Page:Acts of the Parliament of India 1988.pdf/42

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15. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the State Government or any officer or authority of the State Government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rules or orders made under this Act.

16. Where any person is prosecuted of an offence under section 4, the burden of proving that he had not committed the offence under the said section shall be on him.

17. (1) All officers of Government are hereby required and empowered to assist the police in the execution of the provisions of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.

(2) All village officers and such other officers as may be specified by the Collector or the District Magistrate in relation to any area and the inhabitants of such area shall, if they have reason to believe or have the knowledge that sati is about to be, or has been committed in the area shall forthwith report such fact to the nearest police station.

(3) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine.

18. A person convicted of an offence under sub-section (1) of section 4 in relation to the commission of sati shall be disqualified from inheriting the property of the person in respect of whom such sati has been committed or the property of any other person which he would have been entitled to inherit on the death of the person in respect of whom such sati has been committed,

19. In the Representation of the People Act, 1951,-
 * (a) in section 8, in sub-section (2), after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
 * "Provided further that a person convicted by a Special Court for the contravention of any of the provisions of the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of five years since his release.";
 * (b) in section 123, after clause (3A), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-
 * (3B) The propagation of the practice or the commission of sati or its glorification by a candidate or his agent or any other person with the consent of the candidate or his election agent for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate.