POLICE FORCE BILL

4.46 p.m.

The Chief Secretary (Mr E. B. David): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to move,

That the Report of the Select Committee on the Police Force Bill, as contained in Sessional Paper No. L.A. 7 of 1958, be adopted.

Sir, as I stated in moving the Second Reading of the Bill, this is primarily a consolidating measure, and although a number of amendments have been made to the text of the Bill in Select Committee, these are largely of a formal or drafting character. The revised text of the Bill incorporating all the amendments made appears at Appendix I of the Report.

Sir, in the debate on the Bill, I mentioned that certain representations had been made by police inspectors in respect of clauses 20 and 28 of the Bill which provide for the discharge and dismissal of inspectors, and that they would be considered in Committee. Hon. Members will now see that clause 20 has been amended by the Select Committee to provide that while an inspector on probation, or a cadet inspector, can be discharged by the Commissioner, a confirmed inspector can only be discharged by the Governor.

Clause 28, which deals with disciplinary offences by inspectors, has similarly been amended to provide that an inspector's services can only be terminated by the Governor, whereas lesser penalties can be imposed by the Commissioner.

Hon. Members will also note that the period of time allowed for appeals under clauses 27 and 28 of the Bill has been extended from 10 to 30 days, since 10 days was considered inadequate for the police officers concerned to prepare an appeal.

Clause 21 has also been amended to provide that consent to an officer remaining a member of a trade union should be given by the Minister instead of by the Commissioner.

At the Second Reading of the Bill, I also mentioned the intention to substitute the expression "movable property" for "goods and chattels" in clause 51, which is new clause 50 in the Bill, in order to enable the Deputy Commissioner to deal with money in addition to goods and chattels in the administration of small intestate estates. This amendment has also been made in Select Committee.

Sir, the other amendments made in Select Committee are self-explanatory or purely matters of drafting, and I do not think they call for comment.

Sir, I beg to move.

The Assistant Minister to the Chief Secretary (Mr M. P. D. Nair): I second it.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the Report of the Select Committee on the Police Force Bill, as contained in Sessional Paper No. L.A. 7 of 1958, be adopted.

Bill read the Third time and passed.