "inspector general, additional inspector-gen~ral or deputy inspector-general'" shall be substituted; 10 (b) in sub-section (2), the words "and on h;q ceasing to be a member of the force' !thall be forthwith surrendered by him to any >superior 6fficer empowered to receive the same" shall be omitted 9 for section 8 of the principal act, the following section shall be substisubstituted, namely; _ tution of new sec tion for section 8 15 -"8 (1) t1:je superintendence of the force shall vest in the central government, and subject thereto and to the provisions of this act and of any rules made thereunder, the command, supervision and administration 'of the force sha!l vest in the director-general superintendeuce and administration of the force '20 (2) subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), the administration of the force, within 9uch local limits in relation to a railway as may be prescribed shall be carried on by an inspector-general, ,an additional inspector-general or a deputy inspector-general in ac~rdance with the provisions of this act and of any rules made thereunder and they shall, :1ubjcct to any direction that may be given by the central government or the director-general in this behalf discharge his function": uncler the general supervision of the general manager of the railway" 10 in section 9 of the principal act,-i amendment of section • (a) in sub-section (1), for the word "member", at beth the  places where it occurs, the words "enrolled member" shall be substituted; 35 45' ' '(b) for sub-section (2), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-",(2) any enrolled mtmher of the force aggrieved by an order made under sub-section (1) may, withtn 'thirty days from the date on which the order is communicated to him, prefer an appeal again~t the order to mlch authority as may be prescribed: provided that the prescribed authority may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of tbirty days if it is satisfied that the appel!gnt was prevented by sufficient caus~ from filing the appeal in tittle (3) in disposing of the appeal, the 'presci:i,bed authority shall fahow such p1'o<"ctdure ils ma~; 1:le' prescribed: provifled that nf) ordf'r imposin,:! an enhanced penalty under sub-section (2) shall be made unless a reasonable opportunity of being heard has bpe'l ,~iven to the per!lon affeded by such order" ,11 for section 12 of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-"12 any member of the force may, without ~ ol'cler 'frcnn a: magistrate and without a warrant, arrest--- substi tution oln - ,, ection for section 12 power to arrest without warrnt  trt (i) any person who voluntarily causes hurt to, or attempt 5 voluntarily to cause hurt to, or wrongfully restrains or attempts wrongfully to restrain, or assaults, threatens to assault, or uses, or threatens or attempts to use, criminal force to him or any other member of the force in the execution of his d\lty as such member, or with intent to prevent or to deter him from discli,arg 10 ing his duty as such member, or in consequence of anything done or attempted to be done by him in the lawful disobarge of his duty as such member; or; '(ii) any person who has been concerned in, or against whom a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been concerned in, 15 or who is found taking precautions to conceal his presence under circumstances which afford reason to believe that he is taking such precautions with a view to committing a cognizable offence which relates to railway property; or (iii) any person found taking precautions to conceal his ~o presence within the railway limits under circumstances which afford reason to believe that he is taking such precautions with a view to committing theft of, or damage to, railway propertyr or (iv)" any person who commits or attempts to commit a cog- ~5 nimble offence which involves or which is likely to involve imminent danger to the life of any person engaged in carrying 0" any work relating to railway property",  u, in section 15 of the principal act,-(a) for sub-section (1), the following 8ub-section shall 68 substfw 30 tuted, namely:-amendment of section li "(1) every member of the force shall, for the purposes of this act, be considered to be always on duty, and shall, at any time, be liable to be employed at any place within india";  (b) in sub-section (2), the words "suptrior ofllcer or" shall tie 35 omitted i 13 after section 15 of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-• ! lnaert:¥m of new lection 15a "15a (1) no :trlember of the force shall, wiuiout the previous sanction in writing of the central government or of the prescribed 40 authority,-"beatrie:-toda reapeetlna rllthttn fonn  lociation, etc (4) bea member of, or be associated in any 'way with, any trade union, labour union, political association or' with any cials  of trade unions, labour unions or political associations; or  (tc' be/as introduced in !ok sa'bha)1 page 2, line s,_ 1bl: "afttr" ~ "after"! 2 page 3, llna 34,-m "mtmbor n l:tid "memb er" 3 pag e 4, line 35',-!br "sup trior " ~ "superior" 4 page 4,- i in the aarginal h~g to p~p'o-sed section 1i~'-~ 4 " ,;ou:  ''restri ctons" iif!i1 'restri~ji1on·s" , 5 pags 5, une 30,-!ol: ''hun~ered'' ~_ "hundred" 6 page 5, in the narg;+nal heading ito clause 15,-!at "sect:fon 11" ~ "section 17" 7 \ page 6, ii-e 35,-rlu: "or ~('+',rie~" ~ "or the libctories" 8 page 8, line 29,-111 column (2),-" traning " ~ "training" 9 page 10, line ~,-i ru 1"existenec" , ~ "existence" 10 page 16, in the llbrginal heading to sect100 21,-!iu: rrf l) wer s " tmul ''po war if new dmhi; august 1~ 1985' sravam , "1907 (salta) (b) be a member of, or be associated in any way witli, any other society, institution, association or organisation that is not recognised as part of the force or is not of a purely social, recreational or religious nature; or 5 (c) communicate with the press or publish or cause to be published any book, letter or other document except where such communication or publication is in the bona fide discharge of his duties or is of a purely literary, artistic or scientific character or is of a prescribed nature 10 explanation-:if any question arises as to whether any society, 15 institution, association or organisation is of a purely social recreational or religi9us nature under clause (b) of this sub-section, the decision of the' central government thereon shall be final (2) no member of the force shall participate in, or address, any meeting or take part in any demonstration organised by ans' body of persons for any politic~l purposes or for such other purposes as may be prescribed" 14 after section 16 of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- ~:j~';~i'1ir~' 20 25 insertion of new section lea surren_ der 'of certificate, arms, etc, by persons ceasing to be members of the force "i6a (1) every person who for any re~on cea¥s to be a member of the force, shall forthwith 'surrender to any superior  officer empowered to receive the same, his certificate of appointment the arms, accoutrements, clothing and other articles which have been furnished to him for the performance of his duties as a memoer of the force (2) any person who wilfully neglects o~ refuses to surrender his certificate of appointment, the arms, accoutrements, clothing and other articles furnished to him as required by sub-section (1), shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may 30 extend to one month or with fine which may extend to two hundered rupees, or with both (3) nothing in this s~ction shall be deemed to apply to any article which, under the 'orders of the director-general, has become the property of the person to whom tlie same was furnished  35 15 for section 17 of tlie principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-substi;; flutionot dew lecitoftfor section 11 penalties for neglect otduty, etc 45 "17 "(1) without prejudice to the provisions contained tn sectionl 9, every enrolled member of the force who shall be j~uilty of any violation of duty or wilful breach or neglect of any rulp or lawful order made by a superior officer, er who shall withdraw from duties of hi~ office without permission, or who, bcin~nbs(!nt on ie:tv~ fails without reasonable cause, to report himself fo!" duty ·on the expiration of the leave, or who engages himself without authorit,y fo!" any employment other than his duty as an enro~led member of the force, or who shall be guilty of cowardice may be taken intdforce" custody and s-hall, on conviction, be plinished \vith imprisonment which may extend to one year·  "' ~of 1974 '(2) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, an ofrence punishable under this section shall be cognizable and non-bailable (3) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 the central government may invest assistant 5 2 of 1974 inspector-general, senior commandant or commandant with the powers of a magistrate of any class for the purpose of inquiring into or trying any offence committed by an enroned member of the force and punishable under this act, or any offence committed by an enrolled member of the force against the person or property of 10 another member of the force: provided that-(i) when the offender i8 on leave or absent from duty; or (ii) when the offence is not connected with the offender's duties as an enrolled member of the force; or 15 (iii) when it is a petty offence even if connected with the offender's duties as '8jl enrolled member of the force; or '(iv) when, for reasons to be recorded in writing, it is not practicable for the commandant invested with the powers of a magistrate to inquire into or to try the offence, 20 the offence may, if the prescribed authority within the limits of whose jurisdiction the offence bas been committed so requires, be inquired into or tried by an ordinary criminal court having jurisdiction in the matter (4) nothing contained in this section shall be construed to pre- 25 vent any enrolled member of the force from being prosecuted under any other law for any offence made punishable by that jaw, or for being liable under any such law tet any other or higher penalty or punishment than is provided for such offence by this section: provided that no person shall be punished ,twice for the same :l0 offence tt 16 for section 19 of the