The Assam Village Defence Organisation Act, 1966

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T he 1 st Augu st 1965
No.LJL .13J66/6.- T he followin g Ac t of th e Ass a m -L e~{d'ia ti v e Assembly
which rec eived the assent of tl .e Go vern or is h ereby publ ished for genera l
in formation.
ASSA1\of AC T XX II O F 1966
[R eceived the assent of the Governo r on the 29th July, 1966]
·T H E ASSAM VILLA GE DEFE ( CE ORGANI SATIO N AOT , 1966
[Puh lished in th e Assam Gazette Extra-ord inar y, elated the 2nd August,
1906] .
An
Ac t
t o p rovide for the constitution of an orgaal sattou for i s"sisting
the police in t h e mainten ance of law and order a n d eel.t aln
other matter s anciIlary cheee ro ,
Preamble. Wh ere as it is expe die n t to pr ovid e for t he constit u-
tion of an organ isatio n t o be know n a s the "Assa m
Villa ge Defence Organisati on" for assisting th e
police in th e mai n tenance of law and orde r, peace
lind tranquillity in the State of Assam ;
-
Short title ,
e xten t and
commence­
ment .
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It is hereby ena cted in th e Seventeen th Year of the
Rep ublic of Ind ia as follows: -
I. ( I) T his A ct may be called the Assam Village
Defence Organ is.u ion Ac t , 1966.
(2 ) It sha ll extend to the who le 01 the Stat e of
Assam ,
(3) I t hall come into force on su ch date as the
State Government may, by notification
in th e Official Gazette, appoint.
Definitions, 2. In this Act, un less ther e is auyt h .ng repu gna nt
in the subj ect or con text :-
_(a, "Adult " mea ns a person w h o is no t below
the age of 13 years;
(I»
(c)
(d)
(e)
"Adviser" me an s the Hon orar y Chi ef
Adviser or such other persons who may
be appo inted to act as advi sers by the
State Gove rn men t;
" Advisory Committ ee" means a District
Advisory Committ e,' , a Sub-d ivisional
Advisory Committee, or a Tha na Advi­
sory Co mm ittee constit ut ed un der the
pi ovisions of this Act ;
"Ohief ControiIer" means a Deputy Inspec ­
tor General of Police a ppointed as a
"Chief Controller" by the Stat e Govern ­
ment ;
" District Villa ge Defence O fficer" mean s
the Superintendent of Police of th e
district conc erned, or where th ere is 110
Superin tendent of Polic e, th e Depu ty
Commissioner of the Distri ct, as the
case may be ;
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(f) "Member " mea ns a person enrolled as a
member of t he As sam Village Defence
O rganisation in accor dance wit h the
provis ions o f this Act ;
(g) "Organisa tion" mea ns the Assa m Villag e
Defence organisat ion constit ute d un der
th is Ac t;
th) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules
mad e under thi s Act;
(i) "Subdivisional Village Defence Officer "
means the Subdivisiona l Police Officer
of the Subdivi sion concern ed , or wh ere
there is no Subdivisiona l Police Officer,
the Subdivi sional Officer conce rned, as
the case may be ;
(j ) "Tha na Village Defence Officer" me ans
the Sub-In spector o f Polic e in-char ge of
a Thana .
~onstitu- 3. The State Government may const itu te an Orga -
~osns ~fmthe nisati on to be known as th e " Assam ViJIage Defence
Villaze De- Organisati on" and for tha t p urpose enr oll any ad ult
fence" Orga- citizen of India, wh o may offer himsel f to be so enrolled
nisation. by taking oath as a member of t he O rg anisatio n, in
the manner prescribed.
"Duti,ts an:if 4 . The followin g shall be the funct ions of the O~ ga .run ctrons 0 • • 1the Organi- msauo n , name y :-
sation ,
(a) to assist the police in the mainte na nce of
law and order , p eace a nd t ra nquillit y in
the State of Assam;
(b) to gi ve info rmation to the police about the
particulars of all p ersons suspect ed or
accused o f any cognisable off ence or
othe r anti-State acts, a nd about th e
commission of such offe nces or a cts, o r
about escaped conv icts;
(c) to pr event th e commission of any cognis .ible
offence;
(d) to protect Government and other pu ~ lie
prope rties ;
(e) to do o ther social work
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. Constitu - 5. (1) Fo r e very village or g roup of village s, as th e
lion ofcPn • Distri ct Villag e Defence O fficer may d etermine, there
m~rttee~m - shall be a Pri mary Committee of th e Org anisat ion
\ illage De- consisting of such num ber of adul t members of t he
f:nce Par- village or gr oup of villages, as may be prescribed .
ties, Selec-
tion of Pr e-
sident and
~c:c rel ar y of
Pri mary
Committ ees
and Naiks
of Village
Defence
Panic •.
