Government of India Act 1935

270 Indemnity for past acts.

(1) No proceedings civil or criminal shall be instituted against any person in respect of any act done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty as a servant of the Crown in India or Burma before the relevant date, except with the consent, in the case of a person who was employed in connection with the affairs of the Government of India or the affairs of Burma, of the Governor-General in his discretion, and in the case of a person employed in connection with the affairs of a Province, of the Governor of that Province in his discretion.

(2) Any civil or criminal proceedings instituted, whether before or after the coming into operation of this Part of this Act, against any person in respect of any act done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty as a servant of the Crown in India or Burma before the relevant date shall be dismissed unless the court is satisfied that the acts complained of were not done in good faith, and, where any such proceedings are dismissed, the costs incurred by the defendant shall, in so far as they are not recoverable from the persons instituting the proceedings, be charged, in the case of persons employed in connection with the functions of the Governor-General in Council or the affairs of Burma, on the revenues of the Federation, and in the case of persons employed in connection with the affairs of a Province, on the revenues of that Province.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

• the expression " the relevant date " means, in relation to acts done by persons employed about the affairs of a Province or about the affairs of Burma, the commencement of Part III of this Act and, in relation to acts done by persons employed about the affairs of the Federation, the date of the establishment of the Federation;

• references to persons employed in connection with the functions of the Governor-General in Council include references to persons employed in connection with the affairs of any Chief Commissioner's Province;

• a person shah be deemed to have been employed about the affairs of a Province if he was employed about the affairs of the Province as constituted at the date when the act complained of occurred or is alleged to have occurred.