Bengal police regulation [CHAPTER-III]

Police Regulations, Bengal – 1943

CHAPTER III

Direction and Control

I-Powers and Duties.

35. Power of Inspector-General. – (a) The Inspector-General is authorised to issue, without reference to the Provincial Government, standing or general orders either on matters of routine or to simplify or explain previous orders, but shall issue no standing order that deals with a point of law until it has been approved by the Legal Remembrancer.
All such orders shall be published as Police Orders in the Police Gazette, and the approval of the Provincial Government shall be obtained subsequently for the incorporation of any of them in the Police Regulations.
(b) The Inspector-General may exercise the full powers of a Magistrate, with which he is vested under section 5, Police Act, 1861, throughout the province, only for the preservation or detection of crime, or the apprehension of detection of offenders, so far as may be necessary in the absence of a Magistrate.

36. Powers and duties of Deputy Inspector-General of Range. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The Deputy Inspector-General of a Range is responsible for maintaining the strictest discipline and the highest possible standard of efficiency in the police force under him. He shall ensure these by making frequent inspections and by keeping in close touch with his Superintendents.
(b) He shall be ready to assist and to control the Superintendents under him, and shall point out to them the proper method of carrying out their duties whenever he observes neglect, want of system or divergence from orders but he shall subsequently refer any difference of opinion to the Inspector-General if a Superintendent so requests. He shall seek to encourage, instruct and advise them rather than to find fault and he shall be careful neither to supersede them in their proper functions nor to interfere unduly in their relations with their subordinates.

(c) He is responsible for seeing that in the districts within his Range all necessary measures are taken by the police for the prevention and detection of crime and that the investigation of important cases is properly supervised, that the procedure is uniform, and that districts co-operate harmoniously with one another and also with districts of other Ranges.

(d) Subject to the provisions of regulation 685, he is empowered to strengthen the police in, or to withdraw police from, any district in his Range as a temporary measure; and he can also alter temporarily the strength of the force allotted to any duty head in the allotment statement provided that the total strength of the Range is not hereby increased.

(e) He may not, without the previous sanction of the Inspector-General, issue any circular orders to, or prescribe any return or form to be prepared or submitted by Superintendents in his Range.

37. Powers and duties of Superintendents. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The powers and duties of a Superintendent are given in the various chapters.
(b) A Superintendent shall without delay or demur carry out any instructions given to him by the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range.

38. General control by Superintendents. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – It should be the aim of every Superintendent that his subordinates should, on the one hand, feel confident of being given due credit for good work and of receiving a fair hearing and loyal support in all difficulties and, on the other, realise the impossibility of earning his good opinion or of gaining promotion except by honest work.
He shall keep in constant touch with his officers. He shall be accessible to them and encourage those who are called by duty to headquarters to report in person on the state of their charges and to discuss their difficulties with him personally. He shall attend office at regular hours when at headquarters and dispose of his official business there. When enquiries are being made into minor offences he should dispense with written explanations, if possible, and pass short concise orders.
39. Duties which may be delegated to Additional Superintendents. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The Additional Superintendent is in subordinate alliance with the Superintendent and holds a position similar to that of a second in command of a regiment. The two officers shall work in constant co-operation and keep each other informed of all matters of importance in the administration of the district, when one of them is absent from headquarters the other shall do his current work.
(b) Subject to any restriction imposed by these regulations, the Superintendent may at his discretion employ an Additional Superintendent on any duty and may delegate to him the power to dispose of any particular item of work, which is relatively less important and of which the Superintendent can be relieved without, in any degree whatsoever, diminishing his authority or responsibility.

The Superintendent shall, if necessary, consult the Deputy Inspector-General when determining the duties ordinarily to be performed by the Additional Superintendent.
(c) The Superintendent and the Additional Superintendent shall meet constantly to discuss intelligence Branch work in order to keep each other posted in all its phases.

(d) The Superintendent shall lay down a definite line of action for the control of crime throughout his charge and he shall communicate this to his Additional Superintendent who shall give him every support in seeing that it is followed.

40. Restrictions on delegations to Additional Superintendents. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Although the Superintendent may delegate to the Additional Superintendent the maintenance of the cash account and the signing of the cash balance certificate, he shall satisfy himself that the Additional Superintendent is exercising a careful scrutiny.
(b) The Superintendent is the principal touring officer and shall tour throughout his district, though he may allot a portion of this work to the Additional Superintendent.

(c) The Superintendent may not delegate to an Additional Superintendent responsibility for any of the following :-

(i) the drill, discipline and general control of the police force under him;

(ii) the control over expenditure whether of cash or of other property of the Police Department throughout his charge;

(iii) the work of the District Intelligence Branch, except in a district where an Additional Superintendent is specially sanctioned for that Branch;

(iv) the maintenance in his office of the District Crime Note Book or other system of control of crime against property, and

(v) except in Mymensingh district, the general control of crime throughout any part of his district.

(d) Except in Mymensingh the territorial distribution of work between the Superintendent and the Additional Superintendent is prohibited.

(e) An Additional Superintendent may write confidential reports under regulation 76 upon officers with whom he is in close contact; but they shall be subject to the Superintendent’s control and remarks.

41. Matters with which Superintendents should deal personally. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The Superintendent shall personally deal with the following matters :-
(i) proceedings against Inspectors;

(ii) the posting, transfer and promotion of all officers of and above the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector;

(iii) important correspondence with higher authorities; such as, applications for additional grants, changes in the jurisdiction of police-station, etc. ;

(iv) the maintenance of the District Note Book prescribed in regulation 1104;

(v) holding orderly room at least once a week as laid down in regulation 893; and, generally,

(vi) all matters of importance.

(b) The Superintendent shall himself pass orders about the major punishment of Sub-Inspectors.

(c) The Superintendent shall personally, as often as is possible –

(i) supervise important cases (vide regulation 55);

(ii) hold the monthly kit inspection at headquarters;

(iii) make inspections of police-stations and of police offices in the district, and shall, so far as possible, deal with important confidential matters.

42. Cases to be investigated by Superintendent. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – A Superintendent is expected to take a share in the actual investigation of important cases but should take the investigation out of the hands of his subordinates only in very exceptional circumstances. He shall personally investigate all serious cases in which Europeans are involved or in which racial feelings have been or are likely to be aroused.
43. Investigation and trial of cases after riot. – (a) Whenever there has been any outbreak or rioting, the Superintendent shall, if necessary, reinforce the local investigating staff and arrange the work so that officers investigating cases arising from the riots can devote undivided attention to them.
(b) He shall also see that investigations are completed without unnecessary delay. Charge-sheets shall be framed at once against any persons regarding whom evidence is immediately available, supplementary charge-sheets being drawn against other persons regarding whom evidence is obtained later. In no circumstances shall a charge-sheet against any person or persons regarding whom satisfactory evidence is forthcoming be delayed while evidence against other persons is sought.