principal act, the following section shall be iubstituted, namely:-"19 nothing contained in the payment of wages act, 1936, or 40f 1936 the industrial disputes act, 1947, or factorie9 act, 1948, or any cor- 35 119~~~ responding law' relating to investigation and settlement of industrial 63 of dispute in force in a state shall apply to members of the force" 1948 substitutionof new section forsec_ tion 19 certalft acta not to apply to membll'l " 17" in section 21 of the principal act,-(a) in su})section (2) ,-otitb~ foree • amend ment of section u (i)" in clauses (a), (b) and (c), the words "superior officers 40 and" shall be omitted; (ii)" for cla1lseb (c:l) and (e), the follo'wing clauses shall be ~bltittited, namely: ~ "(d)  prescribing the description and' quantity of arms;' accoutrements, clothing and other necessary artieles to be 45 furnished to thf'! members of the fq:rc;-e; \ '" (e) prescribing the places of residence of the member of the force; 5 <f) institution, management and regulation of any fund for any purpose connected with the administration of the force; (g) regulating the punishments and prescribing authorities to whom appeal shall be preferred from orders of punishment, or remission of fines, or other punishments and the procedure to be followed for the disposal of such appeals; 10 (h) regulating matters with respect to force custody, under this act, including the procedure to be followed for taking persons into such custody; 15 (i) regulating matters with respect to disposal of cases relating to offences under this act and specifying the places in which persons convicted under this act may be confined; (j) any other matter which has to be, or may be, iinposed, or in respect of which rules are required to be made under this act;"; -(b) for sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-"(3), every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon 81 may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be eozn prised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, add if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall therealter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule" 18 the amendments directed in the schedule (being -amendments of a consequential nature) shall be made in t~e pr~ncipal act | conae    |     ||----------|-------|| quential |       || amend   |       || menta   |       || provil   |     || :lons    | as    || to       |       || exist   |       || inc      |       || foree   |       |35 19 (1) the force constituted under the principal act as functioning immediately before the commencement of this act (hereafter in this ;:;ection referred to as the existing force) shall, on such commencement, be deemed to be the force constituted under the principal act as amend· ~d by this act, and every member of the existing force holding imme-40 diately before auch commencement an oftlce mentioned in column (1) of the table below shall, on such co~ncement, be deemed to have been appointed to the office meptioned in the corresponding entry - in column (2) of the said table -f director-general 2 inspcctor-general-cum-cbiefsecurity ofli-inspcctor-oc1icrat; ccr i 3~ ·additional in'lpector-general-cum-chief additional inspecloi-gt-neral security officer 5 additional inspector-general deputy inspector-general 4· 5· additional i mpector-general deputy inspcctur-gcnctal-cum-cbicf i security officer 6 deputy inspector-general - deputy inspector-general principal, training college 10 " , 7 principal, training college 8: a,sistant inspector-general - - assistant inspector  gen~ra1 g dep,uty chief, security officer - senior codunandant : headquar - ters 10 senior security officer - senior commandadt ii,,' security officer " - commandant 12' staff officer to chief security officer - comrnandant-cum~staff officer to,chief security officer 13' security officer (small anns) - commandant (small anns) 14 com~luldant - commandant 15; r :a~sistant security officer - assistant commandant 16 p(:non~ assist~t to' chief officer sccilrity a'ssistant commandant-cum-per_ 20 son'!l a'jsistant to chief security officer 17 adjutant a'isistant commandant adjutanfi 18 a'jsistant colilmandant • assistant coindlajidant i, ' , 19 principal, training sc~ool  j\"mtant commandant-cum-principal, trainiug school , 20 viceprincipal, rpf training college, ;' assistant commandant-cum  vice-principal, rpf thaning' " •  college t 121' inspector inspector - ' sub-inspectoj;' 22 • ;' sub-inspector 23 •• auistant sub·lnsp:ctor a,sistant sub-inspector head constable- 24  head rakshak 25  battalion havildar major head constable 35 head constable naik 26 coy havildar major 27 'senior rakshak · constawe ~8 raksbak   ' (2) notwithstanding an~thing contained in sub·section (1), any, member of the existing i,'orc:e may, wi~ thirty days from the com" ,mencement of this act, exei'cise his option by notice in writing to the 40 director-general-(a) if such member has been on deputation to the existing force from any other fervice, to revert to such other service, and - (b) in any other case, to retire from service, and an option 80 exercised shall be final, and a member exercising