Section 21 of the Police Act, 1861: Village Police Officers
Section 21 addresses the relationship between hereditary or other village police officers and the police force established under the Police Act, 1861. It preserves their existing position unless they are enrolled under the Act, and makes consent a condition of enrollment.
Text of Section 21: Village police officers
Nothing in this Act shall affect any hereditary or other village police-officer, unless such officer shall be enrolled as a police-officer under this Act. When so enrolled, such officer shall be bound by the provisions of the last preceding section. No hereditary or other village police-officer shall be enrolled without his consent and the consent of those who have the right of nomination.
Police-chaukidars in the Presidency of Fort William. - If any police-officer appointed under Act XX of 1856 (to make better provision for the appointment and maintenance of Police-chaukidars in Cities, Towns, Stations, Suburbs and Bazars in the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal) is employed out of the district for which he shall have been appointed under that Act, he shall not be paid out of the rates levied under the said Act for that district.
Historical reference: Act XX of 1856 is identified in the source text as the Bengal Chaukidari Act, 1856. Punctuation has been regularized for readability.
What does Section 21 mean?
The provision distinguishes traditional village police arrangements from the regular police force organized under the 1861 Act. Its opening words are a saving provision: the Act does not, by itself, alter the position of a hereditary or other village police officer who has not been enrolled under it.
Meaning of key expressions
- Hereditary village police officer: a village policing functionary whose office has historically passed through a customary or hereditary arrangement, where recognized by applicable law.
- Enrollment: formal inclusion as a police officer under the 1861 Act, subject to the statutory requirements and the law applicable in the jurisdiction.
- Right of nomination: the recognized right, under the relevant arrangement or law, to nominate a person to a village police office.
- Last preceding section: Section 20 of the Police Act, 1861, which limits police officers to authority conferred by the Act and applicable criminal procedure legislation.
Enrollment and the requirement of consent
Section 21 specifies two consent requirements: the consent of the village police officer concerned and the consent of those who possess the right of nomination. If enrollment takes place under the provision, the officer becomes subject to Section 20, concerning the lawful source and limits of police authority.
Section 21 does not itself prescribe a universal modern appointment procedure, pay scale or disciplinary framework for all village policing personnel. Those matters depend on the legislation, rules and administrative arrangements in force in the relevant state.
Special historical rule for police chaukidars
The second paragraph concerns police chaukidars appointed under Act XX of 1856 in the former Presidency of Fort William in Bengal. It provides that, if such an officer was employed outside the district of appointment, the officer's remuneration could not be charged to rates collected under that Act for the original district.
This is a historical, geographically specific funding provision. It should not be read as a general rule governing salaries or deployment of all village police personnel in India today.
Current legal context and state legislation
The Police Act, 1861, is a historical enactment whose continued operation and modifications differ by state and subject matter. Several states have enacted their own police laws or laws governing village policing and local public-order functions. The text of Section 21 should therefore be checked against the legislation currently applicable to the place and type of officer involved.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) came into force on 1 July 2024 and provides the principal contemporary framework for criminal procedure, subject to applicable provisions and savings. Its commencement does not, by itself, replace the specific enrollment-and-consent rule described in Section 21 wherever that rule remains applicable.
For authoritative legislative texts and state amendments, consult the India Code official legislation portal and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Verify the applicable state enactment and any notifications before relying on a historical provision.
Frequently asked questions
Does Section 21 automatically make a village police officer part of the regular police?
No. The section preserves the position of a hereditary or other village police officer unless the officer is enrolled under the Act.
Can a hereditary village police officer be enrolled without consent?
Under the wording of Section 21, enrollment requires both the officer's consent and the consent of persons having the right of nomination, subject to the current applicable law.
What happens after enrollment?
The section expressly makes an enrolled officer subject to Section 20, which concerns the legal limits of police authority.
Does the historical Bengal chaukidar provision govern modern police salaries?
No general conclusion of that kind follows from it. The paragraph concerns an identified historical statute and district-based rates; present-day remuneration is governed by the applicable law and service arrangements.
Related provisions
Read Section 20: Authority exercised by police officers, Section 22: Police officers always on duty, and Section 23: Duties of police officers.