Mysore: a gazetteer compiled for government (Volume 1) online

Opium Act ... ... ... ... ... ... ' 1879

Indian Arms Act ... ... ... ... ... 1879

General Stamp Act ... ... ... ... [ 1879

Indian Railway Act ... ... ... ... I 1879

Amending Civil IVocedure Code, Registration I

and Limitation Acts ... ... ... ... 1879

Indian Census Act ... ... ... ... ... 1880



The following Acts of the Madras, Bombay, and Bengal Legislatures
have also been extended to Mysore : —



No. and Year of Act.


Name or Subject of Act.


Date of Exten-
sion to Mysore.




Madras.






I of 1863

III of 1869

I of 1873

VIII of 1878


Madras Local Act

To empower Revenue Officers to summon

Wild Elephants

Coffee Stealing Prevention Act ...




1865
1S69
1874
1879


I of 1865
IV of 1868


Boiitbay.
Survey, Demarcation, Assessment and Adminis-
tration of Lands
Amended Bombay Act I. of 1865

Bengal.




1869
1869


I of 1869


Prevention of Cruelty to Animals




1877



LAW COUNTS



r-



Courts. — The following statement exhibits the gradation and lunnbers
of the Courts of Justice as existing in 1876, with the magisterial powers
and limits of jurisdiction of the several judicial officers : —



Courts.



Peshkars



Sheristadars..

Amildars ...



Munsiffs



Sar-Amin



Town and
Cantonment
Magistrates



JiKlicial As-
sistants ...



Small Cause
Court, Ban-
95,o23


1874


22,652




23,13,082


1867


13,455


22,69,350


1875


25,052




25,02,152


1868


14,702


17,03,488


1876


25,051




21,03,785


1869


16,835


15,90,499


1877


17,341




19,93,023


1870


20,201


20,98,986


1878


21,509




25,06,341


I87I


20,764


29,06,407


1879


21,475




24,82,516


IS72


21,407


23,13,785


1880


17,203




22,45,104



From the returns for 1880 it is found that 96 per cent, of the total
number of suits were for sums under Rs. 500. Nearly 30 per cent, of
the suits which were disposed of were contested : 53 per cent, were
uncontested, and the rest were either disposed of without trial or
referred to arbitration. Of the contested suits, about three-fourths were
decided for the plaintiff, and one-fourth for the defendant. Of the
uncontested cases in 1880, 33 per cent, were decreed ex pafte or in
default. Only a small proportion of suits were left undecided for more
than 3 months.

Registratioji. — The Registration Act X^T of 1864 came into
operation in Mysore on the ist January 1866, and the amended
Act XX of 1866 on the ist January 1867. By a new Act, introduced
in September 187 1, a large class of documents previously subject to
compulsory registration was exempted, namely, coffee-land grants.



CIVIL JUSTICE



727



inani title-deeds, and various assignments of land made by Government.
Other provisions of that enactment — such as the admission of un-
registered documents in evidence of contracts even where they relate
to immovable property, and the withdrawal of the special advantages
conferred on registered instruments by the old Act, by removing the
obligation in some cases and the incentive in others — tended to reduce
the work of the 1 )epartmcnt. A revised scale of fees was introduced
from the ist September 187S. Whilst the fees on immovable property
of the higher values, subject to the compulsory clauses of the Act,
were somewhat enhanced, the minimum fee of one rupee which
formerly apj; ied to all below Rs. 100 was reduced to 8 annas in the
case of documents not exceeding Rs. 50. So also for documents of
value above Rs. 1 00 relating to movable property, which are registrable
at the option of the parties, the fees were reduced to one-half of
documents of like value for which registration is prescribed, the object
being to encourage optional registration of all kinds.

The following statistics will show the progress of registration year by
year : —



Immovable Property.



Movable Property.



Year.












Compulsory
Registrations.


Voluntary
Registrations.


Total Value.
Rs.


Registrations.


1865-6


695


414




423


1866-7


3,107


1,352




1,392


1867-8


4,408


1,364




513


1868-9


4,672


1,221






1869-70


5,513


. 1,463


23,59,915


47S


I 870- I


6,086


1,619


32,65,531


462


1871-2


5,239


1,612


30,99,706


417


1872-3


6,026


1,700


33,22,641


415


1873-4


6,566


1,591


33,68,590


44S


1874-5


7,332


2,155


35,33,219


463


1875-6


8,121


2,721


41,28,556


512


1876-7


8,780


3,297


41,96,361


379


1877-8


10,635


6,413


47,30,243




1878-9


10,013


6,013


47,22,671




1879 80


10,072


4,504


42,33,465




I 880- I


9,959


5,110


68,98,960





The unusually high value of the registered property in the last year
is owing to registration of certain gold-mining companies.