such option shall 45 be' permitted, within thirty days from the date on which he exercilel buch option to revert to the servit'~ from which be had been on deputation or, as the case may be, to retire from service explctnlltion--p·or the purposes of this section, ihe expression "mem-5 ber" includes an officer, and th(; expression "director-general" aball have the ,same, meaning as in the principal act as amended by this act  the schedule (see section 18) conseqt1l~tial amendments10 1 section ig-for "the lnfipector-general and f!very other superior officer and every member of the force", suoltitute "director-general and every member of the f'ott'e" 50f 1198 2 section 13-(a) in sub-section (1), omit "any superior office" or" 15 (b) in sub-section (2), for "code of criminal procedure, 1898", 2 of 1974 stlbstitute "code of criminal procedure, 1973" 3 section 14-0mit "superior officer or" 4 section 2~mjt "t;uperiol' officer or", wherever they occur the railway protection ii'orce has been constituted under the railway proteeuon force act, 1957 for ensuring better protection and security of railway property this force has now been in existenec for a period of about 28 years during tbir period the sanctioned strength of the force has con!liderably increased the responsibilities of the force have also grown jn magnitude as well as in complexity 2 the uninterrupted and secure movement of goods including essential commodities and passenger~ on the railways is of vital strategic importance the :;'allways not only playa very important and crucial role in the economic and industrial growth but also in the security and defence of the country the railway protection force act, 1957 in its present form is cons;dered inade-quate to meet requirements of the force in the present day context especially in view of the emerging n'~nsibilitie8 which railway protection force now perform and which may devolve on it in the days tc come it is, therefore, proposed to amend the railway protection f'orce act, 1957 as to make this force an armed force of the union ~,nd tc make it a more efficient and effective instrument fol" discharging it:; responsibilities ~t the' following are the principal features of the bill:-(a) declaring the railway ~otection force an armed force of the union and conr!quential changes in the nomenclature of different ranks in the force in consonance with its changed character as an armed force (b) conferment of additional powers on the members of the force such as to arrest without warrant, to restrain misbehaviour on the part of the members of the force, to effectively intervene for preventing imminent danger to the life of a person concerned with carrying on the work (if the railways for the better protection of the railway property (c) restrictions have been proposed on the right to form association on the lines of similar restrictions in other armed forces of the union (clause 13 oi the bill) - (d) conferment of add;tional powers on the superior officers of the force for enforcement of discipline, imposition of penalties for various offences, l'cgulatin~ procedure for force custody 4 this bill seeks to achieve the above objects new delhi; the 9th auqust, 1985 bansi lal clause 5 of the bill seejts to slibstitute for sub-section (1) of section 4 of the railway protection f'oree act, 1957 a new sub-section which provides for the appointment of a direetor-general, inspectors-general additional inspectors-general,deputy inspectors-generaj assistant inspectors-general, senior commandant!z/commandants and assistant commandants of the force the intention is not to create any post and it is only proposed to redesignate 1he existing ['osts in view thereof, the provisions of the bill if enacted and brought into· operation, would not involve any expenditure from the consolidated i\md of india clause 17 of the bill seeks to amend section 21 of the act which relates to the rule ~ng power of the central government by proposed amendments it i's sought to empower the central government to make rules on the following, among other matters:-(a) the description and quantity of arms, accoutrements, clothing, etc, to the members of the force; (b) authorities under sub-section (3) of section 17; , (c) prescribing the places of l'esidence of the members of the force; (d) institution, management and regulation of any fund for any purpose connected with the administration of force; (e) regulating the punishment and the authorities to whom appeal shall be preferred from orders of punishment, etc; (i) matters with respect to force custody; (g) disposal of cases relating to offences under the railway protection force act and place of confinement of persons convicted under the said act 2 the above matters pertain to matters of procedure or administra: tive detail and as such the delegation of legislative power is of a normal charactel' definitions (23 of 1957) - ii< - -  an act to provide for the constitution and regulation of a force called the railway prorection force for the better protection and security of railway property - - -  - 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,--  ii< - (b) "inspector-general" means