(2) Every Primary Committee may c onsti tute as
man y p arties as it may deem necessary, to b e calle d
Vill age D efence Parti es, co nsisting of such nu mb er (If
members of th e O rga nisa tion a nd in such mann er as
may be prescribed.
(3) Every Pri mary Co mm ittee sha ll h a ve One Pre­
sident and one Secretary for each su ch Comrnittc c,
and every Village Defence Par ty s h all h ave one N aik
for each such Part y, to be selected in t he manner
p rescrib ed.
~ o -:,'ers. 6. (1) T he Pre sident o r th e Sec retary of every
D U ll e ~ and Primary Commit tee or th e Naik of eve ry' Village De­F unctions of
Primary fence Part y shall-
Co mmittee .
a nd Villa ge
Defence
Par lies.
(a) forth with co mm unica te to the _O fficer-in­
charge of the Police Statio n in which the
village or zroup of villages is situated any
informa tion which he may possess or com e
to know in re spect of :-
(i) th e residence or plac e of s tay or hid ing,
permanent or tempo rary , of a ny notor ious
rece iver or -vendor of s tolen pr oper ty and
of any person who he kn ows or r easona bly
suspects to be a thu g, r obber, esc aped
convi ct or proclai med offender in the
villag e or gro up of villages;
(ii) th c commi ssion o f, or inten tion to commit
in or near such village or group of villages
<l ny no n-b ailabl e o r co gnisable offence
includi ng mur de r, cul pabl e homi cide,
rape, flacoity , robbe ry, theft, gam bling,
mischief by fir e, g rievous hu r t, riotin g,
house-breakin g, cou nterfeitin g coins a nd
kidna pping, or a ny anti- Stat e act i
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(iii) any matter likely to affe ct the maintenance
of law an d order, pea ce and tranquillity,
or the prev ention of cri me "01' the safety of
life and prop erty ; -
(iv) Unnatu ral deaths;
(b) to the best of his ability prevent, and may
for that purpose interpose, the . commis­
sion of any offence or violation of law ful
order s in force; protect Government and
other public properties whenever he is
required to do so by the District Village
Defence Officer and the Subdivisional
Village Defence Officer, as the case may
be.
(2) Ever y M ember of a Village Defence Party
shall -
(i) do social work such as construction of roads,
clearin g of tanks and ponds and other simi.
lar welfare activities as may be directed by
the Primary Committee;
(ii) car r y out such patr ol and watch in the
area as may be dir ected by the Primary
Committee.
(3) Every membe r shall have the power to arrest any
proclaimed offender or any per son w ho in hi s view
commits a n on-bailable and cogni sable offence. Any
person so arre sted shall without unnece ssary dela y be
mad e ov er to a Police Officer , or in the absence of a
Police O fficer he shall be taken or caused to be tak en
in cus tod y to t he nearest Polic e S tation .
(4) The Primar y Committees , th e Village Defenc e
Parties, the Presidents and Secretari es of the Primary
Committees, the Naiks of Villa ge Defence Parties and
of th e m emb ers shall have such other powers, duti es
and funct ions a s m ay be prescrib ed.
Officers 01 7. (I) The followin g shall be th e officers of th e
the . OI~ <I' organisation, namel y :-
DI latIOn .
(i) The Chief Controller,
(ii) The District Village Defence Officer,
(iii) The Subdivisio nal Village Defence Officer,
(iv) The Thana Villa ge Defen ce Officer.
(2) In add iti on to the powers and dut ies
of the Officers as confer red by this Act , the y s hall
have such oth er powers and duties as may be pre­
scrib ed.
Aiminis tra·
d on ar.d
control .
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8. (I) The adm inist rati on and cont rol of the Vill age
Defence Organi sation in t he State shall be ve sted in
Chi ef Controll er . He may be a dvi sed by an H ono rary
Chief Advis er a ppoin ted b y t he Gove rnm en t.
. (2) The T ha na Village Defe nce Offi cer, th e Sub­
divi sio nal Villa ge Pcfe nce Offi ce r an d t he D istric t
Vill age Defence O fficer shall b e u nder t h e cont rol at
the Su bdi visional Vill age Defen ce O fficer, the Distric t
Village Defence Officer or the C hief C ontroll er respe c­
tiv ely, as the case m ay be. They may be a ssisted by
such advisers and b y such Advi sor y Committ ees, if
any, as m ay be appointed by the State G overnme nt.
(3) T h e Pr imar y Committee s shall be und er the
contro l and adminis tra tion o f th e Tha na V illage
D efence Offic er concerned .
Advisory 9. (I) The Sta te Government may a ppoi nt a Di strict
Comm ittee s. Advis or y Cornrn itt ,a Su bdiv ision a l Ad visory Com­
mitt ee a nd a T ha na Ad visor y Co mmi ttee or any of
them to a dvi se t he D istri ct Villa g e D efence O fficer,
the Subd ivi sio nal Villa ge Defence O fficer o r the Than a
Villa ge Defence O ff ic er respec tively.
(2l The du ties o f the Advi sor y Comm ittees ap ­
point ed unde r the p eee di ng sub- secti on shall be such
as may be prescri bed .
Bar to Re- 10. 1'\0 me m be r of the org a nisati on sha ll be cn t it­
muneratio n. led to any remun eration h ut c ommen dab le s er vices
including wel far e work don e by a ny m em ber may be
suitab ly rewarded as may b e pr escrib ed .
Allow ances II. The Adviser may be p aid such a llowances or
or hon?l'aria hon oraria as m lY be det ermined by State Go vernment
of Adviser , from time to time .
Arms and 12. A Vill age Defenc e Part y may be p rovi ded w ith
cquipmc nt s, such arms and equipments as may be suppl ied b y the
State Government fro m time to time.
Uniform 1 3 Every member of a Vill age Defen ce Pa rt y sha ll
and badge. while on patrol o r watch duty, wea r such unifor m or
bad ge as ma y be prescribed.
Members 14. A m ember or an officer o f the Organi sation Act ~ I V of
and Officers act ing in the di schar ge o f h is funct ions a nd duties or in 18 ~ O .
to be publ ic the exercise of his p ow ers under this Ac t or the rule s
sr.l'vants. d d d J bma e the reun er sh all b e ee med to 1e a pu lie ser -
vant within the meani ng of sectio n 21 of t h e I ndian
Penal Code.
Discharge
and rernov­
al,
I'cn alr y.
15. The Chi ef Controller or the District Village
Defen ce OfIlccr may remov e any memb er from the
Organis ation or from the Village Defence Party, as the
case may be, if the officer removing the member is of
opinion that the member is remiss or negligent in the
discha rg eof his duti es or otherwi se unfit for continuing
as suc h member .
16. Any mem ber cf a Vill age Defen ce Party who is
guilty of a ny viola tion, wil ful bre ach or neglect of any
of the du ties imposed by or under this Act, or refuses
to o bey or comply with any lawful order made by any
competent authority under th is Act or the rules made
thereunder, shall on conviction in a court of law be
puni shable with a fine whi-h may extend to rupees
fifty.
lIar to Pro- 17. No pros ecut ion, suit or other legal proceeding
secut ion, ere. shaJl lic a gainst any member or officer of the Organi sa­
tion in respect 01 anything done or purported to be
done by him in exercise of th e powers, duties and func­
tions, or in carrying out any lawful order made under
this Act or t i,e rules made thereunder except with the
previous sanction of the District Village Defence
O ffice r or the Chi ef Controller.
P II we r to 18. (.) The Sta te Government may make rules for
m ake rul es. carryin g Gut the purpos es and objects of this Act.
(2) In pa rticular, and without prejudice to
the generalit y of the foregoing power, such rules may
provide for all or ~ any of the following matters,
namely:-
(a) for mation and constituti on of th e Village
Defence Parties, Primary Committees and
Advisory Committees;
(b) sel ection cf Pro sident and Secretary of
Primary Committees ban d the Naiks of
V illage Defence Parties ;
(c) demarcation () f jurisdiction of every Village
Defen ce Par ty and Prim ary Committee;
(d) e nrolme nt of member s of the Organisation;
(e),d ulies an d functi ons of the Officers, Advisory
Co mm ittees, Primar y Committees and
ViIlage Defence Parties;
~ f) maintenance of regi sters, reports and
accounts of the Village Defence Parties,
Primary Committees and other Offices
of the Organisation ,
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(g) allotme nt of f unds and other equipment s
for each Villa ge Defence Party or Primary
Committee;
(h) supply of badge s, signals and uniforms;
(i) prescribe the forms of oath f or ~ t he memo
bers of the Vill age Defence Parties and
other mcm bers ; and
(j) any other matter.
(3) Every rule made und er thi s section shall
be laid as won as may be after it is made, before the
Assam Legislative Assembly while it is in s ession for
a total period of fourteen days which may be compri­
sed in one session or in two successive sessions, and
if, before the expiry of th e session in which it is so
laid or the session immediately followin g the Assam
Legislative Assembly agree in makin g any modifi ca­
tion in the rule or the Assam Legislative Assern bly
agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall
thereafter have effect on ly in such modified form or
be .of no effect, as the case may be ; so however, that
any such modification or annulment shall be w ithout
prejudice to the validity of anything previou sly do ne
under that rule .
B. SARMA.
Secy. t o the Governm ent of A ssam.
Law D epartm ent.
o
c

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