April 21,2019:
The Author, Pranav Kumar Kaushal is 4th year, BA.LLB (H) student at Bahra University. He is currently interning with LatestLaws.com.
INTRODUCTION
The Civil Defence Act was enacted by the Parliament on May 24, 1968 to formulate the provisions for the subject connected with civil defence. The Act of Civil Defence contains 4 chapters and 20 sections and by virtue of this act civil defence means any method employed for the safety of any person, property of a person place or article situated or placed in India or within any part of the Indian territory against any hostile violence but does not include real combat. Te violence shall be resorted from sea, land and air or any other such methods so as to prevent violence or even during the occurrence of attack of violence.
BACKGROUND The civil defence policy of Indian government need to have the act for the civil protection measures. During the seventies civil defence was successful in mobilizing the citizens and thereby helping in the civil administration in their function and also supporting the armed forces during war crimes. But over the year’s relevance and efficacy of civil defence has steadily deteriorated due to many factors.
Q1. WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF THE CIVIL DEFENCE ACT, 1968?
The Act of Civil Defence Act 1968extends to the whole of India and it has came into force as the Central Government may by notification appoint and different dates may be appointed for different states or different part thereof.
Q2. WHAT IS CIVIL DEFENCE?
As per Section 2(a) of the Civil Defence Act 1968, “Civil Defence” includes any measures not amounting to actual combat for affording protection to any person, property place or thing in India or any part of the territory thereof against any hostile attack whether from air, land, sea or any other places or from depriving any such attack of the whole or part of its effect.
Q3. WHAT ARE THE POWERS OF THE CENTRAL GOVERENMENT WITH REGARD TO CIVIL DEFENCE
As per section 3 of the Civil Defence Act, 1968 (1) The Central Government may, for securing civil defence, by notification, make rules providing for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) Preventing the prosecution of any work likely to prejudice civil defence;
(b) Instruction of members of the public regarding civil defence and their equipment for the purposes of such defence;
(c) Provision, storage and maintenance of commodities and things required for civil defence; (d) Prohibiting or regulating traffic, and the use of vessels, buoys, lights and signals in ports and territorial, tidal and inland waters;
(e) Control of lights and sounds;
(f) Protection of life and property by taking fire prevention and other measures;
(g) Securing of any buildings, premises or other structures from being readily recognisable in the event of a hostile attack;
(h) for the prevention of danger to life or property, the demolition, destruction or rendering useless, of any building, premises or other structures or any other property;
(i) Prohibiting or regulating the possession, use or disposal of—
(i) Explosives, inflammable substances, corrosive and other dangerous substances or articles, arms and ammunition;
(ii) Vessels;
(iii) Wireless telegraphic apparatus;
(iv) Aircraft;
(v) Photographic and signalling apparatus and any means of recording information;
(j) Evacuation of areas and the removal of property or animals there from;
(k) Accommodation in any area of persons evacuated from another area and the regulation of the conduct of evacuated persons accommodated in such area;
(l) Billeting of evacuated person or persons authorised to perform functions under this Act;
(m) Salvage of damaged buildings, structures and property and disposal of the dead;
(n) Seizure and custody or destruction of injured, unclaimed or dangerous animals; (o) ensuring the safety of—
(i) Ports, dockyards, lighthouses, lightships, aerodromes and facilities associated with aerial navigation;
(ii) Railways, tramways, roads, bridges, canals and all other means of transport by land or water;
(iii) Telegraphs, post offices, signalling apparatus and all other means of communication;
(iv) Sources and systems of water supply, works for the supply of water, gas or electricity and all other works for public purposes;
(v) Vessels, aircraft, transport vehicles as defined in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (4 of 1939), and rolling stocks of railways and tramways;
(vi) Warehouses and all other places used or intended to be used for storage purposes;
(vii) Mines, oilfields, factories or industrial or commercial undertakings generally, or any mine, oilfield, factory or industrial or commercial undertaking in particular;
(viii) Laboratories and institutions where scientific or technological research or training is conducted or imparted;
(ix) All works and structures being part of, or connected with, anything earlier mentioned in this clause;
(x) Any other place or thing used or intended to be used for the purposes of Government or a local authority or a semi-Government or autonomous organisation, the protection of which is considered necessary or expedient for securing civil defence;
(p) Control of any road or pathway, waterway, ferry or bridge, river, canal or other source of water supply;
(q) Precautionary measures, which the Government or any department thereof or any local authority, members of police force, fire brigade and members of any other service or authority employed primarily for purposes other than civil defence purposes should be required to take within their respective jurisdictions or with respect to any personnel employed by them;