(c) He shall, also, if necessary, reinforce the prosecuting staff and, if police officers are not available for this purpose, move the District Magistrate to apply to the Legal Remembrancer for the retention of legal practitioners as public prosecutors. It is essential that the prosecuting staff detailed for such cases should be sufficient to give undivided attention to them.

(d) He shall also see that prosecuting officers move the Magistrates for early trial of such cases, and that they communicate the dates of hearing to the investigating staff, so that all necessary witnesses appear before the Courts on those dates.

(e) The District Magistrate should consider whether an additional or special Magistrate is required to deal with cases arising out of the occurrence, and whether local arrangements can be made: if not, the Commissioner and the Provincial Government should be informed by wire. It is important that a capable Magistrate should take up the riot cases and deal promptly with them.

(f) Applications for bail made in any Court by any person under trial or appealing against conviction in such cases shall be opposed, if there is reason to believe that he is likely to use his liberty to commit further offences or to instigate others to do so. The Public Prosecutor must be supplied with all relevant facts necessary for this purpose, e.g., that the appellant has previously been convicted of similar offences, that charges for similar offences are pending against him or that there is reasonable ground for believing that he will engage in further unlawful activities.

(g) If the District Magistrate desires that any application made under section 526 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should be opposed, he shall immediately send to the Legal Remembrancer clear and full instructions for the counsel who will oppose it. If it is important that the trial of the case, regarding which the application is made, should not be delayed, the District Magistrate shall also furnish the Legal Remembrancer with reasons for moving the High Court to treat the application as urgent.

(h) The Superintendent is responsible for furnishing the District Magistrate with all relevant facts required under clauses (P) and (g).

(i) Close co-ordination of the work of the police and the magistracy is essential in all matters relating to such cases, and the District Magistrate and the Superintendent are jointly responsible for securing this coordination.

44. Powers and functions of Assistant and Deputy Superintendents, [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) With the written permission of the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent in any district may, under the control of the Superintendent and subject to any written order recorded by him which does not conflict with any law or rule in force, perform any of the duties of a Superintendent under the Police Act, 1861, or under any rule or order made or approved by the Provincial Government under that Act.
(b) The functions and departmental status of Assistant Superintendents and of Deputy Superintendent are generally the same; but the object for which Deputy Superintendents are appointed is to give the Superintendent as much relief as possible whereas the chief consideration in the case of Assistant Superintendents is their training and their duties shall therefore be arranged so as to give them experience of all branches of police work and to fit them as early as possible for the charge of a district (vide regulation 790).

45. Method of employment of Assistant and Deputy Superintendents at headquarters. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – Assistant and Deputy Superintendents posted at headquarters should not be employed only for routine work in the Superintendent’s office, they should in addition be used freely, under the Superintendent’s directions, for the supervision of important investigations and enquiries and may also, when the Superintendent thinks it necessary, be used for additional inspections of police-stations in the interior. The Superintendent shall define clearly, in a district order, the duties which they shall perform and the sphere of action, if any, allotted to them.
46. Method of employment of Assistant or Deputy Superintendent as Sub-divisional Police Officers. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The two main objects for which an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent is posted as a Sub-divisional Police Officer are to prevent and detect crime and to ensure that close supervision is exercised over investigations. For this reason –
(i) he shall in every important case, and particularly in every special report case, visit the spot and supervise the investigation as prescribed in regulations 54 and 55.

(ii) he should secure the local knowledge which is essential for the prevention and detection of crime by touring in the villages and getting into close touch with the people. He should ascertain from them whether the chaukidars are doing their duty, whether any particular class of crime is prevalent, and whether real efforts have been made to arrest absconders where these are many. He should take with him the Village Crime Note Book and test the entries in it by enquiries from respectable villagers ; and he should particularly enquire whether there are any new criminal gangs at work. It is open to him to recommend deserving village headmen for rewards.

(b) The Sub-divisional Police Officer shall promptly take up the investigation of any charge brought against the police, unless or until an investigation or enquiry into it is taken up by the Superintendent or by a Magistrate.

(c) He shall occasionally visit important hats and invariably attend annual fairs and festivals to see that order is preserved. He should see that arrangements for the preservation of order at large gatherings are carefully thought out beforehand.

(d) He shall inspect the police officers, stations and posts in the subdivision at least once a year save and except those which have been inspected by Circle Inspectors, vide rule 47(j), and see that all recent orders, whether contained in circulars or passed in inspection notes or otherwise, have received attention. In the first week of each year, he shall prepare a programme of inspection in consultation with the Circle Inspectors, and his inspections shall cover half of all police offices, stations and posts in each Circle within the subdivision. Such inspections do not take the place of those of the Superintendent, and he should be present when the Superintendent is inspecting to assist and to learn how inspections should be made. He shall, in addition, visit police-stations, whenever necessary, for general supervision of police work.

(e) At chaukidari parades which he should attend as often as possible he should distribute rewards, enquire whether the chaukidars are regularly paid, and see that they are suitably rewarded for good work and that the station officers are making proper use of them. He should endorse his opinion on all reports regarding rewards and punishment of chaukidars, all of which should pass through him.

(f) When a Sub-divisional Police Officer is at his headquarters, he shall attend the Magistrate’s Court during the trial of important cases visit the sub-treasury guard and Town police beats at least twice a week at night to see that police are at their posts and are alert ; and once a month examine arms and ammunition and hold kits inspections.

(g) When at his headquarters he should examine the case diaries and the final report forms but shall be careful not to delay the submission of the latter to the Magistrate.

(h) He shall see any mufassil diaries that the Circle Inspector forwards to him as being of special interest and all case diaries of special and misconduct report cases, which he shall scrutinise carefully. He is at liberty, and is expected, at his discretion to call for diaries in any other cases.

(i) He is not given any clerical staff but an intelligent Assistant Sub-Inspector should be deputed to assist him in his clerical duties. He shall not correspond officially with the Superintendent but shall forward official papers in original, keeping a carbon copy of any important paper m a letter book.

(j) A Sub-divisional Police Officer need not keep a separate index of crime, but he shall periodically inspect the indices maintained in the offices of his Inspectors to ascertain which officers delay in taking up investigations and in submitting diaries and to see that Inspectors take suitable action against such delays.

(k) He shall keep a tour diary, which shall be submitted to the Superintendent, and a note book, and at the close of each fortnight he shall write to the Superintendent a letter reviewing the situation in his subdivision, and giving all facts and information of interest about what is going on, with his own comments and opinions thereon. The letter should be full and clear but concise, and should not be in a crystallised or official form.

(l) He shall bring to the notice of the Superintendent important caSes in which the retention of the Public Prosecutor or Government Pleader appears to be desirable.

II-Inspections.

47. Number of inspections to be made. [§ 12, Act V, 1881]. –
(a) The Inspector-General shall inspect every district once in two years.

(b) The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence Branch, will inform him at the beginning of each year which D.I.B. offices he intends to visit and Range Deputy Inspector-General should inspect the remainder.

(c) The Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department, shall inspect crime work in districts as ordered from time to time by the Inspector-General with reference to the incidence of organised crime.

(d) The Deputy Inspector-General in charge of the Intelligence Branch, Criminal Investigation Department, or his Special Superintendent, shall inspect the working of the arrangements for the collection of intelligence in every district at least once a year.

(e) The Superintendent, or, subject to regulation 41(c)(iii), an Additional Superintendent, shall make a thorough inspection at least once a year of every office, police-station or subsidiary post in the district.

(f) Whenever the Superintendent thinks it necessary for the better supervision of the work or in view of the incidence of crime, he should pay additional visits to police-stations or have them inspected under regulation 45 by an Assistant or a Deputy Superintendent.

(g) The Superintendent shall also make once a year for each Sub-divisional headquarters and for each circle, a general inspection of the progress of work in each circle, and shall examine particularly how far the Sub-divisional Police Officer or Circle Inspector has supervised investigations locally, what local knowledge he has acquired and what steps he has taken for the prevention and detection of crime.

(h) The Superintendent shall visit all Railway police-stations within his district once a year. He shall have access to all registers and files but any notes recorded by him in the inspection register shall ordinarily be confined to crime and criminals, co-operation between Railway and District Police and any particular cases in which the District Police are directly interested.

(i) Annual inspections should be made by Sub-divisional Police Officers as provided by regulation 46(d).

(j) A Circle Inspector shall thoroughly inspect every police-station and subsidiary post, including guards, within his circle once a year but, in a subdivision where a Sub-divisional Police Officer is posted, the police units shall be inspected once a year either by the Sub-divisional Police Officer [vide rule 46(d)] or by the Circle Inspector.

(k) Similarly, a Court Inspector or a Circle Inspector under regulation 189(f) shall inspect his Court Office once every year but, in a subdivision where a Sub-divisional Police Officer is posted, the Court Office shall be inspected either by Sub-divisional Police Officer or the Inspector once every year.

(l) Inspections by the Armed Inspector are governed by regulations 896 and 898.

(m) In addition to the inspections prescribed above, other inspections may usefully be made on particular points and to see whether orders have been carried out.

48. Inspections not to follow closely. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – The inspections by Superintendents, Sub-divisional Police Officers and Inspectors should be so arranged that they do not follow each other at unduly short intervals.
49. Duration of inspections. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – A thorough inspection of a police-station can never be made in a few hours and seldom in a day. In the cold weather a stay of three or four days should be made within the limits of each police-station; during the hot weather and rains the inspection of a police-station near which there is no proper accommodation may be spread over several visits. In dry districts Superintendents should try to finish their inspections before the cold weather so as to be free then to examine in the interior the matters enumerated in regulation 51(a).
50. Use of statistics. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – Statistics are of great value to inspecting officers, and specially to Superintendents, indicating as they do the officers whose work needs special scrutiny, and the areas and kinds of crime on which they should concentrate their energies. But to go further than this and to use them as the chief means of appraising work is deceptive, and teaches subordinate officers to believe that credit can only be gained by the maintenance of a high ratio of convictions to cases and a low return of crime. In the inspections of small areas, such as police-stations especially, the award of praise or blame on the basis of percentages and comparisons of figures is dangerous, and may be unfair. An officer’s merits can be gauged effectively only by a careful scrutiny and testing of work actually done.
51. Matters to be examined at inspections. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The chief object of an inspection is to see that the police are working properly for the control and prevention of crime; and inspecting officers should therefore pay particular attention to the following :-
(i) the conduct of investigations ;

(ii) the collection of information about criminals ;

(iii) the local progress of crime;

(iv) the application of preventive measures ;

(v) the employment of the village police; and

(vi) co-operation with Panchayats, union boards and the public.

(b) Registers, records, clothing, equipment, furniture and buildings should be examined in order to see that they are in good order, that rules are observed, that economy is practised, and money well spent, that correspondence and orders receive prompt attention, that registers and papers are duly classified and that old papers are not allowed to accumulate.

(c) All inspecting officers must realise that they are responsible not only for issuing necessary -orders but for seeing that they are carried out; they shall invariably ascertain and state whether the remarks made at the preceding inspection have received due attention. If they have been neglected, the officers at fault should be brought to account.

(d) Inspections should be helpful. The object of an inspection is not merely to look for faults and defects, but to obtain a clear idea of the position as regards crime and criminals and to give the officer inspected the benefit of the wider view and greater experience of the inspecting officer.

(e) An officer can dispose of many matters more effectively on the spot during an inspection than at headquarters by written orders. The Superintendent shall keep a file of such matters for each police-station and deal with them when he inspects the station.

(f) An inspecting officer should see that the inspections of officers subordinate to him have been regular and to the point, and should mention this in his inspection note. The Deputy Inspector-General of a Range in particular shall record a note regarding the inspections made by the Superintendent and shall comment on any irregularity or defect in this respect when he forwards the annual report of the district.

(g) The Deputy Inspector-General of a Range shall report in his inspection note upon the drill, discipline and training of the Special Armed Force and of those officers of the Unarmed Police who are from time to time brought into headquarters. He shall test the proficiency of the Superintendent and of Assistant and Deputy Superintendents in drill and in the work of the Reserve office. He shall not merely hold one general inspection parade but pay special attention to the individual work and training of all the officers in the Special Armed Force.

(h) In making his inspections, the Superintendent shall be careful to observe the extent of the supervision and control exercised by the Circle Inspector and the nature of his inspections. The Inspector has a small area under his charge, and possesses every advantage in knowledge of the language, the people, and the details of his work. Serious defects in the state of discipline or in the character of the work done imply a failure of duty on his part, unless he can show that he has already done his best to correct what is wrong. This responsibility shall always be brought home to him.

(i) As the area under a Circle Inspector is smaller than that under a Superintendent or an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent and his duties keep him less at headquarters, his inspections shall be more detailed and thorough than theirs. It is his duty at an inspection not to criticise but to help, to instruct and to act: he should therefore when inspecting a police-station –

(i) first, acquaint himself with the local circumstances by examining the available records; and

(ii) next, help the officer-in-charge in dealing with the problems disclosed by the examination. In doing so he shall be careful himself to avoid the mistake of thinking that all crime against property is committed by local criminals only, and he shall be on the lookout for foreigners also. The register of unidentified persons and other records will enable him to ascertain what foreigners have been convicted or suspected of crimes within his charge.

(j) Inspectors and officers of higher rank should frequently examine the staff of police posts including Court offices as to their knowledge of regulations 237, 327, 328 and 329. Prisoners who may be in the hajat when a police post or Court office is visited should, if time permits, be given the opportunity of making representations regarding their treatment if they wish to do so. When inspecting police posts and Court offices, officers by an inspection of the records and otherwise should ascertain as far as possible whether the rules mentioned above have been followed and should note the result in their inspection notes. They should, in particular, when, occasion offers, make enquires to ascertain whether prisoners while in hajat have been properly treated.