the inspector-general of the force appointed under section 4; (c') ''member of the for~e" means a $)erson a!jpointed to the force under this act other than a superior officer; ii< '" - - - 3 (1) there 'shall be constituted and maintained by the central government a force to be called the railway protection force for the better protection and security of railway property constitution of the force (2) the force shall be constituted in such manner, shall consist of such number of superior officers and members of the force and shall receive such pay and other remuneration as may be p~cribed 4 (1) the central government may appoint a person to be the inspector-general of the farce and may appoint other person's to be chief security officers, security officers or assistant security officers of the force appointment and poweraof superior o1!lcel'l! (2) the inspector-general and every other superior' officer so appointed shall posj3ess and exercise such powers and authorityover the members of the force under their respective commands as is provided by or under this act 5 there shall ~ the following classes of officers and other ranks among the members of the force, who shall take rank in the order mentioned, namely:-a classes of officers-classes and ranks among members of the force (i) inspector, (ii) sub-inspector, (iii) assistant sub-inspector b classes of other ranks-(i) head rakshak, (it) senior rakshak, (iii) rakshak 6 the appointment of members of the force shall rest with the chief security officers who shall exercise that power in accordance with rules made under this act: appointmentof members of the foree provided that the power of appointment under this section may also be exercised by such other superior ofbcer as the chief security officer concerned may by order specify in this behalf certificates tomembers of the force 7 (u every member o( the force shall receive on his appointment a certificate in the form specified in the schedule, under the seal of the chief security officer or such other sup:!rior ofticer as the chief security ofticer may specify in this behalf, by virtue of which the person holding such certificate shall be vested with the powers of a member of the force (2) such certificate shall cease to have effect whenever the person named in it ceases for any reasdn to be a member of the force, and, on his ceasing to be a member of the force, shall be forthwith surrendered by him to any superior officer empowered to receive the same 8 (1) the superintendence of the force shall vest in the central government, and subject thereto the administration of the force shall \"est in the inspector-general and shall be carried on by him in accordance with the provisions of this act and of any rules made thereunder superintendence and administration of the force (2) subject to the provisions of sub-section (l) the admini~tration of the force within such local limits in relation to a railway as may be prescribed shall he carried on by the chief security offtcer in accordance with the provisions of this act and of any rules made thereunder, and he shall discharge his functions unde,r the general supervision of the gen-eral manager of the railway 9 (l) subject to the provisions of article 311 of the constitution and to such rules as the central government may make under this act, any superior officer may-dismissal, removal, etc of llembem oube j'oree (i) dismiss, suspend or reduce in rank any member of the force whom he shall think remiss or negligent in the discharge of ~s duty, or unfit for the same; or (ii) award any one or more of the following puni&hments to any member of the force who discharps his' duty' 'in a careless or negligent manner, or who by any act of his own renders himself unfit for the discharge thereof, namely:-(a) fine to any amount not exceed'ing seven days' payor reduction in pay scale; , (b) confinement to quarters for a period not exceeding fourteen days ,with or without punishment,' drill, extra guard, fatigue or other duty; (e) removal from any office of distinction or deprivation of any special emolument (2) any member of the force aggrieved by an order jlulde under &ub-section (1) may appeal against the order, to such authority as may be prescribed, and the decision of the s'aid authority thereon shall be final 9 of 1890 10 the inspector-general and every other superior officer and every member of the force shall for all purposes be regarded as railway servants 'within t~e meaning of the indian railways act 1890 other than chaptur'via thereof, and shall be entitled to exercise the powers conferred on railway servants by or under that act    ofticers and membel's otthe' force tbbe deemed to be railway servants 12 any superior officer or member of the force may, without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest-power to arrest without warrant (a) any person who has, been concerned in an offence relating to railway property punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding six months, or against whom a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned; or (b) any person found taking precautions to conceal his presell'ce