AIR FORCE [Cap. 627

CHAPTER 627

AIR FORCE

ActsNos.41 of 1949,

21 of 1954,7 of 1962,

33 of 1962,21 of 1979.

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE RAISING AND MAINTENANCE OF AN AIR FORCE ANDFOR MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.

Short title.

Sri LankaAir Force.

[§ 3, 21 of1979.]

RegularAir Force.

1. This Act may be cited as the AirForce Act.

PART I

ORGANIZATION OF THE AIR FORCE

2. (1) There sha l l be ra i sed andma in t a ined , in accordance w i t h theprovisions of this Act and of the regulationsmade thereunder, a force, to be called theSri Lanka Air Force (and hereinafterreferred to as the " Air Force"), notexceeding such strength as may, from timeto time, be determined by Parliament.

(2) The Air Force shall consist of—

(a) a Regular Air Force,

(b) a Regular Air Force Reserve, and

(c) such V o l u n t e e r Air Force andVolunteer Air Force Reserve asmay be constituted under sections 5and 6.

3. (1) The Regular Air Force shallconsist of officers and airmen who areappointed or enlisted for the purpose ofrendering continuous service under this Actduring the period of their engagement.

(2) The Regular Air Force shall beorganized into such corps as may, from timeto time, be determined by the President.

(3) Where the whole or any part of theRegular Air Force Reserve, Volunteer AirForce, or Volunteer Air Force Reserve, iscalled out on active service or for air-forcetraining, the officers and airmen of such

RegularAir ForceReserve.

VolunteerAir Force.

[10th October, 1950.]

reserve, force, or part so called out shall,during the period of such service or training,be deemed for all purposes to be officersand airmen of the Regular Air Force.

4. The Regular Air Force Reserve shallconsist of officers who by order of thePresident are transferred to such reservefrom the Regular Air Force and airmen whoare transferred to such reserve from theRegular Air Force in accordance with theterms of their enlistment.

5. (1) The re may be raised andmain ta ined , in accordance wi th theprovisions of this Act and of the regulationsmade thereunder, a force of volunteers forthe purpose of rendering service under thisAct.

(2) The force of volunteers raised andmaintained under this Act shall be called theVolunteer Air Force.

(3) The Volunteer Air Force shall beorganized into such corps as may, from timeto time, be determined by the President.

6. T h e r e m a y be o r g a n i z e d a n dmaintained a Volunteer Air Force Reserveconsisting of such officers and airmen of theVolunteer Air Force or of any other unit ofthe Air Force as are transferred to suchreserve by order of the President.

7. The whole or any part of the Regular Training.Air Force Reserve, Volunteer Air Force, orVolunteer Air Force Reserve may by orderof the President be called out for air-forcetraining with the whole or any part of theRegular Air Force during any periodspecified in such order.

VolunteerAir ForceReserve.

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Commander ofthe Air Force.

Appointmentof officers.

Duration ofappointments.

Resignation.

8. (1) The President shall appoint a fitand proper person to command the AirForce.

(2) The p e r s o n a p p o i n t e d u n d e rsubsection (1) of this section shall bedesignated Commander of the Air Force.

PART 11

OFFICERS

9. (1 ) The officers shall be appointedby commissions under the hand of thePresident.

(2) E v e r y o f f i c e r s h a l l u p o nappoin tment take and subscribe theprescribed oath, or make and subscribe theprescribed affirmation, before a prescribedofficer.

(3) No commission issued by thePresident under subsection (1) of thissection shall become invalid by'reason of hisdeath or vacation of office.

10. E v e r y o f f i c e r s h a l l ho ld h i sappo in tmen t d u r i n g the Pres ident ' spleasure.

11. (1) An officer of the Regular AirForce or Regular Air Force Reserve shallnot have the right to resign his commission,but may be allowed by the President to doso.

(2) An officer of the Regular Air Forceor Regular Air Force Reserve who tendersthe resignation of his commission to thePresident shall not be relieved of the dutiesof his appointment until the acceptance ofthe resignation is notified in the Gazette.

(3) Where an officer of the VolunteerAir Force or Volunteer Air Force Reservedesires to resign his commission on anydate, he shall, not less than three monthsbefore that date, give the President writtennotice tha t he wi l l be res igning hiscommission on that date.

(4) Where an officer of the VolunteerAir Force or Volunteer Air Force Reservehas, in accordance with subsection (3) of

this section, given notice of resignation ofhis commission, he shall, upon his returningto the prescribed officer in good order (fairwear and tear only excepted) all such arms,clothing and appointments in his possessionas are the property of the Air Force, beentitled to resign his commission—

(a) if he is not on active service, on thedate of resignation specified in suchnotice, or

(b) if he is on active service, immediatelyafter the termination of suchservice.

12. The promot ion and t ransfer ofofficers and the grant of leave of absenceto them shall be in accordance with suchregulations as may be made in that behalf.

PART III

AIRMEN

13. (1) The enlistment of persons asairmen shall be in accordance with theregulations made in that behalf and shall beconducted by recruiting officers appointedby the President.

(2) Every person selected for enlistmentas an airman shall appear before aprescribed officer, sign an attestation papercontaining the terms of his enlistment, andtake and subscribe the prescribed oath ormake and subscribe the prescribedaffirmation.

(3) The attestation paper referred to insubsection (2) of this section shall be in theprescribed form.

14. (1) Subject to the provisions ofsection 21, the enlistment of a person as anairman of the Regular Air Force shall—

(a) be for the prescribed period whichshall be called the period of originalenlistment, and

(b) be entirely for service in such forceor partly for such service and partlyfor service in the Regular Air ForceReserve.

Promotion,transfer, andleave.

Enlistment.

Originalenlistment, andre-engagement.

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Reckoning andforfeiture of

Promotion,transfer,discharge, &c.

(2) An airman may, before the expiryof the period of his original enlistment, bere-engaged for a further period of air-forceservice not exceeding the prescribedmaximum period of re-engagement.

15. (1) Subject to the provisions ofsubsection (2) of this section, the service ofan airman of the Regular Air Force for thepurpose of discharge or of transfer to theregular Air Force Reserve shall be reckonedfrom the date of his signing the attestationpaper.

(2) Where an airman has been guilty ofthe air-force offence of desertion or offraudulent enlistment, then either upon hisconviction by a court martial of suchoffence, or (if, having confessed suchoffence, he is liable to be tried by a courtmartial) upon his trial by a court martialbeing dispensed with by order under section149, the whole of his prior service shall beforfeited, and he shall be liable to serve asan airman for the period of his originalenlistment, reckoned from the date of suchconviction or such order dispensing withtrial, in like manner as if he had beenenlisted on that date:

Provided that all or any part of theservice of an airman forfeited under thissubsection may, in accordance with suchregulations as may be made in that behalf,be restored to him if he performs good andfaithful service or is otherwise deemed tomerit the restoration of such service.

16. (1) The p r o m o t i o n , t r ans fe r ,discharge and dismissal of airmen, and thegrant of leave of absence to them, shall be inaccordance with the regulations made inthat behalf.

(2) Where an airman of the VolunteerAir Force or Volunteer Air Force Reservedesires to obtain his discharge from suchforce or reserve on any date before theexpiry of the period for which he hasvolunteered to serve in such force or reserve,he shall, not less than three months beforesuch date, make a written request to hiscommanding officer for such discharge;and, if he makes such request, he shall,subject to the provisions of section 21,

be entitled to be discharged from such forceor reserve on such date, upon his returningto the prescribed officer in good order (fairwear and tear only excepted) all such arms,clothing and appointments in his possessionas are the property of the Air Force.

17. A n o n - c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i c e rsentenced by a court martial to fieldpunishment, imprisonment, or detentionshall be deemed to be reduced to the rank ofairman.

PART IV

SERVICE

18. Every member of the Air Forceshall, whenever ordered so to do by hiscommanding officer, perform such of theprescribed duties as may, from time to time,be imposed on him by that officer, and shallin addition when he is on active serviceperform any such duty as the Commanderof the Air Force deems necessary.

19. (1) The President may—

(a) for the defence of Sri Lanka in timeof w a r w h e t h e r a c t u a l orapprehended, or

(b) for the prevention or suppression ofany rebellion, insurrection or othercivil disturbance in Sri Lanka,

by P r o c l a m a t i o n or, w h e r e thecircumstances render it impossible to issue aProclamation, by order, call out on activeservice the whole or any part of the AirForce.

(2) All officers and airmen of any suchpart of the Air Force as is called out onactive service under subsection (1) of thissection shall be deemed to be on suchservice until the President terminates suchservice by Proclamation.

20. If Parliament is sitting at the date ofissue of a Proclamation or an order undersubsection (1) of section 19, the Presidentshall forthwith communicate to Parliamentthe reason for issuing the Proclamation ororder. If Parliament is not then sitting, the

Duties ofmembers ofAir Force.

Active service.

Report toParliament.

Reductionto rank ofairman.

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Prolongationof service inthe Air Force.

Relationsbetween airand naval andmilitary forcesof Sri Lankaacting together.

Co-operationwith foreignair force.

President shall summon Parliament to meetas soon as possible but not later than thirtydays after the aforesaid date, and shall, atthe first sitting of Parliament after it issummoned, communicate the aforesaidreason.

21. Where the time at which an airmanis entitled to be discharged from the AirForce occurs during the period when thewhole or any part of the Air Force is onactive service, the President may by orderprolong the service of that airman in the AirForce for such period.

22. (1) Where an officer or a petty ornon-commissioned officer of any naval ormilitary force of Sri Lanka is attached to, oris a member of any naval or military forceof Sri Lanka which is acting with, any partof the Air Force under such conditions asmay be prescribed, then, for the purposesof command and discipline and for thepurposes of the provisions of this Actrelating to superior officers, he shall, inrelation to that part of the Air Force, betreated as, and have all the powers (otherthan the powers of punishment) vested in,an officer or a non-commissioned officer ofthe Air Force, as the case may be.

(2) Where an officer or airman of theAir Force is attached to, or is a member ofany part of the Air Force acting with, anynaval or military force of Sri Lanka undersuch conditions as may be prescribed, then,for the purposes of command and disciplineand for the purposes of the provisions ofthis Act relating to superior officers, theofficers and the petty or non-commissionedofficers of that naval or military force shall,in relation to him, be treated as, and haveall the powers (other than the powersof punishment) vested in, officers ornon-commissioned officers of the Air Force,as the case may be.

23. (1) In time of war, if the whole orany part of the Air Force is required to actin co-operation with any foreign air force indefence of Sri Lanka, the President mayplace the Air Force or such part thereofunder the command of the off icercommanding such foreign air force if thatofficer is senior in rank to all the officers ofthe Air Force or of such part thereof.

(2) Where any officer, warrant officer,or non-commissioned officer is acting inco-operation with any foreign air force indefence of Sri Lanka, the President may, inagreement with the commander of suchforce, define the powers of command andthe order of precedence of such officer,warrant officer, or non-commissionedofficer in relation to a member of such forcewho is of the same or similar rank.

23A. (1) The President may order allor any of the members of the Air Force toperform such duties as he may considernecessary in the national interest.

(2) The President may order anymember of the Air Force to perform escortand guard duties in respect of personssuspected, accused, or convicted of anyoffence against the State under Chapter VIof the Penal Code.

(3) Every member of the Air Force shallperform such duties as may be imposed onhim by Order of the President undersubsection (1).

(4) Wherever an Order is made undersubsection (1) calling upon any officer of theAir Force to perform civilian administrativeduties and wherever an Order is made undersubsec t ion (2) the P r e s i d e n t sha l lcommunicate to Parliament such Order inthe same manner as under the PublicSecurity Ordinance in the case of adeclaration of a state of emergency.

PART V

PAY, ALLOWANCES, PENSIONS, ANDGRATUITIES

24. Every member of the Regular AirForce and every officer or airman notbelonging to the Regular Air Force who ison active service shall be entitled to suchpay and allowances, and to be quartered insuch manner, as may be prescribed.

Performance ofcertain otherduties bymembers of theAir Force.[§ 2, 7 of 1962.]

Emoluments ofmembers of theRegular AirForce and ofother membersof the AirForce who areon activeservice.

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Allowances ofofficers andairmen who arenot membersof the RegularAir Force andare not onactive service.

Making andremission ofdeductions.

Penaldeductionsfrom the paydue to anofficer.

[§ 2, 33 of1962.]

[§ 2, 33 of1962.]

25. Such of the officers and airmen asare not members of the Regular Air Forceand are not on active service shall beentitled to such equipment allowance orother allowance as may be prescribed.

26. (1) No penal deduction, other thana penal deduction authorized by this Act,shall be made from the pay or allowance ofany officer or airman.

(2) Any sum authorized by this Act tobe deducted from the pay of any officer orairman may be deducted from his pay orfrom any sums due to him.

(3) Any deduction authorized by thisAct to be made from the pay of any officeror airman may be remitted in suchcircumstances and in such manner as maybe prescribed.

27. The following penal deductions maybe made from the pay or allowance due toan officer:—

(a) all pay in respect of any periodduring which he is absent withoutleave, unless an explanation hasbeen given by him through hiscommanding officer and has beenaccepted as satisfactory by theCommander of the Air Force;

(aa) in respect of each month of anyper iod du r ing wh ich he issuspended from the exercise of hisoffice, a part of his pay andallowances for that month as maybe prescribed;

(b) the sum awarded by the courtmartial by which he is convicted ofany offence as the compensationpayable by him for any expense,loss, damage or des t ruc t ionoccasioned by the commission ofthe offence;

(c) the sum required to make good thepay of any other officer or of anyairman which he has unlawfullyretained or unlawfully refused topay;

(d) the sum required to make good suchloss, damage, or destruction ofpublic or air-force property as, afterdue investigation, appears to theCommander of the Air Force tohave been occasioned by anywrongful act or negligence of theofficer;

(e) any sum which he has been orderedby a civil court to pay for themaintenance of his wife or of hislegitimate or illegitimate child orchildren and which he has himselfnot paid.

28. (1) The following penal deductionsmay be made from the pay or allowance dueto an airman;—

(a) all pay for every day of absenceeither on desertion or without leave,or as a prisoner of war if takenprisoner through his neglect ormisconduct; for every day ofi m p r i s o n m e n t to which he issentenced by a court martial or civilcourt, or, if he is on board a ship ofthe Republic, by the commandingofficer of that ship ; for every day ofdetention to which he is sentenced,or for every day in respect of whichfield punishment is imposed onhim, by a court martial or by hiscommanding officer; and for everyday whilst he is in air-force custodyon a charge for an offence of whichhe is afterwards convicted by acourt martial or a civil court, or ona charge of absence without leavefor which he is afterwards sentencedto detention or subjected to fieldpunishment by his commandingofficer;

(aa) in respect of each month of anype r iod d u r i n g w h i c h he issuspended from his duties, a part ofhis pay and allowances for thatmonth as may be prescribed ;

(b) all pay for every day on which he isin hospital on account of illnesscertified by the medical officerattending on him at the hospital tohave been caused by an offencecommitted by him;

Penaldeductionsfrom the paydue to anairman.

[§ 3, 33 of1962.]

[§ 3, 33 of1962.]

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(c) such sum payable by him by way ofcompensation for any expense, loss,damage, or destruction occasionedby the commission of any offence asmay be determined by the courtmartial by which he is convicted ofthat offence or by the authoritydealing summarily, under section 43,with the charge against him inrespect of that offence, or, if he ison board a ship of the Republic, bythe commanding officer of thatship, or, where he has confessed theoffence and his trial is dispensedwith by order under section 149, bythat order or by any other orderof a competent air-force authorityunder that section;

(d) such sum payable by him by way ofcompensation for any expensecaused by him, or for any loss ofor damage or destruction done byhim to any arms, ammunition,equipment, clothing, instruments,service necessaries, or air-forcedecorations, or to any buildingsor other property, as may bedetermined by his commandingofficer, or by the authority dealingsummarily, under section 43, with acharge against him, or, where heelects to be tried by a court martial,by that court martial, or, if he is onboard a ship of the Republic, by thecommanding officer of that ship ;

(e) the share which he, as a member of aunit of the Air Force, is required tocontribute towards compensationfor any barrack damage which,after due investigation held in theprescribed manner, appears to havebeen caused by the wilful act ornegligence of any unidentifiableperson or persons belonging to suchunit, during the period while suchunit was in occupation of thebarracks;

(f) the sum required to pay any fineimposed by a court martial or hiscommanding officer; or any fine,penalty, damages, compensation, or

costs which a civil court beforewhich he has been charged with anoffence has ordered him to pay;and

(g) any sum which he has been orderedby a civil court to pay for themaintenance of his wife or of hislegitimate or illegitimate child orchildren and which he has himselfnot paid ;

Provided that—

(i) the total amount of such deductionsauthorized by this subsection as aremade from the pay due to anairman shall not exceed such sumas will leave to him, after paying forhis messing and washing, less thanten cents a day, and

(ii) where an airman who is sentenced inrespect of an offence on activeservice to forfeit all pay is liable toany other penal deductions frompay, the sentence shall apply only toso much of his pay as remains afterthose deductions have been made.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (e) ofsubsection (1) of this section—

" barrack damage " means damage to orloss or destruction of any premisesin which airmen are quartered orbilleted, or any appurtenances,fixtures, furniture or effects thereinor appertaining thereto, and

" unit " includes any part of a unit.

29. Any officer or airman, or the widowor any child or other dependant of anyofficer or airman, may be paid a pension orgratuity in such circumstances and at suchrates as may be prescribed.

30. (1) Every assignment of and everycharge on, and every agreement to assign orcharge, any pay or allowance payable to anyofficer or airman, or any pension or gratuitypayable to any officer or airman or to thewidow or any child or other dependant ofany officer or airman, shall be void unless itis approved by the President or any personthereto authorized by the President-

Pensions andgratuities.

Assignment,seizure, orsequestrationof pay,allowance,pension, orgratuity.

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Maintenanceof wife andchildren.

Grievancesof officers.

Grievancesof airmen.

(2) No pay or allowance payable to anyofficer or airman, and no pension orgratuity payable to any officer or airman orto the widow or any child or otherdependant of any officer or airman, nor anypart thereof, shall be seized or sequesteredunder any writ or order issued or made byany civil court,

31. Where a civil court enters a decreeor makes an order against a person, who isor subsequently becomes an officer orairman, for the payment of any sum as costof maintenance of his wife or of hislegitimate or illegitimate child or children,the Commander of the Air Force may, if aduly certified copy of such decree or order issent to him, cause to be deducted from thepay of the officer or airman and to beappropriated towards the payment of thatsum such portion of the pay of the officer orairman as the Commander of the Air Forcemay determine, so however that there shallbe ieft to the officer or airman not less thanone-third of his pay.

PART VI

REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES

32. Where an officer is aggrieved by anyaction of, and is unsuccessful in obtainingredress from, his commanding officer, hemay make a written appeal for redress tothe Commander of the Air Force, andwhere he is aggrieved by any action of theCommander of the Air Force, either inrespect of his appeal or in respect of anyother matter, he may make a written appealto the President. An order made by thePresident on any such appeal shall be final.

33. (1) Where an airman is aggrievedby any action of an officer other than thecommanding officer of the corps to whichhe is attached or by any action of any otherairman, he may make a written appeal forredress to such commanding officer, andwhere he is aggrieved by any action of suchcommanding officer, either in respect of hisappeal or in respect of any other matter,he may make a written appeal to theCommander of the Air Force.

(2) Each officer to whom an appeal ismade under subsection (1) of this sectionshall inquire into the appeal, and, if satisfiedthat the appeal should be allowed, shallgrant redress to the appellant. An ordermade by the Commander of the Air Forceon any appeal made to him under thatsubsection shall be final.

PART VII

PERSONS SUBJECT TO THIS ACT

34. For the purposes of this Act," person subject to this Act" means aperson who belongs to any of the followingclasses of persons :—

(a) All officers and airmen of theRegular Air Force.

(b) All such officers and airmen of theR e g u l a r A i r Force Rese rve ,Volunteer Air Force, or VolunteerAir Force Reserve, as are deemedto be officers and airmen of theR e g u l a r A i r F o r c e u n d e rsubsection (3) of section 3.

35. A person subject to this Act whocommits any air-force offence or civiloffence may be taken into air-force custody.

36. (1) A senior officer may order intoair-force custody a junior officer who, beinga person subject to this Act, commits anyair-force offence or civil offence, and aj unior officer may order into air-forcecustody a senior officer who, being a personsubject to this Act, is engaged in a quarrel,affray or disorder.

(2) Any officer or non-commissionedofficer may order into air-force custody anyairman who, being a person subject to thisAct, commits any air-force offence or civiloffence.

(3) An order under subsection (1) orsubsection (2) of this section shall be obeyednotwithstanding that the person giving theorder and the person in respect of whom theorder is given do not belong to the samecorps.

Meaning of" personsubject tothis Act".

Persons liableto air-forcecustody.

Persons whomay orderair-forcecustody.

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37. Any officer or airman ordered intoair-force custody shall be committed to thecustody of a provost marshal or an assistantprovost marshal or of the commander of aguard. The person to whose custody anyofficer or airman is committed under thissection shall not refuse to receive or keephim.

38. The person ordering any officer orairman into air-force custody shall, withintwenty-four hours of the committal of thatofficer or airman to such custody, deliver tothe person to whose custody that officer orairman is committed a written and signedstatement of the offence with which thatofficer or airman is charged.

39. Where any officer or airman not onactive service,is kept in air-force custody fora longer period than seven days withouttrial, his commanding officer shall submitweekly to the officer to whom applicationwould be made to convene a court martial ifthe person in air-force custody were to betried by a court martial, a written report onthe necessity for such custody, until he isbrought to trial or is released from suchcustody.

40. (1) Where a person subject to thisAct is taken into air-force custody, thecommanding officer of that person shallwithout unnecessary delay investigate thecharge on which that person is in suchcustody, and—

(a) if he in his discretion decides that itshould not be proceeded with, shalldismiss the charge, and

(b) if he in his discretion decides that thecharge should be proceeded with,shall—

(i) take steps for the trial of thatperson by a court martial, or

(ii) where that person is an officerof a rank below that of WingCommander or is a warrantofficer, refer the case to bedealt with summarily by theCommander of the Air Force

person is anthan a warrantwith the case

or by such officer not belowthe rank of Group Captain asmay thereto be authorised bythe Commander of the AirForce, or

(iii) where thatairman otherofficer, dealsummarily.

(2) S u b j e c t to the p r o v i s i o n s ofsubsection (3) of this section, where anairman, other than a warrant officer or non-commissioned officer, is charged with theoffence of drunkenness, his commandingofficer shall deal with the case summarilyunless the offence was committed by himwhile on active service or on duty, or afterhe was warned for duty, or unless by reasonof the drunkenness he was found unfit forduty, or unless he has been guilty of theoffence of drunkenness on four or moreoccasions in the preceding twelve months.

(3) Where a commanding officer haspower to deal with an accused airmansummarily under this section, and, afterhearing the evidence, considers that he mayso deal with the accused, he shall, if thesentence on the conviction of the accusedwill involve forfeiture of pay or will notconsist only of a minor punishment which acommanding officer is authorized to inflictby regulations made in that behalf, ask theaccused whether he desires to be dealt withsummarily or to be tried by a district courtmartial, and he shall, if the accused elects tobe tried by a district court martial, takesteps for the trial of the accused by a districtcourt martial, or if the accused does not soelect, proceed to deal with the accusedsummarily.

41. A commanding officer may, inaccordance with such regulations as may bemade in that behalf, delegate to an officerunder his command the power of dealingsummarily with an accused airman undersection 40.

Custodians.

Statementof offence.

Air-forcecustody ofofficer orairman not onactive service.

Commandingofficer's powersin regard to anaccused.

Delegation ofcommandingofficer's powerto dealsummarilywith anaccusedairman.

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Summary trialof accused whois an officer ofa rank belowthat of WingCommander oris a warrantofficer.

PART VIII

SUMMARY TRIAL

42. Where a person subject to this Actwho is an officer of a rank below that ofWing Commander or is a warrant officer ischarged with any offence and the case isreferred under section 40 to be dealt withsummarily by the authority mentioned inparagraph (b) (ii) of subsection (1) of thatsection, such authority may—

(a) whether before or after hearing theevidence dismiss the charge, if hedecides in his discretion that itshould not be proceeded with ; or

(b) after hearing the evidence—

(i) acquit the accused, if he findsthe accused not guilty ; or

(ii) convict the accused, if he findsthe accused guilty.