52. Inspection notes to be brief and to the point. – (a) Inspection notes should be brief and to the point, without elaborate reviews of crime, long complimentary or condemnatory remarks or lengthy dissertations of any kind. They should be mainly a record, for the future guidance of subordinates, of errors and omissions detected and of orders issued.
(b) Defects should be noted one by one, under serial numbers, and brief remarks made about each.

(c) The inspecting officer must not merely record in writing the defects which he has noticed: he must also explain them carefully to the officers whose work is being inspected, and make them understand how an improvement can be secured.

(d) At the end of his inspection notes, the inspecting officer shall record the fact that he has taken action under clause (c) and shall summarise, for the benefit of the officer who next inspects, the remarks which he has made under clause (b).

Note. – (i) Instructions for the guidance of Deputy Inspectors-General inspecting districts are contained in the Inspection Manual.

(ii) Detailed instructions for the inspection of the various offices’ stations and posts in a district are contained in the appropriate chapters of the Regulations.

III-Supervision of Cases.

53. Important cases. – The expression “important case” includes any case relating to an alleged offence –
(i) which is a special report case (vide Appendix XV);

(ii) which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace or to other offences, e.g., a riot, not in itself important, may be likely to provoke reprisals;

(iii) in which persons of importance are involved ;

(iv) which is of an unusual or striking nature either in itself or because of its modus operandi, or

(v) in which a police officer is involved ;

and any case of a class which has been declared in writing by a superior officer to be important.
54. Supervision of criminal investigations. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) An officer supervising the investigation of a criminal case should satisfy himself that –
(i) the investigation is being pushed through without delay ;

(ii) the investigation is thorough, i.e., that clues are not overlooked or important lines of enquiry neglected;

(iii) investigating officers do not work mainly for confessions or rely too much on any that are made, and that they use no sort of pressure and offer no sort of inducement to obtain confessions ;

(iv) the subordinate police are working honestly;

(v) the public are properly treated ; and

(vi) the prescribed procedure is followed.

(b) He shall on no account put pressure on investigating officers by injunctions to detect particular case or cases generally.

(c) The methods to be adopted by supervising officers are-

(i) visits to the place of occurrence at various stages of the investigation and personal examination, if necessary, of witnesses ;

(ii) careful scrutiny of case diaries and other papers connected with the investigation; and

(iii) examination of crime registers and other records at the police-stations.

(d) When a supervising officer discovers mistakes or omissions on the part of an investigating officer, he should point them out to him and should not call for a written explanation unless it appears likely to be necessary to inflict punishment.

(e) A Superintendent, an Assistant or a Deputy Superintendent, and (for his own circle only) a Circle Inspector have power to order an officer attached to any police-station to investigate a case that, under section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, should be investigated by the officer-in-charge. of another police-station; but the power should be exercised sparingly and its exercise by an officer subordinate to a Superintendent should at once be reported to the Superintendent.

55. Supervision by Superintendents and other officers. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) A Superintendent shall supervise the investigation of important special report cases and of all cases in which the conduct of subordinate police officers appears unsatisfactory. If, for special reasons, he is unable himself to supervise the investigation of any such case, he may depute an Assistant or Deputy Superintendent to do so.
(b) A Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent who is supervising a case need not visit the place of occurrence unless such visit is likely to be of practical value.

(c) A Circle Inspector shall supervise every case within his circle; and he shall visit the place of occurrence and test the evidence in every such case that is of importance. In selecting cases for testing on the spot he should direct his attention particularly to cases of house-breaking, riot and grievous hurt and to other cases which have been reported as false or non-cognizable.

56. Supervising officers to give evidence; and to keep diaries. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Officers who have supervised investigations of important cases should be encouraged to give evidence in Court regarding any important facts which have come to their notice during the investigations.
(b) An officer supervising an investigation shall keep a personal diary in the form prescribed for Inspectors in regulation 197 and shall note in the manner in which he supervised the investigation, any questions which he has put to a witness, any identification which took place in his presence and any other matters on which he may need to refresh his memory before giving evidence. This diary shall be kept in the officers’ personal custody.

(c) An officer who, while supervising a case, has himself taken part in an investigation shall, under section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, keep a case diary showing where and at what times he made the investigation. Only fresh developments which may take place during supervision should be noted in a case diary by the superior officer. It should also include any specific orders given by him. This diary shall form part of the main case diaries submitted by the Investigating Officer of the case.

IV-Touring.

57. Definition of touring. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – An officer is considered to be absent on tour on any day on which he proceeds on duty more than five miles from his headquarters.
58. Minimum number of days to be spent on tour. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) A Superintendent shall spend at least 120 days on tour during the year.
(b) A Circle Inspector, being essentially a touring officer, shall ordinarily spend at least 180 days in the year on tour in his circle. In a district where there is no Assistant or Deputy Superintendent at headquarters, the Superintendent may, at his discretion, reduce this minimum for the Inspector-in-charge of the headquarters circle.

59. Horse or pony or bicycle to be kept; touring by bullock-cart. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Where a horse or pony can be used, each Circle Inspector and each Sub-Inspector who is posted at a police-station shall keep a serviceable horse or pony for the purpose of touring, but, where there are good roads communicating with all parts of the subdivision or police-station, he may keep a bicycle instead.
(See regulation 210.)
(b) A police officer may travel by bullock-cart only during the rains, and at such times and in such places as render journeys by horse, bicycle or boat impossible.

60. General instructions regarding tours. [§ 12, Act V 1861]. – (a) A police officer of or above the rank of Inspector shall invariably record in the inspection register any visit to or call at a police-station and give a brief description of the particular work which he has done or is doing in its jurisdiction: he shall also enter in the Village Crime Note Book or other appropriate register any information of interest that has come to his knowledge and has not before been recorded.
(b) Flying visits and superficial inspections made by a Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent or Inspector shall not be regarded as the annual or half-yearly inspections prescribed by regulation 47. At the time of regular inspection, the inspecting officer shall not confine himself to an examination of registers and books. In order not to be dependent solely on the reports of his subordinates, he should visit places of importance within their jurisdiction and should endeavour to secure the goodwill of the leading men in the villages, such as, headmen, Panchayats or union board members and their co-operation in the prevention and detection of crime.

(c) During such visits he should make enquiries from respectable persons regarding –

(i) the work of the rural police ;

(ii) the local repute of persons under surveillance ;

(iii) persons likely to resort to crime for any reasons ;

(iv) local party factions ;

(v) the incidence of crime and any concealment of cases;

(vi) the probable resorts of absconders; and

(vii) any other matters bearing on the criminal administration.

