inser- 17 after section 169 of the principal act, the following tion ton of shall be inserted, namely:— new section 169a period of "169a when a person or officer subject to this act is sentenced ee by a court-martial to a term of imprisonment, not being an impric bone by sonment in default of payment of fine, the period spent by him in the civil or military custody during investigation, inquiry or trial of the omcer| same case, and before the date of order of such sentence, shall be set or off against the term of imprisonment imposed upon him, and the part liability of such person or officer to undergo imprisonment on su he ing order of sentence, shall be restricted to the remainder, if any, of the apaingé term of imprisonment imposed upon him" the im- prisonment amend- 18 in section 191 of the principal act, in sub-section (2), clause (c) mentof _ shall be cmitted section 191 omission 19 chapter xvi of the principal act and the heading relating thereof chapto shall be omitted ter xvi statement of objects and reasonsthe army act 1950 came into force on 22,71950 this act was essentially on the lines of army act 1911, incorporating additional provisions to bring it in conformity with the constitution of india till date, no major amendments have been made to the army act, 1950 thus, the basic structure of the act has remained as it was in 1950 2 in the changed circumstances, the army act 1950 is proposed to be amended with a view to removing certain archaic and obsolete provisions, incorporating certain provisions to bring the act in conformity with the code of criminal procedure, 1973 in certain aspects and providing fixibility 3 accordingly, the bill seeks to provide, inter-alia, the following amendments in the act namely: - (a) field punishment, which is in the nature of personal restraint and hard labour and which is clearly an archaic punitive system is intended to be abolished; (b) the provision regarding second trial of a person by @ criminal court after conviction or accquittal by a court-martial is sought to be omitted; (c) power to give reprimand and severe reprimand is proposed to be conferred on commanding officers for dealing with minor offences expeditiously; is (a) provisions similar to those as existing in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 relating to the commencement of the period of limitation for trial are sought to be incorporated in the act; (e) provision allowing the period of detention undergone by an accused person before conviction to be set off against the sentence of imprisonment is sought to be made; (£) provision enabling the authorities to use reports of certain government scientific experts as evidence in any proceeding under the act, as provided in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, is also proposed to be incorporated; (g) under the existing provisions of the act, a trial can commence within six months after the offender has ceased to be subject to the act it has been noticed that in some cases offenders have evade trial due to this short period of limitation it is, therefore, proposed to enhance this period to three years and in computing the period, the period of any stay granted by court is sought to be excluded; el a ee oy ast = an a(h) power to a court of inquiry to issue summons req attendance of any person to give evidence or to produce any ment is sought to be given; (i) certain formal and consequential amendments are sought to be made in the act, 4 the bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objects new detin; s krishna k the 10th april, 1992 belg seat as hat ae spn annexure exrracts from the army act, 1950 (46 of 1950)     75 where any person subject to this act and under the rank of arrant officer commits any offence on active service, it shall be lawful ior a court-martial to award for that offence any such punishment as is escribed as a field punishment field punishment shall be of the character of personal restraint or of hard labour but shall not be of a nature to cause injury to life or limb and shall not include flogging __ 76 field punishment shall for the purpose of commutation be deemd to stand next below dismissal in the scale of punishments specified in section 71, ™7 a warrant officer or a non-commissioned officer sentenced by a court-martial to transportation, imprisonment, field punishment or disnissal from the service, shall be deemed to be reduced to the ranks 80 subject to the provisions of section 81, a commanding officer or such other officer as is, with the consent of the central government, specified by the chief of the army staff, may, in the prescribed manner, eed against a person subject to this act otherwise than as an officer, jimior commissioned officer or warrant officer who is charged with an offence under this act and award such person, to the extent prescribed, or more of the following punishments, that is to say,—      (j) any prescribed field punishment up to twenty-eight days, in the case of a person on active service 81 (1) an award of punishment under section 80 shall not include field punishment in addition to one or more of the punishments speciied in clauses (a), (b) ani (c) of that section(4) the punishments specified in clauses (a), (b), (c) and of section 80 shall not be awarded to any person who is of the rank of non-commissioned officer or was, at the time of committing the offence for which he is punished, of such rank  85 a commanding officer or such other officer as is, with the congent of the central government, specified by the chief of the army staff may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against a junior commis- sioned officer who is charged with an offence under this act and award the punishment of stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of which he is convicted is made good  chapter viii penal deductions90 the following penal deductions may be made from the pay and allowances of an officer, that is to say,—  (e) all pay and allowances ordered by a court-martial or an officer exercising authority under section 85 to be forfeited or stopped; (i) any sum required by order of the central government to be paid for the maintenance of his wife or his legitimate or illegitimate child of towards the cost or any relief given by the said government to the said wife or child, 91 subject to the provisions of section 94 the following penal deductions may be made from the pay and allowances of a person subject to this act other than an officer, that is to say,— (a) all pay and allowances for every day of absence either on desertion or without leave or as a prisoner of war, and for every day of transportation or imprisonment awarded by a criminal court, a court-martial or an officer exercising authority under section 80, or of field punishment awarded by a court-martial or such officer; (b) all pay and allowances for every day while he is in custody on a charge for an offence of which he is afterwards convicted by a criminal court or a court-martial, or on a charge cf absence without leave for which he is afterwards awarded imprisonment or field punishment by an