within railway limits under circumstan(;es which afford reason to believe that he is taking such precautions with a view to committing theft of or damage to, railway property power to search without warrant 13, (1) whenever any superior officer or any member of the force, not below the rank of a seniol' rakshak, has reason to believe that any such offence as is referred to in section 12 has been or is being committed and that a search-warrant cannot be obtained without affording the offender an opportunity of escaping or of concealing evidence of the offence he may detain him and search his person and belongings forthwith and, if he think~ proper aitest any person whom he has reason to believe to have committed the offence 5 of 1898 (2) the pro\'isions of the code of criminal procedure, 18&8, relating to sea~es under that code shall so far as may be apply to searches ul1ch!l' this section 14 any superior officer or member of the force making an arrest under this act shall, without unnecessary delay, make over theperson so arrested to a police officer or in the absence of 'a police officer, take i'llch pt!rson or cause him to be taken to the nearest police station procedure to be followed 'after arrest 15 (1) every superior officer and member of the force shau, for the purpose of this act be considered to be always on duty and shall, at any time be liable to be employed in any part of the railways throughout india i (2) no superior officer or member of the force shall engage himself in any employment or office other than his duties under this act , '" '" '"   oftlcel's andmembersof the force to be con_ sidered aiwa;yu on duty andlia_ b1etohe employedinany part of the !tail ways penalties for neglectof duty, etc 17 (l)without prejudice to the provisions contained in section 9, every member of the force who ~hall be guilty of any violation 01 duty or wilful breach or neglect of any rule or regulation of lawful order made by a superior officer, or who shall withdraw from the duties of his office without permission, or who, being absent on leave, fails, without reasonable cause, to report himself for duty on the expiration' of the leave, or who engages himself without authority in any employment' other than his duty as a member of the force, or who shall be guilty of cowardice, shall be liable, on convict~on before a magistrate, to imprisonmen t for a period not exceeding six months (2) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of 'criminal procedure 1898 an offence punishable under this section snall be cognizable 6 of 1888       19 nothing contained in the payment of wages act, 1936, or the industrial disputes act, 1947, or the factbries act, 1948, shall apply to members of the force 4 of 1936 14 of im'1 68 of 1h8 certain acts not to apply to members of the ~orce zoo (l) in any suit or proceeding against any superior officer or member of the force for any act done by him in ~ discharge of his duties, it shall be lawful for him to plead that such act was done by 'hiin under the orders of a competent authority protection of acts 01-members oube force (2) any such plea may be proved by the production of 1tte' order directing the act, and if it is so proved, the superior officer or member of the force shall thereupon be discharged from any liability in respecl of the act so done by him, notwithstanding any defect in the jurisdiction" of the authority which issued such order (3) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any legal proceeding, whether civil or criminal, which may lawfully be brought against any superior officer or member of the force for anything done !>r intended to be done under the powers conferred by, or in pursuance of any provision of this act or the rules thereunder shall be commenced within three months after the act complained of shall have been committed and not otherwise; and notice in writing of such proceeding and 'of the cause thereof shall be givr,n to the person concerned and his superior officer at least one month before th~ commencement of such proceeding 21 (1)     - powers to make rules (2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers such rules may provide fot:-(a) regulating the classes and grades and the pay and remuneration of superior officers and members of the' force and their conditions of service in the force; (b) regulating the powers and duties of superior ofticers and members of the force authorised to exercise any functions by or under this' act; (c) fixing the period of service for superior officers and members of the force; td) regulating the punishments ahd providing for appeals from, or the revisien of, orders of punishment, or the remission of fines or other punishments; ("e) any other matter which has to be or may be prescrihed (3) all rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days' before both houses ef parliament as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to· such modificatiobs as parliament may make during the session in which they are se laid  the session _-mediately following - - - - ,·c a bu"l j to amend the railway protection force act, 1857 (siaji bam leu, miflibter of rmlwglis) 