61. Attendance at chaukidari parades. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) A Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent or Circle Inspector shall during his tours attend and, supervise as many chaukidari parades as possible, he shall ascertain if the rural police are properly instructed as to their powers and duties and if the officer-in-charge has their confidence and is successful in obtaining from them timely information regarding crime, the likelihood of riots and the movements of bad characters; and he shall see that the rural police –
(i) are properly questioned, and are given full information about bad characters, stolen property, “hue and cry notices”, absconders and other necessary matters, and that they understand the information;

(ii) have been recommended suitable rewards or punishments for any good work or any failure to perform their duties ; and

(iii) are properly equipped and regularly paid; or that, if not, the necessary action has been taken.

(b) He shall take every suitable opportunity of presenting, with as much publicity as possible, rewards to chaukidars who have done good work or given valuable information.

62. Tour Diary. – (a) Every Superintendent, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent shall keep a tour diary in which he shall show, (i) when absent from headquarters on inspection or other duty, the manner in which his time has been employed and the matters of interest to the police that have come to his notice, and (ii) when at headquarters, all night rounds (with the time) supervisions of investigations and inspections of offices there.
(b) The diary shall be written, in half-margin on foolscap paper, from day to day (or at short intervals) and not at the end of the tour. Brief notes showing what the officer did or observed shall be recorded for each day of the tour.

(c) Tour diaries of Assistant and Deputy Superintendents shall be forwarded to the Superintendent in the first week of the month following that to which they relate. The Superintendent shall take action on all matters that require attention, and shall forward extracts of any subjects of special interest or importance to the Deputy Inspector-General.

(d) The tour diary of the Superintendent shall be sent in duplicate through the District Magistrate to the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range, who will return the original with his remarks to be filed in the Superintendent’s office. The duplicate copy, which should contain a copy of the Deputy Inspector-General’s remarks, if any, shall be retained in his office for periodical inspection and check.

63. Officer-in-charge during Superintendent’s absence. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Before leaving headquarters, the Superintendent shall invariably record a written order appointing an Additional, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent or an Inspector to be officer-in-charge and to perform the current duties of his office during his absence. Should the officer so appointed also leave headquarters before the Superintendent’s return, he shall record a similar written order.
(b) If an Inspector is thus appointed under clause (a), he may perform such of the duties of a Superintendent under the Police Act, 1861, or under any rule made or approved thereunder by the Provincial Government, as the Superintendent may make over to him.

64. Tour programmes. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) A touring officer shall invariably leave in his headquarters office particulars of the places at which he may be found from day to day while on tour. If necessary these particulars may be left in a sealed cover, to be opened only in an emergency.
(b) A Circle Inspector, before leaving headquarters for more than two days, shall, whenever practicable, issue to all officers-in-charge of police-stations in his circle a programme of his proposed tour, noting all the post offices to which covers should be addressed, so that the officers may send papers to him direct.

V-Prosecutions.

65. Duty of Superintendents in prosecution of cases. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents should themselves take an active and personal interest in the prosecution of cases of all kinds.
(b) It will often be useful for the Superintendent to be present at the trial of important police cases before a Magistrate or in a Sessions Court; and no such case should go to the Sessions for trial which he has not personally mastered and carefully discussed with the Public Prosecutor, and the investigating officer.

66. Withdrawal of cases. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – Although any police officer conducting a prosecution with the permission of a Magistrate is authorised by section 495(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to withdraw from the prosecution he should not do so without the orders of the Superintendent, who shall consult the District Magistrate before agreeing to the withdrawal of any prosecution.
66A. As a general rule a Public Prosecutor appointed for the conduct of a police case shall refer to the District Magistrate before exercising the power conferred upon him by section 494 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to withdraw from the prosecution; and the District Magistrate shall consult the Superintendent before agreeing to the withdrawal of any case committed to the Sessions.
67. Applications for revision and appeals. – (a) If the Superintendent is of opinion that in any case a Magistrate has awarded a strikingly inadequate punishment or has improperly discharged an accused person, he shall direct the Court Inspector to prefer a motion before the District Magistrate or, if the Magistrate was a first class Magistrate, shall request the District Magistrate to instruct the Public Prosecutor to move the Sessions Judge for a direction for a further enquiry or for commitment of such person to the Sessions Court or for a reference to the High Court for enhancement of sentence, as the case may be.
(b) If the Superintendent, after taking the advice of the Public Prosecutor, considers that it would be desirable to apply for the enhancement of any sentence or that an appeal against an acquittal is necessary in the interests of justice and would be successful, he shall send to the District Magistrate a full note on the case to enable him to decide whether he shall address the Provincial Government or not.

(c) Action under clauses (a) and (b) should be taken promptly. The report mentioned in clause (b) must reach the District Magistrate within fourteen days of the order or sentence in respect of which action is desired, and the Superintendent should therefore arrange for the immediate communication of such order or sentence to him.

(d) A further enquiry cannot be ordered in the case of a person who has been discharged after proceedings have been taken against him under section 110 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

VI-Case Diaries.

68. Custody of case diaries. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Only the following police officers may see case diaries :-
(i) the investigating officer;

(ii) the officer-in-charge of the police-station ;

(iii) any police officer superior to such officer-in-charge ;

(iv) the Court officer;

(v) the officer or clerk in the Superintendent’s office specially authorised to deal with such diaries; and

(vi) any other officer authorised by the Superintendent.

(b) The Superintendent may authorise any person other than a police officer to see a case diary.

(c) Every police officer is responsible for the safe custody of any case diary which is in his possession.

(d) Every case diary shall be treated as confidential until the final disposal of the case, including the appeal, if any, or until the expiry of the appeal period.

(e) A case diary shall be kept under lock and key, and, when sent by one officer to another, whether by post or otherwise, shall be sent in a closed cover directed to the addressee by name and superscribed “Case diary”. A case diary sent to the Court office shall be addressed to the senior Court officer by name.

(f) A cover containing a case diary shall be opened only by the officer to whom it is addressed, except as prescribed in clauses (g) and (h), if such officer is absent, the date of receipt shall be stamped upon the cover by the officer left in charge during his absence and the cover shall be kept till his return or forwarded to him.

(g) Covers containing case diaries received in the Superintendent’s office shall be opened as prescribed in regulation 1073, and made over directly to the officer or clerk specially, authorised to deal with case diaries. Such officer or clerk shall take action under clause (i) and personally place the diaries before the Superintendent or other officer dealing with the case.

(h) Covers containing case diaries received in the Court office may be opened by any officer specially authorised in writing by the Court officer or by a superior officer.

(i) When an officer opens a cover containing a case diary, he shall stamp or write on the diary the date, if any, which has been stamped on the cover under clause (f) or, if there is no such date on the cover, the date on which he received it, and shall, after perusing the diary, file it with any other diaries relating to the same case which are in his possession.

A Circle Inspector and a Court officer shall stamp or write such date on every page of the diary and on every enclosure received with it, such statements recorded under section 161, Code of Criminal Procedure, maps and the brief.
(j) Every investigating officer shall be provided with a deed box, and every Circle Inspector, Sub-divisional Police Officer and Court officer with a suitable receptacle, in which to keep case diaries under lock and key.

VII-Gazettes.

69. Gazettes. – (a) The Police Gazette and the Criminal Intelligence Gazette are issued each week to all offices shown in the distribution list which is compiled in the office of the Inspector-General. Complaints about non-delivery of any issue should be addressed to the officer-in-charge, Publication Branch, West. Bengal Government Press, Alipore, Calcutta ; any such complaint from an office under the control of a Superintendent should be sent to the Superintendent in the first instance.
(b) All police officers are expected to acquaint themselves with any matters concerning them that may appear in these gazettes. Every officer who receives a gazette should therefore be careful to communicate to such of his subordinates as are unable to read it those matters that concern them; and inspecting officers shall test their subordinates in their knowledge of such matters.

(c) Superintendents are required to instruct their subordinates how to make an intelligent use of the Criminal Intelligence Gazette. It should be impressed upon all officers that they must not confine their interest to items concerning their own police-station, subdivision or district; and they should be encouraged to send to their Superintendents for communication to the Criminal Investigation Department any information they may acquire on any subject mentioned in the gazette.

(d) The Police Gazette is intended for official use only but a police officer may subscribe for copies for his own use; applications should be made to the office of the Inspector-General from which the rates of subscription can be ascertained.

(e) The Criminal Intelligence Gazette is a confidential document and is not for sale.

70. Contents of Police Gazette. – The following matters shall be published in the Police Gazette :-
Part I. – (i) Orders by the Governor of Bengal.
(ii) Extracts from the Calcutta Gazette, the Gazette of India and the Official Gazettes of other provinces excluding items published in Part V.

Part II. – (i) Arrival and departure notices of officers of the Indian Police and Bengal Police Service and officiating Deputy Superintendents.
(ii) Orders of the Inspector-General and Deputy Inspectors-General and district orders relating to officers of and above the rank of Sub-Inspector.

(iii) The chain of acting arrangements in the cadre of Deputy Superintendents (published once a month).

(iv) Statements of extraordinary and compassionate pensions and gratuities sanctioned (published once a quarter).

(v) Changes in the allotment and strength of the force.

(vi) Results of the departmental examinations of officers of the subordinate ranks and of the examination of clerks in accounts and office procedure.

Part III. – All outstanding awards to all ranks with brief particulars indicating the nature of good work in each case of –
(i) Money reward or rewards in kind in lieu of cash;

(ii) Commendations and good service marks awarded by Inspector-General or the Deputy Inspector-General of Police.

Note. – In the case of (i) above, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department will decide which are really outstanding and worth publication from the reports of Superintendents which should contain the name and rank of the recipients, the nature of reward, case reference and the nature of good work done.

Part IV. – Miscellaneous notices and extracts from the Police Gazettes of other provinces.
Part V. – Notifications regarding the forfeiture and proscription of various publications under different Acts.
Part VI. – Government Orders (other than those published in Part (I) and Police Orders.
71. Instructions for compiling Notices for the Police Gazette. – (a) All matters to be published in the Police Gazette shall be included in the weekly return due in accordance with Appendix XII.
(b) The following detailed instructions for the compilation of these returns shall be strictly followed by all concerned :-

I. – General instructions.

(i) Each return, headed with the name of the district and the words “For insertion in the Police Gazette” shall be forwarded to the Inspector-General, without any covering letter.

(ii) Each return shall contain all items for publication which have occurred in the week to which it relates. If there is nothing to report, a blank return shall be forwarded.

(iii) The returns shall be typed on one side only of each sheet of paper.

(iv) The rank and full name of every officer shall be given. Names shall be spelt in accordance with Appendix IX.

(v) The returns shall be accurately worded, in strict conformity with similar notifications previously published.

(vi) Each return shall be edited by a gazetted officer before despatch.

II. – Instructions regarding matter for publication in Part II.

(i) District orders shall be grouped under the headings “Promotions and confirmations”, “Leave”, “Reductions and reversions” and “Transfers and casualties”.

(ii) District orders relating to officers of and above the rank of Sub-Inspector only shall be included. Those relating to other rank officiating as Sub-Inspectors shall be excluded.

(iii) All orders regarding appointments and promotions shall be accompanied by complete information regarding the chain of arrangements, with dates, and shall indicate the vacancies (Permanent or officiating) against which they are made.

(iv) Orders relating to casual leave shall be excluded.

(v) Orders granting leave or an extension of leave shall be included ; in the latter case, the number and date of the paragraph in the Police Gazette notifying the original grant or the last extension shall be quoted.

(vi) Orders regarding the return from leave of subordinate police officers shall be excluded, unless any portion of the leave previously gazetted is cancelled or an extension is granted to cover a short period overstayed.

(vii) Orders relating to the permanent appointment, promotion leave and reversion of clerks of the Superintendents’ office borne on the Range cadre shall be included.

(viii) The numbers and dates of all district orders shall always be quoted.

72. Contents of the “Criminal Intelligence Gazette”. – (a) The following matters shall be published in the main body of the Criminal Intelligence Gazette :-
Part I – Special Notices.

The information furnished under this heading shall include matters of special importance concerning the entire police force. Examples will be found in the cases of persons who are wanted for murder or any heinous crime or habitual offenders who are likely to visit any part of the country. Such notices will be confined to really important occurrences to which the attention of every member of the force should be drawn and will be selected by the Special Superintendent of Police, Criminal Investigation Department. When, however, a Superintendent of Police thinks that the importance of an information demands special notice, he will send the information with a covering letter explaining the necessity of such publication. Such notices shall be published in bold letters.
Part II – Look-out Notices.

(A) Persons wanted. – Wherever practicable, the description will be accompanied by a photograph, giving specially the peculiar features or deformities of the person to make him easily recognizable.

(B) Persons arrested who may be wanted elsewhere. – Only particulars of persons who, it is thought from the class of crime committed and the places visited, may have been responsible for other offences elsewhere will be published.

(C) Property found in the possession of arrested persons. – Notices regarding property seized on suspicion from an arrested person shall be published. This may help the police forces elsewhere to connect up the property with any of their cases.

(D) (i) Property lost, stolen or seized on suspicion. – Only such property as is readily identifiable on sight will be published. (Unidentifiable property, if in bulk, may be included, if there are special reasons to justify the publication.)

(ii) Arms and ammunition. – The loss, theft and recovery of ammunition (in bulk only) and of all arms will be published under this head. If any huge quantity of arms or ammunition is lost, stolen or seized it will be published in the Special Notice.

(E) Unidentified corpses. – Photos with description or other particulars will be published.

(F) Persons missing – Photos will be published with description or other particulars.

Part III. – Peculiar modus operandi.

Crimes in which an unknown criminal has disclosed a clearly defined modus operandi or in which the sequence for the repetition of the offences indicates the need for co-ordinated action will be published.
Part IV. – (1) Miscellaneous Notices.