Criminal Justice. — The following figures exhibit the statistics of
crime for ten years to 1880, and show a decided diminution in serious
offences. The increase in crimes against property in 1S77 and 1S7S
was due to the famine.



728



ADMINISTRA TION



Crimes against


1871.


1872.

1,043
8,239
4,997
1,736


1873.


1874.


1875-


1876.


1877.


1878.


1879.


1880.


TheState, pub-
lic and justice
Person
Property
Special Laws .


813

10,385
7,256
1,858


2,265

6,405
4,186
1,308


1,918
6,750
3,606
1,591


1,775
6,114

3,337
1,792


1,931

7,285
5,170
1,610


1,146

5,393
16,409

1,875


989
4,386
8,927
1,826


774
4,605
3,906
2,007


681

4,820

4,077
2,078


Total...


20,3i2'i6,oi5


14,164


13,865


13,018


15,996


24,823


16,128


11,292


1 1 ,656



The results of criminal trials are shown in the subjoined table. The
average duration of cases disposed of in 1880 was 3 days. Of 346
appeals from the 96 magistrates of the 2nd and 3rd clas.s, in 41 per
cent, the conviction was upset. Of 156 appeals to the Sessions Courts
from the 29 Courts of the ist class, 22-4 per cent, were reversed. Of
159 appeals to the Court of the Judicial Commissioner only 1 2 per cent,
were reversed.



Head.


1871.


1872. 1 1873.


1874.


1875.


1876.


1877. 1878.


1879.


1880.


P e r s n Sj












1


brought to
trial
Persons ac-


40,015 30,810 27,858 27,098


27,041


35,294


50,16430,132 20,67918,989

1


quitted ...
Persons dis-


17,179 9,200 8,258' 9,018


10,06514,05711,760 8,888 1

i-10,164 9,618


charged...
Persons con-


10,233 5,467 3,4^7 3,482


2,852 4,491


6,272 3,975 J


victed . . .


12,474


15,926


16,058


14,465


13,419


16,259


30,789 16,995


10,043


9,242



Prisons.- — The present system of jail management may be described
as dating from the construction in 1863 of the Bangalore Central Jail,
an institution which not only serves as a model to the other prisons
of the Province, but is widely known as second to none in India.
The accommodation is intended for i,coo prisoners.

Previous to the period spoken of, the able-bodied convicts were employed
in making roads, and lod^-^ed in what were called Koad or Camp Jails.
These consisted of nothing more than temporary sheds, the materials of
which were pulled down, carried on, and re-erected as the place of encamp-
ment was changed. In the Chitaldroog District, convicts of the artisan
class were employed in a workshop to make up the iron and wood work for
travellers' bungalows and other public buildings. At Bangalore and Mysore
were jails of a more permanent character. In the former was the Town
Jail, consisting of separate wards for felons, debtors, and insane ; and the
Fort Jail. The Town Jail was removed in 1853 from a low and crowded
part of the Petta to a more airy site near the northern gate, obtained by



CRIMINAL JUSTICE



729



clearing the old boundary hedge. The building was entirely of stone,
on the native principle of construction, and was capable of holding 400
prisoners. The Fort Jail was originally a temporary thatched building,
situated near the Mysore gate of the Fort. This was also rebuilt on the
same principle as the Town Jail, with accommodation for 292 inmates. It
was specially used for the confinement of Thugs sentenced to long periods
of imprisonment.

The prison diet was \\ seer of ragi and | anna in cash for each working
day, and i seer of rice, with the same money allowance, for Sunday. Out
of the money, the prisoners were allowed to purchase for themselves salt,
pepper, chillies, and other condiments to savour their food with, but care
was taken to prevent their having access to drugs, opium, or spirits. The
working hours were from sunrise till 3, with an hour's rest at noon. There
was no labour on Sunday, when oil and soap-nut were served out to each
man for ablution.

During the famine years the jails were overcrowded. In Mysore it
was found, on this account, necessary to form a branch jail at
Kukarhalli, and the convicts were employed on the construction of the
reservoir for the waterworks. This is the Camp Jail below referred to.
It was given up at the end of 1880. The other jails were so far
emptied after the famine that all danger of overcrowding was removed.
The mark system was introduced in 1879, by which convicts of good
conduct could earn appointments as warders and work-overseers, with
.some remission of sentence and small gratuities.

At the close of 1880 there were 8 jails, with one camp jail, and 81
lock-ups, containing altogether 2,899 prisoners (2,783 male and 116
female), distributed in the following manner : —



Prisons.


Convicts.


Under Trial, j Civil.


Total.


Central Jail
District Jails
Taluq Lock-ups


1,044
1,711

17


4
60
40


I

18

4


1,049
1,789

6t



The total cost of the jails for that year was nearly 2 lakhs, the
average annual charge per head being Rs. 80-4-3.