In the event of the accused beingconvicted, such authority may—

(a) where the accused is an officer of ar a n k b e l o w t h a t of W i n gCommander, inflict on him all ora n y o f t h e f o l l o w i n gpunishments:—

(i) forfeiture of seniority of rankeither in the Air Force or inthe corps to which the accusedbelongs or in both, or, if theaccused's promotion in theAir Force depends on lengthof service, forfeiture of all orany part of his service for thepurposes of such promotion ;

(ii) a severe r e p r i m a n d or areprimand; and

(b) where the accused is a warrantofficer, inflict on him all or any ofthe following punishments :—

(i) forfeiture of seniority of rank;

(ii) a severe r ep r imand or areprimand;

(iii) such deduction from his payas is authorized by this Act.

43. Where a commanding officer dealssummarily with a case in which an airman(not being a warrant officer) under hiscommand is charged with the commission ofany offence, he shall, after hearing theevidence, acquit the accused if he finds theaccused not guilty, or convict the accusedif he finds the accused guilty, and afterconviction of the accused may—

(a) order him to be placed underd e t e n t i o n for any period notexceeding twenty-eight days; or

(b) if the offence is drunkenness, orderhim to pay a fine not exceedingtwenty rupees, either in addition toor without any other punishment;or

(c) in addition to or without any otherpunishment, order him to suffer anysuch deduction from his pay as isauthorized by this Act to be madeby the commanding officer; or

(d) where he is not a non-commissionedofficer and the offence has beencommitted by him while on activeservice, subject him to fieldpunishment for a period notexceeding twenty-eight days inaccordance with such regulationsrelating to field punishment as maybe made, and, in addition to orwithout any other punishment,order him to forfeit all pay fora period commencing on the dayof the order and not exceedingtwenty-eight days; or

(e) in addition to or without any otherpunishment, subject him to suchm i n o r p u n i s h m e n t as t h ecommanding officer is authorizedto inflict by regulations made inthat behalf, so however that aminor punishment shall not beinflicted for any offence for whichdetention exceeding seven days isordered.

Summary trialof accused whois an airmanother than awarrant officer.

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Manner oftaking evidenceat summarytrial.

Three kinds ofcourts martial.

Generalcourt martial.

44. Where a commanding officer haspower to deal with a case summarily, theaccused may demand that the evidenceagainst him shall be taken on oath oraffirmation, and if the accused so demands,the same oath or affirmation as thatrequired to be taken by witnesses before acourt martial shall be administered by thecommanding officer to each witness in suchcase.

PART IX

COURTS MARTIAL

45. A court martial may be—

(a) a general court martial, or

(b) a field general court martial, or

(c) a district court martial,

46. (1) A general court martial may beconvened by the President or such officer ofa rank not below that of senior officer asmay be authorized by the President.

(2) A general court martial shall—

(a) where it is convened to try a personsubject to this Act for the offence oftreason, murder or rape, consist ofnot less than five officers, and

(b) where it is convened to try a personsubject to this Act for any otheroffence, consist of three officers.

(3) An officer of a rank below that ofFlight Lieutenant shall not be a member ofa general court martial for the trial of a fieldofficer.

(4) The president of a general courtmartial shall be appointed by the authorityconvening such court martial, and shall notbe that authority or an officer of a rankbelow that of field officer;

Provided, however, that where suchauthority in his order convening such courtmartial certifies that a field officer is notavailable owing to the exigencies of theservice, he may appoint an officer of a rank

not below that of Flight Lieutenant as thepresident of such court martial.

47. (1) A general court martial may tryany person subject to this Act who ischarged with any air-force offence or civiloffence:

Provided, however, that a general courtmartial shall not try a person subject to thisAct for the offence of treason, murder, orrape committed in Sri Lanka, or in anyplace in the Commonwealth outside SriLanka, unless such person was on activeservice at the time he committed suchoffence.

(2) A general court martial may inflictany punishment authorized by this Act, andmay—

(a) in the case of a warrant officerinflict, either in addition to orwithout any other punishment, anyp u n i s h m e n t w h i c h u n d e r theproviso to subsection (2) of section51 a district court martial mayinflict, and

(b) in the case of a non-commissionedofficer, order, either in addition toor without any other punishment,forfeiture of seniority of rank orreduction to rank of airman :

Provided, however, that a general courtmartial shall not pass sentence of death onany person without the concurrence of atleast two-thirds of the members thereof.

48. (I) Where only a part of the AirForce is on active service or is in anycountry outside Sri Lanka, and it isimpracticable, in the opinion of thecommanding officer thereof, to convene ageneral court martial, such commandingofficer may convene a field general courtmartial.

(2) A field general court martial shallconsist of not less than three officers:

Provided, however, that, where the officerconvening a field general court martialcertifies that three officers are not availableowing to the exigencies of the service, suchcourt martial may consist of two officers.

Jurisdiction ofgeneral courtmartial.

Field generalcoun martial.

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Jurisdiction offield generalcourt martial.

Districtcourt martial.

(3) The officer convening a field generalcourt martial may be the president of suchcourt martial, but he shall, whenever hedeems it practicable, appoint another officeras president, who may be of any rank, butshall, if practicable in the opinion of thefirst-mentioned officer, be of a rank notbelow that of Flight Lieutenant.

A field general court martial49. (1)may try—

(a) any person subject to this Act who,while on active service and underthe c o m m a n d of the o f f i ce rempowered by sect ion 48 toconvene such court martial, ischarged with any air-force offenceor civil offence, and

(b) any person subject to this Act who,while in any foreign country andunder the command of such officer,is charged with any offence againstthe property or person of anyi n h a b i t a n t or res iden t of thatcountry.

(2) A field general court martial mayinflict any punishment which a general courtmartial is empowered to inflict:

Provided, however, that—

(a) where a field general court martialconsists of less than three officers,such court martial shall not havethe power to inflict any punishmentmore severe than imprisonment orfield punishment allowed by thisAct, and

(b) a field general court martial shall notpass sentence of death on anyperson without the concurrence ofall the members thereof.

50. (1) A district court martial may beconvened by any person empowered toconvene a general court martial or by suchofficer of a rank not below that of FlightLieutenant as may be authorized by suchperson, and shall consist of not less thanthree officers.

(2) The president of a district courtmartial shall be appointed by the officerconvening such court martial and shall notbe that officer or an officer of a rank belowthat of senior officer:

Provided, however, that—

(a) where the officer convening a districtcourt martial is of a rank belowthat of senior officer or where in hisorder convening such court martialhe certifies that a senior officer isnot available having due regard tothe exigencies of the service, anofficer of a rank not below thatof Flight Lieutenant may be thepresident of such court martial, and

(b) where, in his order convening suchcourt martial, the first-mentionedofficer certifies that a FlightLieutenant is not available owing tothe exigencies of the service andwhere the accused who is to be triedby such court martial is not awarrant officer, an officer of a rankbelow that of Flight Lieutenantmay be the president of such courtmartial.

51. (1) Subject to the same restrictionsas are imposed on a general court martial bythe proviso to subsection (1) of section 47, adistrict court martial may try any personsubject to this Act who is charged with anyair-force offence or civil offence other thanthe offence of murder and who is not anofficer.

(2) A district court martial may inflictany punishment, other than the punishmentof death, which a general court martial isempowered by this Act to inflict;

Provided, however, that a district courtmartial shall not sentence a warrant officerto any p u n i s h m e n t o the r t h a n thefollowing:—

(a) a severe reprimand or a reprimand ;

(b) forfeiture of seniority of rank;

(c) such deduction from his pay as isauthorized by this Act; and

Jurisdictionof districtcourt martial.

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(d) either in addition to or without anyof the aforementioned punishments,dismissal from the Air Force, or, ifhe was originally enlisted as anairman but not otherwise, reductionto the rank of airman.

52. (1) The members of a court martialmay be officers of the same corps or ofdifferent corps or may be unattached to anycorps.

(2) On a court martial, other than a fieldgeneral court martial, convened for the trialof an accused, the following shall not sit orbe qualified to sit;—

(a) the prosecutor;

(b) any witness for the prosecution;

(c) the commanding officer of theaccused;

(d) the officer who investigated thecharge on which the accused isarraigned.

(3) Where the required number ofofficers of the Air Force who are competentunder this Act to be members of a courtmartial is not available, all or any of themembers of a court martial which is tobe c o n v e n e d u n d e r t h i s Act may,notwithstanding anything in any otherprovision of this Act, be officers of the armyof Sri Lanka who in rank correspond to theaforesaid officers of the Air Force.

53. (1) The authority convening ageneral court mar t ia l shall , and theauthority convening a district court martialmay, appoint a person, who has sufficientknowledge of the practice and procedure ofcourts martial and of the general principlesof law and of the rules of evidence, to act asJudge-Advocate at the court martial.

(2) A person who, under subsection (2)of section 52, is disqualified from sitting ona court martial shall not be appointed asJudge-Advocate at that court martial.

54. The powers and duties of the officerappointed to be the Judge-Advocate at acourt martial shall be as follows:—

(a) It shall be his duty, whether beforeor during the proceedings, to give

Appointmentof Judge-Advocate.

Powers andduties ofJudge-Advocate.

advice on questions of law orprocedure relating to the charge ortrial to the prosecutor and to theaccused, who are hereby declared tobe entitled to obtain such advice atany time after his appointment;

P rov ided tha t d u r i n g theproceedings he shall give suchadvice with the prior permission ofthe court martial.

(b) It shall be his duty to invite theattention of the court martial to anyirregularity in the proceedings.Whether or not he is consulted, heshall inform the court martial andthe authority convening the courtmartial of any defect in the chargeor in the constitution of the courtmartial, and shall give his advice onany matter before the court martial.

(c) He shall take all such action as maybe necessary to ensure that theaccused does not suf fe r anydisadvantage in consequence of anyincapacity to examine or cross-examine wi tnesses or to giveevidence clearly, and may for thatpurpose, with the permission of thecourt martial question any witnesson any relevant matter.

(d) At the conclusion of the case heshall, unless both he and the courtmartial consider it unnecessary,sum up the evidence and advise thecourt martial upon the law relatingto the case before the court martialproceeds to deliberate upon itsfinding.

55. (1) Every member of a courtmartial and the Judge-Advocate, if any,shall take the prescribed oath or make thep r e s c r i b e d a f f i r m a t i o n b e f o r e thecommencement of the trial of a case.

(2) Every witness before a court martialshall take the prescribed oath or make theprescribed affirmation before commencinghis evidence.

56. Where three years have elapsed afterthe commission of any offence by any

Courts martialin general.

Oath oraffirmation.

Time-limit.

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Trial ofoffenders whohave ceasedto be subjectto this Act.

Effect ofacquittal orconviction ofan offence.

Place of trial.

person subject to this Act, he shall not betried by a court martial for that offenceunless it is the offence of mutiny, desertion,or fraudulent enlistment.

57. (1) Where a person subject to thisAct commits any offence and thereafterceases to be a person subject to this Act, hemay be taken into and kept in air-forcecustody and be tried and punished for thatoffence by a court martial:

Provided that he shall not be so triedafter the lapse of six months from the dateof the commission of such offence unlesssuch offence is the offence of mutiny,desertion, or fraudulent enlistment.

(2) Where a person subject to this Actis sentenced by a court martial toimprisonment or detention for any offenceand thereafter ceases to be a person subjectto th i s Ac t , he may, d u r i n g h isimprisonment or detention, be dealt with asif he continued to be a person subject to thisAct.

58. A court martial shall not try aperson for any offence if—

(a) he has been already acquitted orconvicted of that offence by a courtmartial or by a competent civilcourt, or

(b) the charge against him in respect ofthat offence has been dismissed byhis commanding officer, or

(c) he has been dealt with summarily forthat offence by his commandingofficer or by the Commander of theAir Force or by an officer, of arank not below that of GroupCaptain, authorized in that behalfby the Commander of the AirForce.

For the purposes of this section a personshall not be deemed to have been convictedby a court martial unless the conviction hasbeen confirmed by the authority empoweredby this Act to confirm it.

59. A person subject to this Act whocommits an offence in or outside Sri Lanka

may be tried and punished for that offenceby a court martial held at any place inwhich he may be for the time being, if thatplace is within the jurisdiction of an officerauthorized by the President to convenegeneral courts martial.

60. (1) The names of the members of acourt martial shall, before they are sworn oraffirmed, be read in the hearing of theaccused appearing before the court martial;and the accused shall be asked whether heobjects to any such member, and, where ashereinafter provided any such memberretires on being objected to and a successorto the retiring member is appointed, theaccused shall be asked whether he objects tothe succeeding member.