Any information which may be of interest to the police force in general, such as the suspicion attached to a certain motor-car in the commission of crime, articles coming into the possession of the police for which owners are sought for, etc., will be included. Movements of itinerant criminal gangs, lost sight of, shall also be included.
Test questions and answers for brushing up memories of officers will be published under this head.
(2) Motor-cars and motor cycles.

List giving particulars of vehicles lost, stolen or recovered will be published. Other articles, lost, stolen or recovered, e.g., bicycles, watches, sewing machines, typewriters, etc., need not be published but complete details in the form given below should be reported to Criminal Investigation Department so that helpful suggestions may be given on receipt of a reference from a district :-
Name of the article with Maker’s name.

Number.

Special identification mark if any.

P.S. Case No. and date with section of law under which the case was instituted.

1

2

3

4

(3) Crime statistics.

Weekly dacoity statement and Statistics will be published under this head. These statistics will be compiled in the Criminal Investigation Department. Important cases would go into the Special Notices.
(4) Interesting detections.

The following supplements to the Criminal Intelligence Gazette shall also be published, as and when occasion arises :-
Supplement “A”. – Expert and travelling criminals: This supplement will contain names and aliases used, short criminal history, descriptions and modus operandi of expert and travelling criminals for the information of investigating officers. It should contain on loose sheet or art paper the portrait of the criminal and in the history sheet, convictions, dates of release from prison, destinations and addresses. Blank space should be left on the original insertion to enable the police-stations to keep histories up-to-date and more recent portraits are to be inserted, when received from time to time.
Supplement “B”. – Notorious criminals wanted: Convicts and other old offenders whose arrests are sought for will be published in this Supplement. It will contain portraits, descriptions, places at which previously convicted, etc., showing where arrested and convicted, probable resorts, and names and addresses of associates and relations.
Supplement “C”. – Foreigners: Particulars of foreigners and others wanted from crime, deportation, etc., shall only be included.
(Lost or stolen foreigner’s registration certificates will not be published but a list should be maintained in the Intelligence Branch.)
Supplement “D”. – Deserters: It will contain particulars, supplied by the Services Department, of the Deserters of the Army, Navy and Air Force, who are residents of this State.
Deserters wanted in connection with criminal offences shall be notified in Part 11(A).
Supplement “E”. – Important active criminals: This Supplement will be confined to important active criminals of each district to be selected by the Superintendent of Police. It should contain photographs, descriptive rolls, last sentences, names of associates, brief particulars of the offences committed, recent addresses, if known, etc., of the criminals and should be kept up-to-date like Supplement “A”.
Supplement “F”. – Goondas: Photographs and other particulars of goondas will be published.
Supplement “G”. – Important rulings: Important rulings in criminal cases only would be published.
Special Supplements: In this Supplement departmental instructions and circulars regarding crime and its control, opinion on matters of law and procedure, instructions regarding scientific aids to the investigation of cases, etc., will be published.
Annual alphabetical indexes to all the Supplements, including the Special Supplements, shall be published separately.
(C) (i) An Excise Supplement compiled by the Excise Department and containing information on excise matters shall also be published from time to time with the Gazette.

(ii) Extracts from the Police and Criminal Intelligence Gazettes of other police forces shall be published in appropriate parts and supplements.

73. Instructions for compiling notices for the Criminal Intelligence Gazette. – (a) All matters to be published in the Criminal Intelligence Gazette shall be forwarded in accordance with Appendix XII direct to the Criminal Investigation Department with a copy to the Superintendent of Police. No return shall be forwarded when there are no items for publication.
(b) Each return shall be headed with the words “For insertion in the ‘Criminal Intelligence Gazette’,” and shall be legibly written on one side only of each sheet of paper.

(c) The return shall, if necessary, be compiled in two portions of which one shall contain matter for insertion in Part II(D)(ii) and the other all other matter. The latter portion shall be forwarded to the Special Superintendent of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, West Bengal, and the former to the Special Assistant, Intelligence Branch.

No covering letter shall accompany either portion.
(d) The following detailed instructions for the compilation of these returns shall be strictly followed :-

(i) Notices of lost and stolen property for Part II(D)(i), shall be included only if the property is believed to have left the district.

(ii) Notices for Part II(D)(ii) shall be compiled in accordance with the instructions issued by the Intelligence Branch.

(iii) The statement of itinerant criminal gangs, lost sight of, shall be compiled in B.P. Form No. 87 and attached to the return.

(iv) The returns shall be accurately worded, in strict conformity with similar notifications previously published.

(v) Personal descriptions shall, whenever possible, be given in the form shown in Appendix X.

(vi) Each return shall be edited by a gazetted officer before despatch.

74. Instructions for filing Gazette. – (a) The Police and Criminal Intelligence Gazettes shall, after all action laid down in regulation 69 has been taken, be filed in the following manner :-
(i) Parts I to V inclusive of the Police Gazette shall be kept together and filed in half-yearly bundles maintained in proper chronological order. Each half-yearly bundle, when complete with its printed index, shall be bound or securely sewn.

(ii) Government Orders and Police Orders published in Part VI of the Police Gazette shall be separated into yearly files, Government Orders being kept in one file and Police Orders in another. A manuscript index for each file shall be kept until the printed index is received, when the orders in each file, with their respective index, shall be bound or securely sewn together.

(iii) Parts I to IV inclusive of the Criminal Intelligence Gazette shall be kept together and treated as in (i) above.

(iv) All the Supplements of the Criminal Intelligence Gazette, including the Special Supplements, shall be separated into eight annual files and each file bound with stiff cover as soon as the printed index is received.

The pages of the Supplements shall be serially numbered so that each set of Supplements easily becomes a book of a proper size and pages and can become a handy reference book for the officers.
(b) These instructions apply to all offices, stations and posts to which the Gazettes are issued.

VIII-Confidential reports.

75. Confidential reports on superior officers. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) Early in January the Superintendent shall submit to the Deputy Inspector-General a confidential report in B. P. Form No. 1 on each Additional, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent who has served under him during all or part of the previous year.
(b) The Deputy Inspector-General shall forward to the Inspector-General, (i) these reports with his remarks and (ii) a similar report on each officer who has served as a Superintendent under him during all or part of the previous year, after embodying in them the remarks made by the District Magistrate and the Divisional Commissioner under regulation 75A.

75A. Confidential reports of Superior officers. – Early in January the District Magistrate shall submit to the Divisional Commissioner his general remarks on the work of each Superintendent or Additional, Assistant or Deputy Superintendent who has served in the district during all or part of the previous year. He shall pay attention to the points mentioned in the prescribed form, and shall in particular give his opinion on the officer’s general efficiency and his relations with the public. The Divisional Commissioner shall add his own remarks and forward the reports to the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range.
76. Confidential reports of subordinate police officers and character rolls of clerks. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The Superintendent shall maintain, bound in a book of convenient size, confidential reports for each inspector, Sergeant, Sub-Inspector and officiating Sub-Inspector in B.P. Form No. 2.
(b) The head of each office shall similarly maintain confidential character rolls for each clerk in B.P. Form No. 3.

(c) Subject to clause (d) entries shall be made in such hook –

(i) in January;

(ii) when the Superintendent or the head of the office is transferred ;

(iii) when the officer or clerk is transferred from the district or Range;

(iv) when the officer or clerk ceases to officiate in any higher appointment, unless the-Superintendent or the head of the office considers him to be likely again to officiate in it during the same calendar year, in which case no entry shall be made till the year has ended; and

(v) when a higher authority, such as a Deputy Inspector-General, the Inspector-General or the Provincial Government, orders remarks to be entered.

(d) Ordinarily the Superintendent or the head of the office shall not make an entry in such book, except under clausal (c)(v) above, unless he has been at least six months in the district or in charge of the office or has already formed a definite opinion regarding the work or character of the officer or clerk.

(e) Until one book is completed, Another shall not be opened for any officer or clerk.

(f) Confidential reports shall be kept by the Superintendent, and confidential character rolls by the Superintendent or the head of the office, under lock and key. They may be called for and inspected by the Inspector-General, Deputy Inspector-General, Divisional Commissioner or District Magistrate. A Sub-divisional Police Officer shall be shown the books of the officers serving under him.

(g) When an officer or clerk is transferred permanently to another district or Range, his confidential report book or character roll shall be sent to the Superintendent of the district, or to the head of the office, to which he is transferred.

77. Entries in confidential report books of subordinate police officers and in character rolls of clerks. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The following shall be entered against item 12 of B.P. Form No. 2 :-
(i) particulars of any case in which the officer has been criminally convicted, or in which, having been put upon his trial, he has been finally discharged for want of evidence, but not of any in which he has been fully and honourably acquitted;

(ii) particulars of any civil suit in which the decision adversely affects his character as a police officer; and

(iii) particulars of any case in which there has been a judicial comment leading to an entry in the officer’s service book.

(b) Any remark by a District Magistrate or a Commissioner relating to the officer’s personal character, shall be entered against item 14 of B. P. Form No. 2 unless it has been included in his service book.

(c) All remarks in a confidential report or character roll shall be well considered and moderate in tone. Sweeping condemnations and-imputations based on mere rumour, which cannot be substantiated, shall be avoided. Any strongly unfavourable opinion shall be justified by reference to the circumstances and facts bearing upon it; and the officer recording such opinion should consider whether it would not be best to draw up proceedings and call upon the officer or clerk concerned to answer the charges made.

78. Loss of confidential report books of subordinate police officers or character rolls of clerks. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – (a) The loss of any confidential report book or character roll in a district shall be reported immediately to the Deputy Inspector-General, and the Superintendent shall have a searching enquiry made into such loss. He shall report the result to the Deputy Inspector-General.
(b) If the confidential reports are those of an Inspector or of an officer whose name is on the provincial list of those approved for promotion to Inspector’s rank, the Deputy Inspector-General shall reconstruct the book from the copies, of the remarks submitted under regulation 79 by Superintendents and, if necessary, by reference to Superintendents under whom the officer has served during the past ten years.

(c) If the case does not fall under clause (b) the Superintendent shall open a new book with a signed statement regarding the loss and the result of the enquiry made.

79. Submission to Inspector-General of confidential reports on Inspectors. – (a) On the 1st February each year there shall be submitted to the Inspector-General –
(i) through the Deputy Inspector-General concerned, by the Principal of the Police Training College, the Superintendent of each Railway Police district, the Assistant to the Deputy Inspector-General in the Criminal Investigation Department and each Special Superintendent in the Intelligence Branch, and

(ii) through the District Magistrate and the Deputy Inspector-General concerned, by every other Superintendent,

copies of all remarks made under regulation 76 in the confidential report book of each Inspector (and of each officer whose name is on the provincial list of those approved for promotion to Inspector’s rank) serving under him. For this purpose loose sheets of Bengal Form No. 5243 should be obtained from the Forms Department.
(b) In the case of officers employed in the District Intelligence Branch copies of these remarks shall be forwarded by the Superintendent concerned through the District Magistrate to the Deputy Inspector-General .Criminal Investigation Department and Intelligence Branch. The Special Superintendent concerned in the Intelligence Branch will record his remarks before copies are forwarded to the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range under clause (d).

(c) The District Magistrate may make remarks on the copies before forwarding them to the Deputy Inspector-General concerned.

(d) The Deputy Inspector-General, Criminal Investigation Department and Intelligence Branch, shall forward the copies received by him under clause (d)(i) to the Inspector-General and those under clause (b) to the Deputy Inspector-General of the Range concerned with his own remarks.

(e) The Deputy Inspector-General of the Range shall forward all copies received by him under clauses (a) (i) and (ii) and (d) to the Inspector-General with his own remarks after taking notes of the remarks for record in his office.

80. Confidential reports and character rolls to state whether defects already brought to notice. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – When an officer makes an unfavourable remark in any confidential report or character roll, he should always state specifically whether the defect remarked upon has already, in any other connection, been brought to the notice of the officer or clerk concerned.
81. Communication of unfavourable remarks made in confidential reports or character rolls. [§ 12, Act V, 1861]. – In order that an officer may be in a position to rectify his shortcomings, unfavourable remarks recorded in his confidential reports or character rolls or on other occasions should be communicated to him. Officers considering whether remarks should be communicated should observe the following principles :-
(i) when a report is built up on the individual opinions of the different departmental superiors in gradation, it is only the opinion as accepted by the highest authority which need be considered from the point of view of communication;

(ii) remarks should not be communicated to the officer –

(1) if the highest authority to whom they have been submitted suspends judgment on them;

(2) if they are in reply to enquiries whether the officer who has not been well reported on previously has improved and is fit for promotion or whether an officer is fit for a particular appointment, unless the authority for whom the reply is ultimately intended considers that facts or allegations contained in them should be communicated to such officer;

(iii) any remarks on an officers report which show that he has taken steps to remedy defects to which his attention has been drawn in a previous year, shall be communicated to him ;

(iv) remarks made about any officer of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent, other than an officer on deputation to the Calcutta Police or another department, should not be communicated to such officer except by, or under the orders of, the Inspector-General. These remarks except those of the Deputy Superintendents of Police, should be seen by the Minister-in-charge of the Home (Police) Department before the same are communicated to the officer concerned but the Minister’s acquiescence in their communication to the officer should not be regarded as implying his endorsement of them. Remarks of an Inspector, Sergeant, Sub-Inspector should not be communicated to him except by, or under the orders of, the Superintendent or Head of the office concerned;

(v) the manner and method of communication (e.g., whether the communication should be verbal or written and whether it should be made direct to the officer concerned or through an intermediate authority or through his immediate superior) should be such as to secure the maximum benefit to the officer having regard to his temperament, and this will be decided by the authority under whose orders the remarks are communicated.

81A. Regulation 81 above will apply also to clerks.