57. Punishment awardable by Assam Rifles Courts.—(1) Punishments may be inflicted in respect
of offences committed by persons subject to this Act and convicted by the Assam Riles Courts, according
to the scale following, that is to say,—
(a) death;
(b) imprisonment which may be for the term of life or any other lesser term but excluding
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months in Force custody;
(c) dismissal from the service;
(d) compulsory retirement from service;
(e) imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months in Force custody except in case of
officers and subordinate officers;
(f) reduction to the ranks or to a lower rank or grade or place in the list of their rank in the case of
an under-officer;
(g) forfeiture of seniority of rank and forfeiture of all or any part of the service for the purpose of
promotion;
(h) forfeiture of service for the purpose of increased pay, pension or any other prescribed purpose;
(i) fine;
(j) severe reprimand or reprimand except in the case of persons below the rank of an underofficer;
(k) forfeiture of pay and allowances for a period not exceeding three months for an offence
committed on active duty;
(l) forfeiture in the case of person sentenced to dismissal from the service of all arrears of pay and
allowances and other public money due to him at the time of such dismissal;
(m) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence
for which he is convicted is made good.
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(2) Each of the punishments specified in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be inferior in degree to
every punishment preceding it in the above scale.
58. Alternative punishments awardable by Assam Rifles Courts.—Subject to the provisions of
this Act, an Assam Rifles Court may, on convicting a person subject to this Act of any of the offences
specified in sections 21 to 54 (both inclusive) award either the particular punishment with which the
offence is stated in the said sections to be punishable or, in lieu thereof, any of the punishments lower in
the scale set out in section 57 regard being had to the nature and degree of the offence.
59. Combination of punishments.—A sentence of an Assam Rifles Court may award in addition to,
or without any one other punishment, the punishment specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section
57, and any one more of the punishments specified in clauses (f) to (m) (both inclusive) of that
sub-section.
60. Retention in the Force of a person convicted on active duty.—When on active duty, any
enrolled person has been sentenced by an Assam Rifles Court to dismissal or to imprisonment whether
combined with dismissal or not, the prescribed officer may direct that such person may be retained to
serve in the ranks, and such service shall be reckoned as part of his term of imprisonment, if any.
61. Punishments otherwise than by Assam Rifles Courts.—Punishments may also be inflicted in
respect of offences committed by persons subject to this Act without the intervention of an Assam Rifles
Court in the manner stated in sections 62, 64, 65 and 66.
62. Minor punishments.—Subject to the provisions of section 63, a Commandant or such other
officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by the Director-General may, in the
prescribed manner, proceed against a person subject to this Act, otherwise than as an officer or a
subordinate officer or a Warrant Officer who is charged with an offence under this Act and award such
person to the extent prescribed, one or more of the following punishments, that is to say,—
(a) imprisonment in Force custody up to twenty-eight days;
(b) detention up to twenty-eight days;
(c) confinement to the lines up to twenty-eight days;
(d) extra guards or duties;
(e) deprivation of any special position or special emoluments or any acting rank or reduction to a
lower grade of pay;
(f) forfeiture of good service and good conduct pay;
(g) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(h) fine up to fourteen day's pay in any one month;
(i) deduction from his pay and allowances of any sum required to make good such compensation
for any expense, loss, damage or destruction caused by him to the Central Government, or any
building or property as may be awarded by his Commandant.
63. Limit of punishments under section 62.—(1) In the case of an award of two or more of the
punishments specified in clauses (a), (b), (c) and (d) of section 62, the punishments specified in clause (c)
or clause (d) shall take effect only at the end of the punishment specified in clause (a) or clause (b).
(2) When two or more of the punishments specified in the said clauses (a), (b) and (c) are awarded to
a person conjointly, or when already undergoing one or more of the said punishments, the whole extent of
the punishments shall not exceed in the aggregate forty-two days.
(3) The punishments specified in the said clauses (a), (b) and (c) shall not be awarded to any person
who is of the rank of an under-officer or was at the time of committing the offence for which he is
punished of such rank.
(4) The punishments specified in clause (g) of section 62 shall not be awarded to any person below
the rank of an under-officer.
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64. Punishment of officers below the rank of Deputy Commandant, subordinate officers and
Warrant Officer by Deputy Inspectors-General and others.—(1) An officer not below the rank of the
Deputy Inspector-General or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government,
specified by the Director-General may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against an officer below the
rank of a Deputy Commandant and of any rank of subordinate officer and of the rank of Warrant Officer
who is charged with an offence under this Act and award one or more of the following punishments, that
is to say,—
(a) forfeiture of seniority, or in the case of any of them whose promotion depends upon the length
of service, forfeiture of service for the purpose of promotion for a period not exceeding twelve
months, but subject to the right of the accused previous to the award to elect to be tried by an Assam
Rifles Court;
(b) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(c) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of
which he is convicted is made good.
(2) In every case in which punishment has been awarded under sub-section (1), certified true copies
of the proceedings shall be forwarded, in the prescribed manner, by the officer awarding the punishment
to the prescribed superior authority who may, if the punishment awarded, appears to him to be illegal,
unjust or excessive, cancel, vary or remit the punishment and make such other direction as may be
appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
65. Punishment of officers below the rank of a Commandant, subordinate officers and Warrant
Officer by the Inspectors-General and others.—(1) An officer not below the rank of the InspectorGeneral or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by the DirectorGeneral may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against an officer below the rank of a Commandant and
any subordinate officer and a Warrant Officer who is charged with an offence under this Act and award
one or more of the following punishment, that is to say,—
(a) forfeiture of seniority, or in the case of any of them whose promotion depends upon the length
of service, forfeiture of service for the purpose of promotion for a period not exceeding twelve
months, but subject to the right of the accused previous to the award to elect to be tried by an Assam
Rifles Court;
(b) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(c) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of
which he is convicted is made good.
(2) In every case in which punishment has been awarded under sub-section (1), certified true copies
of the proceedings shall be forwarded, in the prescribed manner, by the officer awarding the punishment
to the prescribed superior authority who may, if the punishment awarded appears to him to be illegal,
unjust or excessive, cancel, vary or remit the punishment and make such other direction as may be
appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
66. Punishment of subordinate officers and Warrant Officer by Commandant, etc.—A
Commandant or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by the
Director-General may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against any subordinate officer or a Warrant
Officer who is charged with an offence under this Act and award one or more of the following
punishments, that is to say,—
(a) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(b) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of
which he is convicted is made good:
Provided that the punishment mentioned under clause (a) shall only be awarded by an officer not
below the rank of Commandant authorised by the Director-General to award such punishment.
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67. Collective fines.—(1) Whenever any weapon or part of a weapon, or ammunition, forming part of
the equipment of a unit of the Force, is lost or stolen, an officer not below rank of the Commandant of a
battalion may, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit and subject to the rules and regulations, impose a
collective fine upon the subordinate officer, under-officer and men of such unit, or upon so many of them
as, in his judgment, should be held responsible for such loss or theft.
(2) Such fine shall be assessed as a percentage on the pay of the individuals on whom it falls.