officer exercising authority under section 80;      122 (1) except as provided by sub-section (2), no trial by courtmartial of any person subject to this act for any offence shall be commenced after the expiration of a period of three years from the date of such effence     (2) no such person shall be tried for an offence, unless his trial soinmences within six months after he had ceased to be subject to this | provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply to the ial of any such person for an offence of desertion or fraudlent rulment or for any of the offences mentioned in section 37 or shall ect the jurisdiction of a criminal court to try any offence triable by uch court as well as by a court-martial    127 (1) a person convicted or acquitted by a court-martial may with the previous sanction of the central government, be tried again by a criminal court for the same offence, or on the same facts (2) if a person sentenced by a court-martial under this act or ished under any of the sections 80, 83, 84 or 85 is afterwards tried convicted by a criminal court for the same offence, or on the same s, that court shall, in awarding punishment, have regard to the shment he may already have undergone for the said offence  135, (1) the convening officer, the presiding officer of a courtni , the judge advocate or the commanding officer of the accused n may, by summons under his hand, require the attendance, at a t e and place to be mentioned in the summons, of any person either to give evidence or to produce any document or other thing      137 (1) i $ = ig (3) the magistrate or officer to whom the commission is issued, or, if he is the district magistrate, he or such magistrate of the first class as he appoints in this behalf, shall proceed to the place where the wits is or shall summon the witness before him and shall take down his 'evidence in the same manner, and may for this purpose exercise the ime powers, as in trials of warrant-cases under the code of criminal ocedure, 1898, or any corresponding law in force in the state of amu and kashmir (4) when the witness resides in a tribal area or in any place outside ndia, the commission may be issued in the manner specified in chapter of the code of criminal procedure, 1898, or of any corresponding in force in the state of jammu and kashmir b °    139 (1) a person charged before a court-martial with desertion be found guilty of attempting to desert or of being absent without (2) a person charged before a court-martial with attempting to lésert may be found guilty of being absent without leave (3) a person charged before a court-martial with using criminal may be found guilty of assault  5 of 1898 5 of 1898(4) a person charged before a court-martial with using threat language may be found guilty of using insubordinate language (5) a person charged before a court-martial with offences specified in clauses (a), (b) found guilty of any been charged, 6 of 1898, (6) a person charged before a court-marti able under section 69 may be found guil he might have been found guilty if the isi nal procedure, 1898, were applicable (7) a person charged before a court-martial with any offence uw this act, may, on failure of proof of an offence having been committed circumstances involving a more severe punishment, be found guilty the same offence as having been committed in circumstances invol 4 less severe punishment this act, may be found guilty of having attempted or abetted the mission of that offence, although the attempt or abetment is not separatel; cherged   (7) any document purporting to-be a re chemical examiner or assistant chemical analysis and report may be u: this act 151, (1) after the conclusion of a trial before any court-martial, the court or the officer confirming the finding or sentence of such courtmartial, or any authority superior to such officer, or, in the case of a court-martial whose finding or sentence does not require confirmation, the officer commanding the army, army corps, division or brigade within which the trial was held, may make such order as it or he thinks fit for the disposal by destruction, confi to be entitled to possession thereo! document produced before the court or in its custody, which any offence appears to have been committed or which has been used for the commission of any offence 5 of 1898, (@) where any order has been made under sub-section (1) in respect of property regarding which an offence appears to have been committed, a copy of such order signed and certified by the authority making the same may, whether the trial was held within india or not, le sent to a magistrate within whose jurisdiction such property for the time being is situated, and such magistrate shall thereupon cause the order to be carried into effect as if it were an order passed by him under the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1898, or any corresponding law in force in the state of jammu and kashmir| any     ||---------|| »       || (c)     || and     || (d)     || of      || section || 52      || may     |(3) in this section the term "property" includes, in the case of property regarding which an offence appears to have been committed, not only such property as has been originally in the possession or under the control of any person, but also any property into or for which the same may have been converted or exchanged, and anything acquired by such conversion or exchange whether immediately or otherwise 152 any trial by a court-martial under the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the indian penal code, and the court-martial shall be deemed to be a court within the meaning of sections 480 and 482 of the code of criminal procedure, 1898,      174 when a sentence of fine is imposed by a court-martial under section 69 whether the trial was held within india or not, a copy of such sentence, signed and certified by the confirming officer, or where no confirmation is required, by the officer holding the trial may be sent to any magistrate in india, and such magistrate shall thereupon cause the fine to be recovered in accordance with the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1898, or any corresponding law in force in the state of jammu and kashmir for the levy of fines as if it were a sentence of fine imposed by such magistrate   es    chapter xv ruleswl, (1)     e (2) without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by sub-section (1), the rules made thereunder may provide for—      (c) the specification of the punishments which may be awarded as field punishments under sections 75 and 80;  +     chapter xvi transitory provisions195 (1) in this chapter "british officer" means a person of non- indian domicile holding a commission in his majesty's land forces or in the royal marines or in the 'territorial army and serving in the regular army | (2) the expression "superior officer" in this act shall be deemed to include a british officer = 196 a british officer shall have all the powers conferred by this _ act on an officer of corresponding rank or holding a corresponding _ appointment | 1 45 of 1860 5 of 1898 s of 1898