Sarais Act, 1867

The Sarais Act, 1867 is a very old law regulating "sarais" — traditional roadside inns or rest-houses used to shelter travellers (the extract notes it also covers "puraos," a similar type of lodging). Section 2 defines a sarai broadly to include any building, or part of one, used to house and shelter travellers, and defines the "keeper" of a sarai as its owner or whoever manages it.

Under Sections 3-5, the local District Magistrate must notify sarai keepers of the Act and require them to register their sarai in a register the Magistrate keeps; after one month from that notice, no lodger, animal or vehicle may be received at an unregistered sarai. Section 6 lets the Magistrate refuse registration to a keeper who cannot produce a certificate of good character. Section 7 lays out the keeper's duties: reporting infectious disease cases or deaths to the police, allowing inspections, keeping the premises clean, removing vegetation that could help thieves get in, maintaining watchmen for safety, and publicly posting a list of charges. Section 8 lets the Magistrate demand periodic reports from keepers about who stayed at the sarai.

Sections 9-11 give the Magistrate power to secure, clean or even demolish sarais that are abandoned, filthy, or structurally dangerous, recovering the cost of any such work from the owner (or, where ownership is disputed, by selling salvaged materials). Section 12 penalizes keepers who let their sarai become filthy or overgrown. Section 14 sets out the penalty for breaking the Act or its regulations: a fine of up to twenty rupees, plus a further fine of up to one rupee for each day the violation continues. Section 15 disqualifies a keeper from running a sarai without special permission after a third conviction. Section 16 exempts sarais directly managed by government or a Municipal Committee (except for the reporting duty in Section 8).

This is a 19th-century colonial-era law that has clearly been amended and adapted over time (the extract shows repeated "Subs. by A.O." and repealing-act footnotes updating terms like "Provincial Government"), and the stated penalty amounts (twenty rupees, one rupee per day) are historical figures from 1867 that would need to be checked against any later revaluation or amendment before being treated as current.