Treasure-trove Act, 1878

The Treasure-trove Act, 1878 is a very old law that tells people what to do if they find hidden valuables in the ground, and how ownership of that "treasure" gets decided. Section 3 defines "treasure" as anything of value hidden in the soil or in something fixed to it. Under Section 4, anyone who finds treasure worth more than ten rupees must promptly notify the Collector (a district revenue officer) in writing, stating what it is, roughly what it's worth, where and when it was found, and must either deposit it in a government treasury or give security to produce it later.

Once notified, the Collector publishes a notice (Section 5) inviting anyone with a claim to the treasure to appear within four to six months; anyone who doesn't appear loses their right to claim it (Section 6). The Collector then investigates who found the treasure, where, and how, and who might have originally hidden it (Section 7). If it looks like the treasure was hidden within the past hundred years by someone who has now come forward to claim it, the Collector pauses the process to let that person sue in civil court to establish their right (Section 8). If there's no such claimant, or a court rejects the claim, the Collector can declare the treasure ownerless (Section 9), a decision that can be appealed within two months.

Once declared ownerless, the treasure is either given entirely to the finder (Section 11, if no landowner claim was made) or divided — typically three-quarters to the finder and one-quarter to the person claiming as owner of the land where it was found (Section 12), unless they had a prior agreement. Where multiple people dispute ownership of the land itself, the Collector holds the treasure and refers the dispute to a civil court (Sections 13–15). Section 16 lets the government instead simply buy the treasure from whoever is entitled to it, paying its material value plus one-fifth extra.

Sections 20 and 21 set penalties: a finder who fails to report treasure, fails to deposit it or give security, or tries to disguise it, forfeits their share and can be imprisoned for up to one year, fined, or both; a landowner who helps someone commit that offence faces up to six months' imprisonment, a fine, or both. Given its age (1878) and the amendment footnotes throughout the extract, current terminology (e.g. which government body now acts as "Collector") should be checked against the present official text.