Cattle-trespass Act, 1871

The Cattle-trespass Act, 1871 sets out the "pound" system for dealing with cattle, a term the Act defines broadly to include elephants, camels, horses, mules, pigs, sheep, and goats among others under Section 3, that stray onto and damage someone else's land, crops, public roads, canals, or embankments.

Sections 4-6 establish pounds at places set by the District Magistrate and appoint pound-keepers, who are deemed public servants, to run them, keep registers of seized cattle (Section 8), and feed and water impounded animals (Section 9). Sections 10-11 let a farmer whose land or crops are being damaged, or officials responsible for roads, canals, and embankments, seize the trespassing cattle and send them to the nearest pound within twenty-four hours, with police required to assist if needed. Section 12 sets a fine per head of impounded cattle, on a scale fixed by the Provincial Government and displayed at the pound.

Sections 13-19 cover what happens next: the owner can reclaim the cattle by paying the fines and feeding charges (Section 13); if unclaimed for seven days, a public notice is posted, and if still unclaimed after another seven days, the cattle are sold at public auction (Section 14), with the fines, feeding costs, and sale expenses deducted from the proceeds before any balance goes to the owner (Sections 16-17). Owners who dispute the legality of a seizure can get their cattle back by depositing the fines under protest and later filing a complaint under Section 20.

Sections 20-23 let anyone whose cattle were illegally seized or detained complain to a Magistrate, who can order the cattle released and award compensation, capped at one hundred rupees under Section 22, plus a refund of fines and expenses. Sections 24-27 set out offences and penalties: forcibly resisting a lawful seizure or rescuing impounded cattle carries imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to five hundred rupees, or both (Section 24); letting pigs damage land, crops, or roads carries a fine of up to ten rupees, which the Provincial Government could raise to fifty rupees by notification (Section 26); and a pound-keeper who neglects his duties faces a fine of up to fifty rupees (Section 27).

This is an 1871 Act, extensively amended over the following decades (notably in 1891, 1914, 1921, and 1937, as the footnotes show), and it has already been repealed outright in Punjab. The rupee amounts stated in this text are more than a century old, so they should not be relied on without checking whether they remain in force or have since been revised.