(r) Preventing or controlling any use of uniforms, whether official or otherwise, or flags or official decorations like medals, badges or other insignia or anything similar thereto, the wearing of which is calculated to deceive or to prejudice civil defence;
(s) Precautions to be taken or action to be taken by persons or authorities with a view to protecting or acquainting the general public or any members thereof against the dangers involved in any apprehended hostile attack;
(t) Requiring the owner or occupier of any building, structure or premises to make or carry out such arrangements as may be necessary for the purposes of detection and prevention of fire;
(u) Taking of specified measures for dealing with outbreaks of fire;
(v) Directing that, subject to any specified exemption, no person present in any specified area shall, between such hours as may be specified, be out of doors except under the authority of a written permit granted by a specified authority or person;
(w) (i) Prohibiting the printing and publication of any newspaper, news-sheet, book or other document containing matters prejudicial to civil defence;
(ii) demanding security from any press used for the purpose of printing or publishing, and forfeiting the copies of, any newspaper, news-sheet, book or other document containing any of the matters referred to in sub-clause;
(x) Regulating the conduct of persons in respect of areas the control of which is considered necessary or expedient, and removal of persons from such areas;
(y) Requiring any person or class of persons to comply with any scheme of civil defence;
(z) Any other provision which may be necessary for the purposes of civil defence. (2) Any rule made under sub-section (1) may provide that orders with regard to the matters specified therein may be made by the State Government.
(3) Any rule made under sub-section (1) may provide that a contravention thereof or any order made there under shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, and where the contravention is a continuing one, with a further fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every day, after the first, during which such contravention continues.
CONSTITUTION OF CIVIL DEFENCE CORP
Section 4 of the Act deals with the Constitution of Civil Defence Corp which states that:
(1) The State Government may constitute, for any area within the State, a body of persons to be called the Civil Defence Corps (hereinafter referred to as the “Corps”) and may appoint a person, not being, in its opinion, below the rank of a District Magistrate (to be known as the “Controller”) to command such Corps: Provided that if there is in existence in any area in a State, immediately before the commencement of this Act in that area, an organisation which, in the opinion of the State Government, may be entrusted with the functions of the Corps, the State Government may, instead of constituting a separate Corps for such area, call upon that organisation to take over or discharge the functions of the Corps in that area, and thereupon such organisation shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the Corps for that area. (2) The State Government may, for the purpose of co-ordinating the activities of the Controllers within the State, appoint a Director of Civil Defence and every Controller shall comply with the directions given by such Director.
Q4. HOW MEMBERS OF CIVIL DEFENCE CORP CAN BE DISMISSED?
Section 6 of the Civil Defence Act 1968 deals with the dismissal of the Defence corps on the following grounds:
(1) Where any member of the Corps fails or has failed, in the opinion of the Controller, to discharge his duties as such member satisfactorily or is or has been found guilty of any misconduct in the discharge of his duties as such member, the Controller may, after an inquiry in which such member of the Corps has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of the charges against him, by an order, dismiss such member from the Corps.
(2) Where the Controller is of opinion that the continued presence of any member of the Corps is undesirable, he may, without assigning any reason, summarily dismiss such member from the Corps.
Q5. WHAT ARE THE PROVISIONS OF APPEAL?
A member of the Corps who is dismissed from the Corps under section 6 may prefer an appeal under Section 7 of the Act to the State Government within thirty days from the date of such dismissal and that Government may, on such appeal, confirm, modify or reverse the order made by the Controller or other authority.
Q6. WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CIVIL DEFENCE CORP?
Section 8 of the Civil Defence Act 1968, deals with the functions of the members of the Civil Defence Corps:
(1) The members of the Corps shall perform such functions in relation to the carrying out of measures for civil defence as may be assigned to them by rules made under this Act or by any other law for the time being in force.
(2) The State Government or the Controller may, by order, call out a member of the Corps for training or for discharging such functions in relation to the carrying out of measures for civil defence as may be specified in such order.
(3) Subject to such orders as the Central Government may make in this behalf, any member of the Corps of any State may at any time be required, by order, to discharge functions in relation to civil defence in any other State and shall while discharging such functions, be deemed to be a member of the Corps of that other State and be vested with the powers, functions and privileges and be subject to the liabilities of a member of the Corps in that other State.
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