All the prison labour is intramural, consisting of manufactures,
gardening, and public works. The convict labour at Kukarhalli was
valued at Rs. 23,717 in 1879 and Rs. 22,642 in 1880. The total profit
on the employment of the remaining convicts in jails was about half as
much. The value of manufactures in the Central Jail for 1880 showed
a profit of Rs. i3"34 per head of effectives. Education has for some
years been introduced with good effect. In 18S0 there was a daily
average of 921 prisoners under instruction. Of the 1,281 prisoners



7 30 AD. MIA 7STl'A TION

relcasi'd duriiiii; the year wIkj liad Ijccn under instrurtion in the jail,
1,007 were unable to read and write when they entered, but when they
left, the number so unable was only 587.

Police. — -The necessity for an improved organization of the Police
long attracted attention. The prevailing system was simply the old
Kandachar improved upon by better supervision. 'I'he first step
towards reform was the introduction, in 1866, of the Police Act V
of 1861 into the Bangalore District, and the appointment of an officer
of the Madras Police to the charge of the District. It was at that
time contemplated to introduce the Madras system throughout the
Province. Ikit the new system, although favourably reported on after
the lapse of a year, was found to entail a considerable increase of
expenditure. It moreover possessed the radical defect of overlooking
in great measure the existence of the A'illage Police, a class which, if
properly organized and remunerated, was capable of performing useful
service to the State.

The Government therefore resolved, in lieu of adopting the Madras-
system of organization, to begin the task of reconstruction by re-
modelling the village police, whose decayed condition called in the first
instance for remedy. The patels and talaris had not sufficient
remuneration ; in some cases inams granted for the maintenance of
village police had been alienated or diverted from that object : thus the
village system had not been sufficiendy cared for, and the superior
advantages which the village officers possessed, with their local know-
ledge, over the regular police, in detecting or giving information
regarding dacoits, etc., were not utilized. It was therefore considered
necessary that the village institutions should be duly recognized in any
comprehensive police system for the whole Province, with the view of
securing economy and efficiency, especially as the number of persons
registered as holding service lands from Government amounted at the
time to 14,000.

Accordingly, the following principles were laid down as the basis of
the scheme proposed for the whole Province : —

1st. The Village Police should be restored to a condition of reasonable
vigour and efficiency. Their duties should be carried on under the guidance
of a few simple rules. Their remuneration should be at once provided for
throughout the Province by rent-free assignments from imassessed lands,
all questions connected therewith being left to be settled by the Revenue
Survey Department in their due course of operations ; an essential feature
in this measure being the concession of magisterial powers in petty cases
to competent heads of villages.

2nd. The Kandachar police should be superseded by a constabulary



POLICE 731

similar to that already introduced into Bangalore, but having the village
ixjlice for its basis. The functions of the latter should be to act as
tuxiliaries to the former; and on it (working as it ought under the village
licadmen) should devolve the responsibility as well of reporting a crime as
of discovering the criminal. No additional expenditure should be incurred,
as the regular force need not, under the circumstances, be numerous, but
the members should be well paid, and specially selected with the view of
lilting them to assist the \'illage Police in detection. The relations of the
village police with the regular police should be clearly defined, so as to
utilize the former to the fullest extent ; and so adjusted, that, while the due
performance of their duties is secured, unnecessary interference on the part
of the regular police in ordinary village affairs is eschewed.

3rd. The regular police need not be armed and drilled, as the local Barr
Force (which is otherwise useful in guarding District and local treasuries,
and thus largely relieves the police of some of its work) would well suffice
for repressive purposes.

Rules drawn up in accordance with the foregoing principles were
sanctioned at the end of 1872. During the following year the system
was introduced throughout the Chitaldroog District, the only one
completely surveyed and settled. But it was soon found that the re-
constitution of the Village Police, which had but a nominal existence,
would require time, as the men available for employment in the new-
constabulary being necessarily taken from those belonging to the old
Kandachar force, required training for their new duties, and the village
patels being generally illiterate were incapable of performing in a trust-
worthy manner the functions prescribed for them.

An fl'^ /«/m;« measure was therefore introduced, in 1874, for the
improvement of the existing force in the other Districts by the discharge
of incompetent men and the introduction of an improved class on
better pay, accompanied by a numerical reduction of the force.
Provision was made for instructing all grades in police duties, and
requiring the officers to pass an examination. I3y these special rules
the District Police was governed, while the Police Force of the Town
and Cantonment of Bangalore was administered under Act \' of 1861.

The Police Department was controlled by a Deputy Inspector-
(ieneral of Police, acting under the Judicial Commissioner, who was
the Inspector-General. In the Districts, the Deputy Commissioner
was ex officio Head of the Police, and was aided by one of the Assistant
Commissioners, who was designated the Police-Assistant. This officer,
while primarily responsible to the Deputy Commissioner for the dis-