(2) An accused appearing before a courtmartial may object, for any reasonablecause, to any member of the court martial,including the president, whether appointedto serve on the court martial orginalty orto fill a vacancy caused by the retirementof a member objected to, so that the courtmartial may be constituted of officers towhom the accused has no reasonableobjection.

(3) An objection of an accused to anymember of a court martial shall besubmitted to the other members of the courtmartial,

(4) An objection of an accused to thepresident of a court martial shall, if upheldby one-third or more of the other membersof the court martial, be allowed, and thecourt martial shall adjourn for the purposeof the appointment of another president.

(5) If an objection of an accused to thepresident of a court martial is allowed, theauthority convening the court martial shallappoint another officer as president, andsuch officer shall act as president subject tothe right of the accused to object to him.

(6) An objection of an accused to amember of a court martial other than thepresident shall, if upheld by one-half ormore of the other members of the courtmartial, be allowed, and the memberobjected to shall retire, and the authority

Objections byaccused tomembers ofcourt martial.

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convening the court martial shall appoint asuccessor to the retiring member, subject tothe right of the accused to object.

61. (1) If the number of members of acourt martial after the commencement ofthe trial of a case is, by death or otherwise,reduced below the minimum number ofmembers specified in this Act, the courtmartial shall be dissolved.

(2) If after the commencement of thetrial of a case the president of a courtmartial dies or is otherwise unable to attendthe court martial and the number ofmembers of the court martial is not reducedbelow the minimum number of membersspecified in this Act, the authority whoconvened the court martial may appoint thesenior member of the court martial, if ofsufficient rank, to be president, and the trialshall proceed accordingly, but if he is not ofsufficient rank, the court martial shall bedissolved.

(3) If the Judge-Advocate appointed toa court martial dies or is unable to attendthe court martial owing to illness or anyother cause, the court martial shall adjournand the p r e s i d e n t s h a l l r e p o r t thecircumstance to the authority who convenedthe court martial; and in the case of deathof the Judge-Advocate, or where theauthority who convened the court martial isof the opinion that it is inexpedient to delaythe trial until the Judge-Advocate who isunable to attend the court martial is able todo so, the court martial shall be dissolved.

(4) If the trial of an accused before acourt martial cannot, within a reasonabletime having regard to all the circumstances,be continued owing to the illness of theaccused, the court martial shall be dissolved.

(5) Where a court martial convened forthe trial of an accused is dissolved underany of the preceding provisions of thissection, the accused may be tried againbefore another court martial, withoutprejudice to the provisions of section 56.

(6) The president of a court martialmay, on any deliberation amongst themembers of the court martial, cause theplace where the court martial sits to becleared of all other persons.

(7) A court martial may adjourn fromtime to time.

(8) A court m a r t i a l may , wherenecessary, view any place.

(9) Every question before a courtmartial shall be decided by the majority voteof the members of the court martial. Wherethere is an equality of votes of the membersof a court martial on the question of thefinding in any case, the accused in that caseshall be deemed to be acquitted. Wherethere is an equality of votes of the membersof a court martial on the sentence in anycase or on any question arising after thecommencement of the hearing of any caseother than the question of the finding, thepresident shall have a casting vote.

(10) When a court martial recommendsa person under sentence to mercy, therecommendation shall be attached to andform part of the proceedings of the courtmartial, and shall be promulgated andcommunicated to such person, together withthe finding and sentence.

62. When a person is charged with anoffence before a court martial and facts areproved which reduce it to a minor offence,he may be convicted of the minor offencealthough he was not charged with it.

63. (1) Subject to the provisions of theother subsections of this section, theconviction of, and the sentence passed on,an accused by a court martial shall not bevalid until confirmed by the authorityhaving power under section 64 to confirmsuch conviction and sentence.

(2) A sentence of death passed on anyperson by a court martial in respect of anoffence committed by him while not onactive service shall not be carried into effectunless it has been confirmed both by theauthority referred to in subsection (1) of thissection and by the President.

(3) A sentence of death passed on anyperson .by a field general court martial inrespect of an offence committed by himwhile on active service shall not be carriedinto effect unless it has been confirmed bothby the authority referred to in subsection (1)

Whenoffenceprovedis includedin offencecharged.

Convictionand sentencenot valid tillconfirmation.

Procedure.

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of this section and by the air or seniorofficer commanding the force with whichthat person was serving on the date ofsentence.

64. The authority who shall have powerto confirm the conviction of an accused, andthe sentence passed on him, by a courtmartial shall—

(a) if that court martial is a generalcourt martial, be the President orsuch officer of a rank not belowthat of senior officer as may beauthorized by the President, or

(b) if that court martial is a field generalc o u r t mar t i a l , be an officerauthorized by the President asprovided in paragraph (a) of thissection, or

(c) if that court martial is a district courtmartial, be an officer authorized bythe President to convene generalcourts m a r t i a l or an officerempowered by any such authorizedofficer to confirm the conviction of,and the sentence passed on, anaccused by a district court martial:

Provided, however, that where theauthority having power to confirm theconviction of, and the sentence passed on,an accused by a general court martial ora district court mart ial has served asa member of that court martial, he shallrefer such conviction and sentence forcon f i rma t ion to a supe r io r a u t h o r i t ycompetent to confirm the conviction of, andthe sentence passed on, an accused by a likedescription of court martial, and, if suchconviction and sentence are referred to suchsuperior authority, such superior authorityshall, for the purposes of this Act, bedeemed to be the authority having thepower to confirm such conviction andsentence.

65. (1) The authority having the powerto confirm the conviction of, and thesentence passed on, an accused by any courtmartial may—

(a) refer such conviction and sentence,or either of them, to that courtmartial for revision once, but notmore than once,

(b) if such conviction and sentence are,or either of them is, revised onceby that court martial, or if suchconviction and sentence are, oreither of them is, not referred tothat court martial for revision,confirm such conviction andsentence either in the revised formor in the original form;

(c) withhold confirmation wholly orpartly, and refer such convictionand sentence or the part thereof notconfirmed, to a superior authorityc o m p e t e n t to c o n f i r m t h econviction of, and the sentencepassed on, an accused by a likedescription of court martial; and

(d) in regard to the sentence—

(i) mitigate the punishment to aless amount of the samepunishment,

(ii) remit the whole or a part ofthe punishment,

(iii) commute the punishment to adifferent form of punishmentl o w e r in the sca le ofpunishments authorized bythis Act,

(iv) suspend for such time as hemay determine the executionof the sentence, and

(v) where the sentence is one ofimprisonment or detentionpassed on an airman, confirmthe sentence and direct thatthe airman be not committedto p r i s o n or d e t e n t i o nbarracks until the order of asuperior air-force authorityreferred to in section 68 hasbeen obtained.

(2) If the authority having the power toconfirm the conviction of, and the sentencepassed on, an accused by any court martialrefers such conviction and sentence forrevision to the superior authority referred toin paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of thissection, such superior authority shall, forthe purposes of this Act, be deemed to bethe authority having the power to confirmsuch conviction and sentence.

Authoritiesempoweredto confirmconvictionsand sentences.

Powers ofconfirmingauthority.

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Revision ofconviction andsentence onreference tocourt martial.

Revision ofsentence whichhas beenconfirmed.

Suspensionand remissionof sentence ofimprisonmentor detentionpassed on anairman.

66. (1) If the conviction of an accusedby a court martial is referred for revision tothe court martial by the authority havingthe power to confirm it, the court martialmay affirm the conviction, or revoke it andrecord a new finding. If the conviction isrevoked, the court martial shall revoke thesentence also, and, if the new finding is notone of acquittal, shall pass a new sentencewhich shall not be more severe than theoriginal sentence.

(2) If only the sentence passed on anaccused by a court martial is referred to thecourt martial for revision, the court martialmay affirm or vary the sentence, but shallnot enhance it or substitute for it any otherpunishment which is more severe in thescale of punishments authorized by this Act.

67. The President or any prescribedofficer may, in accordance with suchregulations as may be made in that behalf,revise any sentence passed on an accused bya court martial and confirmed by anauthority having the power to confirm it,and in revising the sentence may—

(a) mitigate the punishment to a lessamount of the same punishment;

(b) remit the whole or a part of thepunishment; and

(c) commute the punishment to adifferent form of punishment lowerin the scale of p u n i s h m e n t sauthorized by this Act.

68. ( 1 ) W h e r e a s e n t e n c e ofimprisonment or detention is passed on anairman by a court martial, a superiorair-force authority may—

(a) direct that a committal to prison ordetention barracks shall not beissued until his order has beenobtained, and

(b) suspend the sentence whetheror not the airman has already beencommitted to prison or detentionbarracks.

(2) Where a sentence of imprisonmentor detention passed on an airman is

suspended under this section by a superiorair-force authority before the airman hasbeen committed to prison or detentionbarracks, ihe airman if in custody shall bereleased, and, notwithstanding anything inthis Act, that sentence shall not begin torun until the airman is ordered by suchauthority to be committed to prison ordetention barracks under that sentence.

(3) Where a sentence of imprisonmentor detention passed on an airman issuspended under this section by a superiorair-force authority after the airman has beencommitted to prison or detention barracks,the airman shall be released and thecurrency of that sentence shall be suspendedfrom the day on which he is released untilhe is again ordered by such authority to becommitted to prison or detention barracksunder that sentence-

(4) A superior air-force authority may,at any time whilst a sentence passed on anairman is suspended under this section,make order that the airman be committed toprison or detention barracks, and from thedate of such order the sentence shall ceaseto be suspended.

(5) Where a sentence passed on anairman has been suspended under thissection, the case may at any time, and shall,at intervals of not more than three months,be reconsidered by a competent air-forceauthority, and if on any reconsideration itappears to the competent air-force authoritythat the conduct of the airman since hisconviction has been such as to justify aremission of the sentence, he shall remit it.

(6) Where an airman whilst a sentencepassed on him is suspended under thissection is sentenced by a court martial toimprisonment or detention for a freshoffence, a superior air-force authority maydirect that the two sentences shall run eitherconcurrently or consecutively.

(7) The powers conferred by this sectionshall be in addition to and not in derogationof any other powers relating to thesuspension or remission of sentences.

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Commence-ment ofsentence.

Execution ofsentence ofimprisonment.

Execution ofsentence ofdetention.

Summoningand privilege ofwitnesses atcourts martial.

(8) In this section—

" superior air-force authority " means thePresident, the Commander of theAir Force, or any officer, not belowthe rank of Group Captain, who isauthorized by the President toexercise the powers under thissection, or the officer in chiefcommand of any such part of theAir Force as may be on activeservice outside Sri Lanka, and

" competent air-force authority " means asuperior air-force authority or anyofficer, not below the rank of seniorofficer, who is authorized by asuperior air-force author i ty toexercise the powers conferred bysubsection (5) of this section.

69. A t e rm of i m p r i s o n m e n t ordetention to which a person is sentenced bya court martial shall, whether the sentencehas been revised or not, be reckoned tocommence on the day on which the originalsentence was signed by the president of thatcourt martial.

70. A sentence of imprisonment passedby a court martial on any person shall beexecuted by causing that person to undergothe term of his imprisonment in an air-forceprison or detention barracks or in any otherplace of air-force custody or in a civilprison, or partly in one way and partly inanother.

71. A sentence of detention passed by acourt martial or a commanding officer onany person shall be executed by causing thatperson to undergo the term of his detentionin detent-ion barracks or in air-force custodyor partly in one way and partly in the other,but not in a prison.

72. (1) Every person required to giveevidence before a court martial shall besummoned in the prescribed manner.

(2) Every person summoned to attend acourt martial as a witness shall, during hisattendance at the court martial and whilegoing to and returning from the courtmartial, have the same privilege from arrestas he would have if he were a witness beforea civil court.

73. (1) At all proceedings before acourt martial the prosecution as well as thedefence shall be entitled to be representedby counsel.

(2) The following provisions shall haveeffect with respect to the conduct of counselappearing on behalf of the prosecution ordefence at a court martial;—

(a) Any conduct of a counsel whichwould be liable to censure, orwould be a contempt of court, if itoccurred before a civil court, shalll ikewise be deemed l i a b l e tocensure, or be deemed a contemptof the court martial, if it occursbefore a court martial.

(b) Where the conduct of a counselappearing before a court martial isliable to censure or is deemed acontempt of the court martial, thepresident of the court martial mayunder his hand certify such conductof that counsel to the Court ofA p p e a l , and tha t c o u r t maythereupon deal with that counsel inlike manner as if such conduct hadoccurred before that court.

(c) Where the conduct of a counselappearing before a court martial isliable to censure or is deemed acontempt of the court martial, thepresident of the court martial maymake an order refusing to hear himand may adjourn the proceedings inorder to enable other counsel to beretained.

74. (1) Where it appears to a courtmartial that any person charged before itwith an offence is of unsound mind andconsequently incapable of making hisdefence, the court martial shall record anexpress finding of the fact of hisunsoundness of mind and incapacity; andsuch person shall be kept in custody in theprescribed manner until the directions of theMinister thereon are obtained, or until anyearlier time at which such person is fit totake his trial.

(2) Where, on the trial by a courtmartial of a person charged with an offence,it appears that such person did the act or

Counsel atcourt martial.

Accused whois of unsoundmind.

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Right ofperson tried bycourt martialto copy ofproceedings.

made the omission with which he is charged,but that he was of unsound mind at the timeof such act or omission, the court martialshall record an express finding that suchperson was guilty of such act or omissionbut was of unsound mind at the time whenhe did the act or made the omission; andsuch person shall be kept in custody in theprescribed manner until the directions of theMinister thereon are obtained.

(3) A finding by a court martial underthis section shall be subject to confirmationin like manner as the conviction of, and thesentence passed on, a person charged withan offence before that court martial.

(4) After the finding of a court martialunder this section as to the unsoundnessof mind of any person is confirmed ashereinbefore provided, the Minister maygive orders for the safe custody, during hispleasure, of that person in such place and insuch manner as the Minister thinks fit.

(5) If a p e r s o n i m p r i s o n e d orundergoing detention by virtue of this Actbecomes unsound in mind, then, withoutprejudice to any other provision for dealingwith such person, the Minister may, upona certificate by two qualified medicalpractitioners that such person is of unsoundmind, order that such person shall beremoved to a mental hospital or other placefor the reception of persons of unsoundmind and that he shall be there confined forthe unexpired term of his imprisonment ordetention or until he is again of soundmind ; and, if before the expiry of that termsuch person is certified in the like manner tobe again of sound mind, the Minister mayorder that such person shall be removed toany prison or detention barracks in whichhe might have been confined if he had notbecome unsound in mind and that he shallthere serve the remainder of that term.

75. (1) Any person tried by a courtmartial for an offence shall be entitled toobtain from the person having the custodyof the record of the proceedings of thatcourt martial a copy thereof, upon paymentfor it at such rate not exceeding ten centsfor every folio of seventy-two words as maybe prescribed.

(2) The right conferred by subsection (1)of this section shall be subject to thecondition that the demand for the copy ofthe proceedings of the court martial by theperson referred to in that subsection ismade—

(a) where the court martial is a generalcourt martial, at any time withinseven years, and

(b) where the court martial is a fieldgeneral court martial or a districtcourt martial, at any time withinthree years,

after the confirmation of his conviction andthe sentence passed on him by the courtmartial or after his acquittal.

(3) If the person refer red to insubsection (1) of this section dies within theperiod of seven or three years specified insubsection (2) of .this section, his next of kinshall, within twelve months after his death,have the right to obtain the copy of theproceedings mentioned in subsection (1) ofthis section.

76. For the purposes of section 75 therecord of the proceedings of every courtmartial shall be preserved in the prescribedmanner by the prescribed officer.

PART X

CIVIL COURTS

77. (1) Save as provided in subsection (2)of this section, nothing in this Act shallaffect the jurisdiction of a civil court to tryor to punish for any civil offence any personsubject to this Act.

(2) If a person subject to this Act isconvicted of an offence and sentenced topunishment by a court martial and isafterwards tried for, and convicted of, thesame offence, by a civil court, then the civilcourt shall, in awarding punishment, havedue regard to such punishment imposed bythe court martial as that person may havealready undergone.

Preservationof records ofproceedings ofcourt martial,

Jurisdictionof civil courtnot affectedby this Act.

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Delivery ofair-forceoffendersto the civilpower.

Issue of writsby Court ofAppeal.

Actions againstpersons foracts doneunder this Act.

78. It shall be the duty of everycommanding officer—

(a) on an order made in that behalf by acivil court, to surrender to thatcourt any officer or airman underhis command who is charged with,or convicted of, any civil offencebefore that court, and

(b) to assist any police officer or anyo t h e r o f f i c e r c o n c e r n e d orconnected with the administrationof justice to arrest any officer orairman so charged or convicted.

79. (I) Such of the p r o v i s i o n s ofArticle 140 of the Constitution as relate tothe grant and issue of writs of mandamus,certiorari, and prohibition shall be deemedto apply in respect of any court martial orof any air-force authority exercising judicialfunctions.

(2) The provisions of Article 141 of theConstitution relating to the issue of writs ofhabeas corpus shall be deemed to apply inrespect of any person illegally detained incustody by order of a court martial or otherair-force authority.

80. A n y a c t i o n , p r o s e c u t i o n , orproceeding against any person for any actdone in pursuance or execution or intendedexecution of this Act, or in respect of anyalleged neglect or default in the executionof this Act, shall not be instituted orentertained, unless—

(a) it is commenced within six monthsnext after the act, neglect, ordefault complained of,

(b) written notice setting out the causeof action or the alleged offence, thename and place of abode of theperson intending to be the plaintiffor complainant, and any reliefclaimed, has been delivered to, orleft at the residence or officialaddress of, the person againstwhom the action, prosecution orproceeding is intended to beinstituted, and

(c) one month has expired after suchnotice has been so delivered or left.

Rules ofevidence.

Applicationof sections83 to 93.

Proof ofanswers givenby a person onenlistment orre-engagementas an airman.

Proof ofenlistment.

PART XI

EVIDENCE

81. Subject to the other provisions ofthis Part, the rules of evidence to beadopted in proceedings before a courtmartial shall be the same as those followedin the civil courts in Sri Lanka-

82. Sections 83 to 93, both inclusive,shall apply to proceedings under this Actwhether before a court martial or a civilcourt notwithstanding anything in any otherlaw.

83. The attestation paper purporting tobe signed by a person on his being enlistedas an airman, or the declaration purportingto be m a d e by a p e r s o n u p o n hisre-engagement in the Air Force, shall beevidence of the fact that he has given suchanswers to questions as he is thereinrepresented to have given.

84. The enlistment of a person as anairman in the Air Force may be proved bythe production of a copy of his attestationpaper certified to be a true copy by theofficer having the custody of the attestationpaper, without proof of the handwriting ofsuch officer or of his having such custody.

85. A letter, return, or other documentstating, in respect of any person, that suchperson—

(a) has, or has not, at any time servedin, or been discharged from, the AirForce, or

(b) has, or has not, held any rank orappointment in, or been posted ortransferred to, any part of the AirForce, or served in any particularcountry or place, or

(c) has been, or has not been, authorizedto use or wear any Air Forcedecoration, medal, medal ribbon,badge, wound stripe or emblem, theuse or wearing of which by anunauthorized person is an offenceunder this Act,

Letters,returns, orotherdocumentsrespectingservice.

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Copies ofregulations andorders printedby GovernmentPrinter.

Air Force listor gazette.

Orders madeunder this Actby air-forceauthorities.

Record madein a servicebook.

Descriptivereturn.

Certificateregardingsurrender ofalleged deserteror absenteewithout leave.

and purporting to be signed by or on behalfof the Minister, or by the commandingofficer, or the officer having the custody ofthe records, of that part of the Air Force towhich such person appears to have belongedor alleges that he belongs or at any timebelonged, shall be evidence of the factsstated in such letter, return, or otherdocument.

86. Copies, purporting to be printed bythe Government Printer, of regulations ororders made under this Act shall beevidence of such regulations or orders.

87. An A i r Force l i s t or g a z e t t epurporting to be published by authority oft h e P r e s i d e n t and p r i n t e d by theGovernment Printer shall be evidence of theranks of the officers therein mentioned, andof any appointments held by such officers,and of the parts of the Air Force to whichsuch officers belong or at any t imebelonged.

88. An order made under this Act by anair-force authority shall be deemed to beevidence of the matters directed by this Actto be stated therein, and a copy of suchorder purporting to be certified to be a truecopy by the officer therein alleged to beauthorized by the Minister to certify it shallbe admissible in evidence.

89. Where a record is made in anyservice book in pursuance of any writtenlaw or of air-force duty and purports to besigned by the commanding officer or by theofficer whose duty it is to make such record,such record shall be evidence of the factsthereby stated. A copy of such recordpurporting to be certified to be a true copyby the officer having the custody of suchbook shall be evidence of such record.

90. A descriptive return, within themeaning of section 150, purporting to besigned by a Magistrate, shall be evidence ofthe matters therein stated.

91. (1) Where any officer or airmancharged with being a deserter or absenteewithout leave has surrendered to a provostmarshal, assistant provost marshal or otherofficer, a certificate purpor t ing to have beensigned by such provost marshal, assistantprovost marshal or other officer and statingthe fact. date. and place of surrender, shallbe evidence of the matters so slated.

(2) Where any officer or airman chargedwith being a deserter or absentee withoutleave has surrendered to a police officer incharge of a police station and has beendelivered into air-force custody by suchpolice officer, a certificate purporting to besigned by such police officer and stating thefact, date, and place of surrender shall beevidence of the matters so stated.

92. Where any officer or airman hasbeen arrested and taken to any office,station, or post, in any place outside SriLanka, which corresponds to a policestation in Sri Lanka, or has on surrenderbeen taken into custody at any such office,station, or post, a certificate which purportsto be signed by the officer in charge of suchoffice, station, or post and which states thefact, date, and place of arrest or surrendershall be evidence of the matters so stated.

93. A copy of the whole or any partof the proceedings of a court martialp u r p o r t i n g to be c e r t i f i e d by t h eCommander of the Air Force, or by anyo f f i c e r t he re to a u t h o r i z e d by theCommander of the Air Force, to be a truecopy of such proceedings or of such part,shall be admissible in evidence withoutproof of the signature of such Commanderor officer.

94. Where any person subject to this Acthas been tried for any offence by a civilcourt, the Registrar of such court shall,if requested by the commanding officerof such person or by any other officera u t h o r i z e d in t h a t b e h a l f by s u c hcommanding officer, transmit to the officerby whom the request is made a certificatesetting out the offence for which suchperson was tried and the judgment of suchcourt thereon. Such certificate shall, in anyproceedings before a court martial, beevidence of the matters stated therein.

PART XII

AIR-FORCE OFFENCES

OFFENCES IN RESPECT OF AIR FORCE SERVICE

95. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) shamefully abandons or delivers upany f o r t i f i c a t i o n , place, post,garrison, or guard, or uses any

Certificateregardingarrest orsurrenderof officeror airmanoutsideSri Lanka.

Copy ofproceedings ofcourt martial,

Evidence ofconviction oracquittal bycivil court.

Offences inrelation tothe enemypunishablewith death.

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means to compel or induce anygovernor, commanding officer, orother person shamefully to abandonor deliver up any fortification,place, post, garrison, or guard,which it was the duty of suchgovernor, officer, or person todefend, or

(b) shamefully casts away his arms,ammuni t ion , or tools in thepresence of the enemy, or

(c) treacherously holds correspondencewith or gives intelligence to theenemy, or treacherously or withoutgood cause sends a flag of truce tothe enemy, or

(d) assists the enemy with arms,a m m u n i t i o n , or s u p p l i e s orknowingly harbours or protects anenemy not being a prisoner, or

(e) having been made a prisoner of war,v o l u n t a r i l y serves w i t h orvoluntarily aids the enemy, or

(f) knowingly does, when on activeservice , any act calculated toimperil the success of the Air Force,or any force co-operating therewith,or any part of the Air Force or ofany such force, or

(g) treacherously or shamefully causesthe "capture or destruction by theenemy of any of the aircraft of theRepublic, or

(h) treacherously gives any false airsignal or alters or interferes withany air signal, or

(i) when under orders to carry out anyw a r l i k e o p e r a t i o n in the a i r ,treacherously or shamefully fails touse his Utmost exertions t.o carrysuch orders into effect,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer death or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

96. Every person subject to this Act whowhile on active service—

(a) without orders from his superiorofficer leaves the ranks in order tosecure prisoners or booty, or onpretence of taking wounded men tothe rear, or

(b) without orders from his superiorofficer wilfully destroys or damagesany property, or

(c) is taken prisoner, owing to his failureto take due precaution, or throughhis disobedience of orders, or wilfulneglect of duty, or having beentaken prisoner, fails to rejoin theAir Force when able to do so, or

(d) without due authority either holdsco r r e spondence w i t h or givesintelligence to, or sends a flag oftruce to the enemy, or

(e) by word of mouth, or in writing, orby signals, or otherwise spreadsr e p o r t s c a l c u l a t e d to c r e a t eunnecessary alarm or despondency,or

(f) in action, or previously to going intoaction, uses words calculated tocreate alarm or despondency, or

(g) behaves or induces others to behavebefore the enemy in such manner asto show cowardice, or

(h) negligently causes the capture ordestruction by the enemy of any ofthe aircraft of the Republic, or

(i) when under orders to carry out anyw a r l i k e o p e r a t i o n in the airnegligently or through other defaultfails to use his utmost exertions tocarry such orders into effect,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable to suffer rigorous imprisonment for aterm not less than three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

Offences inrelation to theenemy noipunishablewith death.

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Offencespunishablemore severelyon activeservice than atother t imes.

97. (1) Every person subject to this Actwho treacherously makes known the parole,watchword, or countersign to any personnot entitled to receive it, or treacherouslygives a parole, watchwcyd, or countersigndifferent from what he received, or withoutdue authority alters or interferes with anyair signal, shall be guilty of an air-forceoffence and on conviction by a court martialshall—

(a) where such offence is committed byhim while on active service, beliable to suffer death or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133, and

(b) where such offence is committed byhim while not on active service, beliable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and, if he is an airman,to suffer s imple or r igorousimpr i sonment for a t e rm notexceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133.

(2) Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) leaves the ranks or his post withoutthe orders of his commandingofficer in order to go in search ofplunder, or

(b) forces any escort or safeguard drawnfrom the Air Force or from anallied force, or

(c) forces or strikes a sentinel of the AirForce or of an allied force, or

(d) breaks into any house or other placein search of plunder, or

(e) being an airman acting as sentinel,sleeps or is drunk at his post, or

(f) without orders from his superiorofficer, leaves his guard, piquet,patrol or post, or

(g) by discharging firearms, makingsignals, using words, or by any

means whatever, intentionallyoccasions false alarm, or

(h) being an airman acting as sentinel,leaves his post before he is properlyrelieved,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence and,on conviction by a court martial, shall—

(i) where such offence is committed byhim while on active service, bel i a b l e to s u f f e r r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term not lessthan three years or any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and

(ii) where such offence is committed byhim while not on active service, beliable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and, if he is an airman,to s u f f e r s imple or r igorousimpr i sonment for a term notexceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133.

(3) Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) by discharging firearms, makingsignals, using words, or by anymeans w h a t e v e r , negl igent lyoccasions false alarm, or

(b) m a k e s k n o w n t h e p a r o l e ,watchword, or countersign to anyperson not entitled to receive it, or,without good and sufficient cause,gives a parole, watchword, orcountersign different from what hereceived, or

(c) impedes the provost marshal or anyassistant provost marshal or anyofficer or non-commissioned officeror other person legally exercisingauthority under or on behalf of theprovost marshal, or, when calledon, refuses to assist in the executionof his duty the provost marshal,assistant provost marshal, or anysuch officer, non-commissionedofficer, or other person, or

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(d) does violence to any person bringingprovisions or supplies to the AirForce or any part thereof or toany fore ign force co-operatingtherewith, or commits any offenceagainst the property or person ofany inhabitant of or resident in thecountry in which he is serving, or

(e) irregularly detains or appropriates tohis own corps, unit or detachmentany p r o v i s i o n s or s u p p l i e sproceeding to any other part of theAir Force or to any such foreignforce as aforesaid, contrary to anyorders issued in that respect,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he isan airman, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

MUTINY AND INSUBORDINATION

98. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) causes or conspires with any otherperson to cause mutiny or seditionin the Army, Navy or Air-Forceof Sri Lanka or in any forceco-operating therewith, or

endeavours to seduce any person inany such force as aforesaid fromallegiance to the Republic, or topersuade any person in any suchforce as aforesaid to join in anymutiny or sedition, or

(b)

(c) joins in, or being present does notuse his u tmost endeavours tosuppress, any mutiny or sedition inany such force as aforesaid, or

(d) acquiring the knowledge of anyactual or intended m u t i n y orsedition in any such force asaforesaid, does not without delaycommunicate such knowledge to hiscommanding officer,

Striking orthreateningsuperiorofficer.

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer death or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

99. (1) Every person subject to this Actwho strikes, or uses or offers any violenceto, his superior officer while such officer isperforming his duties, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable to suffer rigorousimprisonment for a term not less than threeyears or any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133.

(2) Every person subject to this Act whostrikes, or uses or offers any violence or usesthreatening or insubordinate language to,his superior officer shall be guilty of anair-force offence and, on conviction by acourt martial, shall—

(a) where such offence is committed byhim while on active service, bel i a b l e to s u f f e r r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term not lessthan three years or any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and

(b) where such offence is committed byhim while not on active service, beliable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and, if he is an airman,to s u f f e r s imple or r i go rousimpr i sonmen t for a t e rm notexceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133.

100. (1)Every person subject to thisAct who disobeys, in such manner as toshow a wilful defiance of authority, anylawful command given personally by hissuper ior off icer whi le such off icer ispe r fo rming his duties, whether suchcommand is given orally, or in writing or bysignal, or otherwise, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable to suffer rigorousimprisonment for a term not less than threeyears or any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133.

Disobedienceto superiorofficer.

Mutiny andsedition.

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(2) Every person subject to this Act whodisobeys any lawful command given byhis superior officer shall be guilty of anair-force offence and, on conviction by acourt martial, shall—

(a) where such offence is committed byhim while on active service, bel i a b l e to s u f f e r r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term not lessthan three years or any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and

(b) where such offence is committed byhim while not on active service, beliable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133, and if he is an airman,to su f fe r s imple or r igorousimprisonment for a term notexceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133.

101. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) being concerned in any quarrel,affray, or disorder, refuses to obeyany officer (though of inferior rank)who orders him into arrest, orstrikes or uses or offers violence toany such officer, or

(b) strikes or uses or offers violence toany other person, whether subjectto this Act or not, in whose custodyhe is placed, and whether suchother person is or is not his superiorofficer, or

(c) resists an escort whose duty it is toarrest him or to have him in charge,or

(d) being an airman, breaks out ofbarracks, camp, or quarters,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he is anairman, to suffer simple or rigorous

Neglect to obeygeneral orother orders.

imprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

102. (1) Every person subject to thisAct who neglects to obey any general, localor other order shall be guilty of an air-forceoffence and shall, on conviction by a courtmartial, be liable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out in section133, and, if he is an airman, to suffer simpleor rigorous imprisonment for a term notexceeding three years.

(2) In t h i s sec t ion the express ion"genera l o r d e r " does not i n c l u d e aregulation made under this Act.

DESERTION, F R A U D U L E N T ENLISTMENT,AND ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE

163. (1) Every person subject to this Desertion.Act who—

(a) deserts or attempts to desert the AirForce, or

(b) persuades, endeavours to persuade,procures or attempts to procure,any person subject to this Act todesert the Air Force,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence and,on conviction by a court martial, shall—

(i) where such offence is committed byhim while on active service or underorders for active service, be liable tosuffer rigorous imprisonment for aterm not less than three years orany less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and

(ii) where such offence is committed byhim under any other circumstances,be liable for the first offence tos u f f e r s i m p l e or r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term notexceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale setout in section 133, and for thesecond or any subsequent offence tosuffer rigorous imprisonment for a

Insubordi-nation.

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Fraudulentenlistment.

term not less than three years orany less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133.

(2) Where a person charged with theoffence of deserting or attempting to desertthe Air Force has fraudulently enlisted onceor oftener, he may, for the purposes of trialfor that offence, be deemed to belong to anyone or more of the corps to which he hasbeen appointed or transferred as well as tothe corps to which he properly belongs ; andit shall be lawful to charge such a personwith any number of offences under thissection at the same time, and to giveevidence of such offences against him, and ifhe be convicted thereof to punish himaccordingly; and further it shall be lawfulon conviction of such a person for two ormore such offences to award him the higherpunishment allowed by this section for asecond offence as if he had been convictedby a previous court martial of one of suchoffences.

(3) For the purposes of the liabilityunder this section to the higher punishmentfor a second offence, a previous offence offraudulent enlistment may be reckoned as aprevious offence under this section.

104. (I) Every person subject to thisAct who, when belonging to the Regular AirForce or Regular Air Force Reserve andwithout having obtained a regular dischargetheref rom or otherwise fu l f i l l ed theconditions enabling him to enlist or enrol,enlists or enrols himself in the Volunteer AirForce or in any naval or military force inSri Lanka, or who, when belonging to theVolunteer Air Force or Volunteer Air ForceReserve or to any naval or military force ofSri Lanka and without having obtained aregular discharge therefrom or otherwisefulfilled the conditions enabling him toenlist or enrol, enlists or enrols himself inthe Regular Air Force, shall be guilty of theair-force offence of fraudulent enlistmentand shall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable—

(a) for the first offence to suffer simpleor rigorous imprisonment for aterm not exceeding three years orany less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and

Assistance ofor connivanceat desertion.

(b) for the second or any subsequento f f e n c e to s u f f e r r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term not lessthan three years or any less severepunishment in the scale set out insection 133.

(2) Where a person has fraudulentlyenlisted on several occasions he may, for thepurposes of this section, be deemed tobelong to any one or more of the corps towhich he has been appointed or transferred,as well as to the corps to which he properlybelongs; and it shall be lawful to chargesuch a person with any number of offencesunder this section at the same time, and togive evidence of such offences against him,and if he be convicted thereof to punish himaccordingly; and further it shall be lawfulon conviction of such a person for two ormore such offences to award him the higherpunishment allowed by this section for asecond offence as if he had been convictedby a previous court martial of one of suchoffences.

(3) Where a person is convicted of theoffence of fraudulent enlistment, then forthe purposes of his liability under thissection to the higher punishment for asecond offence, the offence of deserting orattempting to desert the Air Force may bereckoned as a previous offence of fraudulentenlistment under this section, with theexception that the offence of deserting orattempting to desert committed by him nextbefore any offence of fraudulent enlistmentshall not upon his conviction of thatfraudulent enlistment be reckoned as aprevious offence of deserting or attemptingto desert.

105. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) assists any person subject to this Actto desert the Air Force, or

(b) being cognizant of any desertion orintended desertion of a personsubject to this Act, does notf o r t h w i t h give no t i ce to hiscommanding officer, or take anysteps in his power to cause thedeserter or intending deserter to bearrested,

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Absence fromduty wi thoutleave.

Scandalousconduct ofofficer.

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martialbe liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

106. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) absents himself without leave, or

(b) fails to appear at the place of paradeor rendezvous appointed by hiscommanding officer, or goes fromthence without leave before he isrelieved, or without urgent necessityquits his duty or duties, or

(c) being an airman, when in camp orelsewhere, is found beyond anylimits fixed or in any placeprohibited by any general, local orother order, without a pass orwritten leave from his commandingofficer, or

(d) being an airman without leave fromhis commanding officer or withoutdue cause absents himself from anyschool when duly ordered to attendthere,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashieredor to suffer any less severe punishmentin the scale set out in section 133, and, if heis an airman, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT

107. Every officer who, being a personsubject to this Act, behaves in a scandalousmanner, unbecoming the character of anofficer and a gentleman, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be cashiered.

108. Every person subject to this Actwho, being charged with or concerned in thecare or distribution of any public or service

Fraud byperson incharge ofproperty.

property, dishonestly misappropriates, orcommits theft or criminal breach of trustof, such property, or abets the dishonestmisappropriation, or the committing oftheft or criminal breach of trust of, suchproperty, or wilfully damages such property,shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable to suffer rigorous imprisonment for aterm not less than three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

109. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) malingers, or feigns or causes inhimself disease or infirmity, or

(b) wilfully maims or injures himself orany other person subject to thisAct, whether at the instance of thatperson or not, with intent therebyto render himself or that personunfit for service, or causes himselfto be maimed or injured by anyperson with intent thereby to renderhimself unfit for service, or

(c) by wilful misconduct, or by wilfuldisobedience of orders whether inhospital or otherwise, produces oraggravates disease or infirmity, ordelays its cure, or

(d) dishonestly misapplies, or commitstheft or criminal breach of trust of,or knowing it to be stolen propertyreceives, any property belonging toa person subject to this Act, orbelonging to any service band,service or garrison mess, or serviceor garrison institution, or to anynavy, army or air-force institute, orany public property, or

(e) commits any other fraudulent acthere inbefore not pa r t i cu la r lyspecified, or any act of a cruel,indecent or unnatural kind,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, bel i ab le to s u f f e r s imple or r i go rousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

Disgracefulconduct.

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Drunkenness.

Permittingescape ofperson incustody.

DRUNKENNESS

110. Every person subject to this Actwho is drunk, whether on duty or while noton duty, shall be guilty of an air-forceoffence and shall, on conviction by a courtmartial, be liable, if he is an officer, to becashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out in section133, and, if he is an airman, to suffer simpleor rigorous imprisonment for a term notexceeding three years or any less severepunishment in the scale set out in section133, or to pay a fine not exceeding fiftyrupees, or to suffer such imprisonment orsuch punishment as well as to pay such fine :

Provided that, where such person is anairman and such offence is committed byhim while he is not on active service or onduty, the sentence passed on him shall notexceed detention for a period of six months,with or without the addition of such fine.

OFFENCES IN RELATION TO PERSONS INCUSTODY

111. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) when in command of a guard,piquet, patrol, or post, releaseswithout proper authority whetherwilfully or otherwise, any personcommitted to his charge, or

(b) w i l fu l ly or wi thout reasonableexcuse allows to escape any personwho is committed to his charge, orwhom it is his duty to keep orguard,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable, if he has acted wilfully, tosuffer rigorous imprisonment for a termnot less than three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133, and in any other case to suffersimple or rigorous imprisonment for aterm not exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

112. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) unnecessarily detains a person inarrest or confinement withoutbringing him to trial, or fails tobring his case before the properauthority for investigation, or

(b) having committed a person to thecus tody of any o f f i ce r , non-commissioned officer, provostmarshal , or assistant provostmarshal, fails without reasonablecause to deliver at the time of thec o m m i t t a l , or as soon aspracticable, and in any case withintwenty-four hours thereafter, tosuch officer, non-commissionedo f f i c e r , p r o v o s t marsha l , orassistant provost marshal anaccount in wri t ing signed byhimself of the offence with whichthe person so committed is charged,or

(c) being in command of a guard andhaving received any person into hiscustody, does not as soon as he isrelieved from his guard or duty, or,if he is not sooner relieved, withintwenty-four hours after that personis committed to his custody, give inwriting, to the officer to whom hemay be ordered to report, thatperson's name and offence so far asknown to him, and the name andrank of the officer or other personby whom that person was charged,accompanied, if he has received thewr i t ten account mentioned inparagraph (b), by that account,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashieredor to suffer any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133, and, if heis an airman, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

113. Every person subject to this Actwho, being under arrest, or in confinementor prison, or otherwise in lawful custody,escapes or attempts to escape, shall be guilty

Irregulararrest orconfinement.

Escape fromconfinement.

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of an a i r - force offence and shall , onconviction by a court martial, be liable, ifhe is an officer, to be cashiered or to sufferany less severe punishment in the scale setout in section 133, and, if he is an airman, tosuffer simple or rigorous imprisonment fora term not exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

OFFENCES IN RELATION TO PROPERTY

114. Every person subject to this Actwho takes any reward, fee, or advantage inrespect of or in connexion with the purchaseof provisions or merchandise brought intoany camp, station, barracks, or place, inwhich he has any command or authority,or the purchase of any provisions or storesfor the use of the Air Force or any partof the Air Force, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable to suffer simpleor r igorous i m p r i s o n m e n t for a t e rmnot exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

Every person subject to this115. (1)Act who—

(a) w h e t h e r by p a w n i n g , s a l e ,destruction, or otherwise, makesa w a y w i t h , or is c o n c e r n e din m a k i n g a w a y w i t h , h i sarms, a m m u n i t i o n , equipment ,i n s t r u m e n t s , c l o t h i n g , servicenecessaries, or any vehicle, vessel,or animal of which he has charge,or any public property issued tohim for his use or entrusted to hiscare for air-force purposes, or

(b) loses by neglect any property in theforegoing provisions of this sectionmentioned, or

(c) w h e t h e r by p a w n i n g , s a l e ,destruction, or otherwise, makesaway with any air-force decorationgranted to him, or

(d) wilfully injures any property in theforegoing provisions of this sectionmen t ioned , or any p rope r ty

belonging to any member of the AirForce, or to any service band,service or garrison mess, or serviceor garrison institution or to anynavy, army, or air-force institute, orany public property, or

(e) ill-treats any animal used in the AirForce,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

(2) Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) wilfully or by wilful neglect ornegligently damages, destroys orloses any of the aircraft of theRepublic or aircraft material, or

(b) without lawful authority disposes ofany of the aircraft of the Republicor aircraft material, or

(c) during a state of war, wilfully andw i t h o u t p r o p e r occas ion ornegligently causes the sequestrationby or under the authority of aneutral state or the destruction in aneutral state of any of the aircraftof the Republic,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he has acted wilfully or with wilfulneglect, to suffer rigorous imprisonmentfor a term not less than three years or anyless severe punishment in the scale setout in section 133, and, in any other case, tosuffer simple or rigorous imprisonment fora term not exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

OFFFNCES IN RELATION TO FALSEDOCUMENTS AND STATEMENTS

Every person subject to this Act116.who—

(a) in any report, return, muster roll,pay list, certificate, book, route, orother document made or signed by

Corruptdealings inrespect ofsupplies to theAir Force.

Deficiency inand injury toequipment.

Falsifyingofficialdocuments;and falsedeclarations.

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him or of the contents of which it ishis duty to ascertain the accuracy,knowingly makes or is privy to themaking of—

(i) any fa l se or f r a u d u l e n tstatement, or

(ii) any omission with intent todefraud, or

(b) knowingly and with intent to injureany p e r s o n or to d e f r a u d ,suppresses, defaces, alters, or makesaway with any document which it ishis duty to preserve or produce, or

(c) where it is his official duty to make adeclaration respecting any matter,k n o w i n g l y m a k e s a f a l s edeclaration,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, bel iable to s u f f e r s i m p l e or r i go rousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

Every person subject to this Act117.who—

(a) when signing any document relatingto p a y , a r m s , a m m u n i t i o n ,equipment , service necessaries,furniture, bedding, blankets, sheets,utensils, c lo th ing , p rov i s ions ,forage, or stores, leaves in blankany material part for which hissignature is a warranty, or

(b) refuses or by culpable neglect omitsto make or send a report or returnwhich it is his duty to make or send,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he is anairman, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

118. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) being an officer or airman, makes afalse accusation against any otherofficer or airman, knowing suchaccusation to be false, or

(b) being an officer or airman, inmaking a complaint where hethinks himself wronged, knowinglymakes any false statement affectingthe character of any other officer orairman, or knowingly and wilfullysuppresses any material facts, or

(c) being an airman, falsely states to hiscommanding officer that he hasbeen guilty of desertion or off r a u d u l e n t e n l i s t m e n t , or ofdese r t ion f rom any naval ormilitary force of Sri Lanka, or hasserved in and been discharged fromthe Air Force or any such naval ormilitary force,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

OFFENCES IN RELATION TO COURTSMARTIAL

119. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) being duly summoned to attend as awitness before a court martial,makes default in attending, or

(b) refuses to take an oath or make anaffirmation lawfully required by acourt martial to be taken or made,or

(c) refuses to produce any documentin his power or control lawfullyrequired by a court martial to beproduced by him, or

(d) refuses when a witness to answer anyquestion to which a court martialmay lawfully require an answer, or

Falseaccusation orfalse statement.

Offences inrelation tocourts martial.

Neglect toreport, andsigning inblank.

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False evidence.

Enlistment ofairman, sailoror soldierdischargedwith disgrace.

(e) commits contempt of a court martialby using insulting or threateninglanguage , or by caus ing anyinterruption or disturbance in theproceedings of such court martial,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,other than the court martial in relation to orbefore which the offence was committed, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashieredor to suffer any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133, and, if heis an airman, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133 :

Provided that where a person subject tothis Act is guilty of contempt of a courtmartial by using insulting or threateninglanguage, or by causing any interruption ordisturbance in the proceedings of such courtmartial, such court martial may, instead ofcausing him to be tried by another courtmartial, sentence him to simple or rigorousimprisonment, or, if he is an airman,to detention, for a term not exceedingtwenty-one days.

120. Every person subject to this Actwho, when examined on oath or affirmationbefore a court martial or by any officerauthorized by this Act to examine him onoath or affirmation, wilfully gives falseevidence, shall be guilty of an air-forceoffence and shall, on conviction by a courtmartial, be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

OFFENCES IN RELATION TO ENLISTMENT

121. (1) Every person subject to thisAct who, having been dismissed withdisgrace from the Air Force or from anynaval or military force of Sri Lanka, hasafterwards enlisted in the Air Force withoutdeclaring the circumstances of his dismissal,shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

False answerson enlistment.

Generaloffences inrelation toenlistment.

Traitorouswords.

Injuriousdisclosures.

(2) For the purposes of this section, theexpression " dismissed with disgrace " meansdismissed for misconduct or on accountof conviction of an offence for which asentence of imprisonment is passed.

122. Every person subject to this Actwho, when enlisted as an airman, haswilfully made a false answer to any questionset out in the attestation paper signed byhim, shall be guilty of an air-force offenceand shall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

123. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) is concerned in the enlistment of anyother person in the Air Force, whenhe knows or has reasonable causeto believe that such other person byenlisting commits an offence, or

(b) wilfully contravenes any provision oflaw relating to the enlistment ofairmen,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial,be liable to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

MISCELLANEOUS AIR-FORCE OFFENCES

124. Every person subject to this Actwho uses traitorous or disloyal wordsregarding the President shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable, if he is an officer,to be cashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out in section133, and, if he is an airman, to suffer simpleor r igorous impr i sonmen t for a termnot exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

125. Every person subject to this Actwho, orally or m writing, or by signal orotherwise, discloses the numbers or position

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Ill-treatingairman.

Duelling andattemptingto commitsuicide.

of any forces in Sri Lanka, or anymagazines or stock of such forces, or anypreparations for, or orders relating to,operations or movements of such forces, atsuch time and in such manner as, in theopinion of the court martial, to haveproduced effects injurious to such forces,shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he is anairman, to suffer s imple or r igorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

126. Every officer, warrant officer ornon-commissioned officer who—

(a) strikes or ill-treats any airman, or

(b) having received the pay of anyofficer or a i rman , u n l a w f u l l ydetains or unlawfully refuses to payit when due,

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he isa warrant officer or a non-commissionedofficer, to suffer simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set 6ut in section 133.

127. Every person subject to this Actwho—

(a) fights, or promotes, or is concernedin or connives at fighting, a duel, or

(b) attempts to commit suicide,

128. Every person subject to this Actwho, on application being made to him,neglects or refuses to deliver to a civil court,or to assist in the lawful arrest of, anyofficer or airman accused of an offencepunishable by a civil court, shall be guilty ofan air-force offence and shall, on convictionby a court martial, be liable, if he isan officer, to be cashiered or to suffer anyless severe punishment in the scale setout in section 133, and, if he is an airman,to suffer simple or rigorous imprisonmentfor a term not exceeding three years or anyless severe punishment in the scale set outin section 133.

129. (1) Subject to the provisions ofsubsection (2) of this section, every personsubject to this Act who, by any act, conduct,disorder, or neglect, prejudices good orderand air-force discipline, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable, if he is an officer,to be cashiered or to suffer any less severepunishment in the scale set out in section133, and, if he is an airman, to suffer simpleor r igorous imprisonment for a termnot exceeding three years or any lesssevere punishment in the scale set out insection 133.

(2) No person shall be charged undersubsection (1) of this section in respect ofany act, conduct, disorder, or neglect whichconstitutes an offence for which specialprovision is made in any other section ofthis Act and which is not a civil offence.

130. Every person subject to this Actwho gives or receives, or aids the giving orreceiving of, any valuable consideration inrespect of any appointment or promotion inor retirement from the Air Force, or anyemployment therein, shall be guilty of anair-force offence and shall, on conviction bya court martial, be liable to be dismissedfrom the Air Force.

Refusal todeliver to civilcourt officersand airmenaccused of civiloffences.

Conductprejudicial toair-forcediscipline.

Illegalgratification inconnexion withappointment orpromotion.

shall be guilty of an air-force offence andshall, on conviction by a court martial, beliable, if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, and, if he is anairman, to suffer simple or r igorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years or any less severe punishment inthe scale set out in section 133.

PART XIII

PUNISHMENTS BY COURTS MARTIAL INRESPECT OF CIVIL OFFENCES

131. (1) Where a person subject to thisAct is convicted by a court martial of theoffence of treason, he shall be liable tosuffer death,

Treason,murder,culpablehomicide notamountingto murder,and rape.

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Any civiloffence notmentioned insection 131.

Scale ofpunishmentsby courtsmartial.

(2) Where a person subject to this Act is (f)convicted by a court martial of the offenceof murder, he shall be liable to suffer death.

(3) Where a person subject to this Act isconvicted by a court martial of the offenceof culpable homicide not amounting tomurder, he shall be liable to suffer simpleor rigorous imprisonment for a term notexceeding twenty years.

(4) Where a person subject to this Act isconvicted by a court martial of the offenceof rape, he shall be liable to suffer simpleor rigorous imprisonment for a term notexceeding twenty years.

132. Where a person subject to this Actis convicted by a court martial of any civiloffence not mentioned in section 131, heshall be liable—

(a) if he is an officer, to be cashiered orto suffer any less severe punishmentin the scale set out in section 133,and, if he is an airman, to suffersimple or rigorous imprisonmentfor a term not exceeding three yearsor any less severe punishment in thescale set out in section 133, or

(b) to suffer the punishment prescribedfor such offence by any law of SriLanka other than this Act.

PART XIV

SCALE OF PUNISHMENTS BYCOURTS MARTIAL

133. (1) Subject to the provisions ofsection 134, the following shall be the scaleof punishments, in descending order ofseverity, which may be inflicted on officersconvicted of offences by courts martial:—

(a) death;

(b) rigorous imprisonment;

(c) simple imprisonment;

(d) cashiering;

(e) dismissal from the Air Force;

forfeiture, in the prescribed mannerof seniority of rank, either in theAir Force or in the corps to whichthe offender belongs, or in both;or, in the case of an officer whosepromotion depends upon length ofservice, forfeiture of all or any partof his service for the purposes ofpromotion;

(g) severe reprimand or reprimand;

(h) such penal deductions from pay asare authorized by this Act.

(2) Subject to the provisions of section134, the following shall be the scale ofpunishments , in descending order ofseverity, which may be inflicted on airmenconvicted of offences by courts martial:—

(a) death;

(b) rigorous imprisonment;

(c) simple imprisonment;

(d) detention for a term not exceedingthree years;

(e) discharge with ignominy from theAir Force;

(f) dismissal from the Air Force ;

(g) in the case of a warrant officer ora n o n - c o m m i s s i o n e d o f f i ce r ,reduction to the ranks or to a lowergrade, or f o r f e i t u r e , in theprescribed manner, of seniority ofrank;

(h) in the case of a warrant officer ora non-commissioned officer, severereprimand or reprimand;

(i) such forfeiture of and deductionsfrom pay, and such fines, as areauthorized by this Act.

134. The following provisions shallapply in regard to punishments which maybe inflicted by courts martial:—

(a) For the purposes of commutationand revision of sentence, detention

Specialprovisionsin regard topunishmentsby courtsmartial.

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shall not be deemed to be a lesss e v e r e p u n i s h m e n t t h a ni m p r i s o n m e n t if the term ofdetention is longer than the term ofimprisonment.

(b) An officer shall be sentenced to becashiered before he is sentenced toimprisonment.

(c) The M i n i s t e r may cause therestoration of the whole or any partof any lost seniority or forfeitedservice in the case of an officer whomay perform good and faithfulservice, or who may otherwise bedeemed by the Minister to meritsuch restoration.

(d) An officer or a non-commissionedofficer when sentenced to forfeitureof seniority of rank and an officerwhen sentenced to forfeiture of allor any part of his service for thepurposes of promotion may inaddition be sentenced to be severelyreprimanded or reprimanded.

(e) An airman when sentenced toimprisonment may, in additiont h e r e t o , be s e n t e n c e d to bedischarged with ignominy from theAir Force.

(f) Where an airman on active service isguilty of any offence, it shall belawful for a court martial to inflictfo r t ha t o f f ence such f i e ldpunishment, other than flogging orattachment to a fixed object, asmay be prescribed, and such fieldpunishment shall be of the nature ofpersonal restraint or of hard labour,but shall not be of a nature to causeinjury to life or limb.

(g) For the purpose of commutationof sentence, the field punishmentabove mentioned shall be deemedto stand in the scale of punishmentnext below detention.

(h) In addition to or in lieu of any otherpunishment in respect of anyoffence committed by an airman onactive service, it shall be lawful for

a court martial to order that suchairman shall forfeit all ordinary payfor a period commencing on theday of the s e n t e n c e and notexceeding three months.

(i) In addition to or in lieu of any otherp u n i s h m e n t in respect of anyoffence, an offender convicted bya court martial may be sentencedto forfeiture of any deferred pay,service towards pension, air-forcedecoration, or air-force reward, insuch manner as may be prescribed.

(j) In addition to or in lieu of any otherp u n i s h m e n t in respect of anyoffence, an offender may besentenced by a court martial to anydeduction authorized by this Act tobe made from his pay.

PART XV

OFFENCES UNDER THIS ACT WHICH ARENOT AIR-FORCE OFFENCES

135. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who without dueauthority—

(a) publishes or causes to be publishednotices or advertisements for thepurpose of procuring recruits forthe Air Force, or relating to recruitsfor the Air Force, or

(b) opens or keeps any house, place ofrendezvous or office connected withthe procuring of recruits for the AirForce, or

(c) receives any person under any suchn o t i c e or a d v e r t i s e m e n t asaforesaid, or

(d) directly or indirectly interferes witha duly appointed recruiter in thedischarge of his duties,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to a fine not exceedingtwo hundred rupees.

Unlawfulrecruiting.

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False answersby applicantsfor enlistment.

Pretending tobe a deserter.

Inducing orassistingofficers orairmen todesert orabsentthemselveswithout leave.

Interferencewith air-forceduties.

136. Every person, other than a person (b)subject to this Act, who has knowinglymade a false answer to any question put tohim at an examination for his enlistment asan airman shall be guilty of an offence andshall, on conviction after summary trialbefore a Magistrate, be liable to simple orrigorous imprisonment for a term not (c)exceeding three months.

137. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who falsely representshimself to any military, naval, air-force orcivil authority to be a deserter from the AirForce shall be guilty of an offence and shall,on conviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree months.

138. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who by any means—

(a) procures or persuades any officer orairman to desert or absent himselfwithout leave, or attempts toprocure or persuade any officer orairman to desert or absent himselfwithout leave, or

(b) knowing that an officer or airman isabout to desert or absent himselfwithout leave, aids or assists himin deserting or absenting himselfwithout leave, or

(c) knowing any officer or airman to bea deserter or absentee withoutleave, conceals such officer orairman or aids or assists him inconcealing himself, or aids or assistsin his rescue from arrest,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceeding sixmonths.

139. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who—

(a) wilful ly obstructs, impedes, orotherwise interferes with any officeror airman in the execution of hisduties, or

wilfully produces any disease orinfirmity in, or maims or injures,any person whom he knows to bean airman with a view to enablingsuch person to avoid air-forceservice, or

with intent to enable an airman torender himself, or induce the belieft h a t he is , p e r m a n e n t l y ort e m p o r a r i l y u n f i t fo r service ,supplies to, or for the use of, suchairman any drug or preparationcalculated or likely to render him,or lead to the belief that he is,permanently or temporarily unfitfor service,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingsix months, or to a fine not exceedingone thousand rupees, or to both suchimprisonment and fine.

140. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who gives or receives, oraids the giving or receiving of, any valuableconsideration in respect of any appointmentor promotion in or retirement from the AirForce, or any employment therein, shall beguilty of an offence and shall, on convictionafter summary trial before a Magistrate, beliable to a fine not exceeding one thousandr u p e e s , or to s i m p l e or r i g o r o u simprisonment for a term not exceeding sixmonths.

141. (1) Every person, other than aperson subject to this Act, who—

(a) buys, exchanges, takes in pawn,detains, or receives from anyp e r s o n , on a n y p r e t e n c ewhatsoever, or

(b) solicits or entices any person to sell,exchange, pawn, or give away, or

(c) assists or acts for any person inselling, exchanging, pawning, ormaking away with,

a n y arms, a m m u n i t i o n , e q u i p m e n t ,instruments, service necessaries or clothingissued for the use of officers or airmen, or

Illegalgratificationto personsnot subjectto this Actin respect ofappointmentsor promotionsin theAir Force.

Purchaseof servicenecessaries,equipment,stores. &c.

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any air-force decorations of any officer orairman, or any furniture, bedding, blankets,sheets, utensils, or stores in the charge of aunit of the Air Force, or any provisions orforage issued for the use of any officer orairman or of any horse belonging to the AirForce, or any other property of the AirForce, shall, unless he proves either that heacted in ignorance of the fact that sucharticle was the property of the Air Force, orthat it was purchased at a sale held by orderor with the consent of the Minister or theCommander of the Air Force, or that it wasthe personal property of an officer who hadretired or ceased to be an officer, or of anairman who had been discharged, or of thelegal representative of any officer or airmanwho had died, be guilty of an offence andshall, on conviction after summary trialbefore a Magistrate, be liable to a fine notexceeding two hundred rupees, togetherwith a penalty of treble the value of anyproperty of which such person has becomepossessed by means of his offence, or tosimple or rigorous imprisonment for a termnot exceeding six months, or to both suchfine and imprisonment. Such penalty maybe recovered in like manner as a fineimposed by the Magistrate.

(2) Where any property mentioned insubsection ( I ) of this section is found in thepossession or keeping of any person, suchperson may be taken or summoned beforea Magistrate's Court, and if such courthas reasonable ground to believe thatthe proper ty so found was s tolen, orwas bought, exchanged, taken in pawn,obtained or received in contravention of thissection, then if such person does not satisfysuch court that he came by the propertyso f o u n d l a w f u l l y and w i t h o u t anycontravention of this Act, he shall be liable,on conviction after summary trial, to thesame punishments as are prescribed in thecase of a contravention of the last precedingsubsection.

(3) A person found committing anoffence under this section may be arrestedwithout warrant, and taken, together withthe property which is the subject of theoffence, before a Magistrate's Court; anda n y pe r son to w h o m any p r o p e r t ymentioned in subsection (1) of this section isoffered to be sold, pawned, or delivered,

and who has reasonable cause to supposethat it is offered in contravention of thissection, may, and, if he has the power, shall,arrest the person offering such property,and forthwith take him, together with suchproperty, before a Magistrate's Court.

(4) A Magistrate's Court, if satisfied onthe evidence on oath or affirmation of anyperson that there is reasonable cause tosuspect that any other person has in hispossession, or on his premises, any propertywith respect to which any offence in thissection mentioned has been committed, maygrant a warrant to search for such property,as in the case of stolen property; and theofficer charged with the execution of suchwarrant shall seize any such property foundon search of that other person or hispremises and shall bring the person inwhose possession such property is foundbefore such court to be dealt with accordingto law.

(5) For the purposes of this section,property shall be deemed to be in thepossession or keeping of a person if it ispossessed or kept for him by any otherperson.

142. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who—

(a) receives or has in his possession anyidentity certificate, life certificate,or other certificate, or officialdocument evidencing or issued inconnexion with the right of anyperson to an air-force pension orpay, or to any bounty, allowance,gratuity, relief, benefit or advantagegranted in connexion with air-forceservice, as a pledge or security fora debt or with a view to obtainpayment from the person entitledthereto of a debt due either to thefirst-mentioned person or to anyother person, or

(b) without lawful authority or excuse(the proof whereof shall lie on theaccused) has in his possession anysuch certificate or document, or anycertificate of discharge or any othero f f i c i a l d o c u m e n t issued in

Unlawfulpossession ofair-forcecertificates, &c.

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connexion with the mobilization or (2)demobilization of the Air Force orany member thereof,

Unauthorizeduse ofdecorations,&c.

Obligations ofemployers.

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to the like punishmentsas for an offence under section 141.

143. Every person, other than a personsubject to this Act, who—

(a) without lawful authority uses orwears any air-force decoration ormedal, or medal ribbon, or anybadge, wound stripe, or emblemsupplied or authorized by thePresident, or any imitation thereofwhich is calculated to deceive, or

(b) falsely represents himself to be aperson who is or has been entitledto use or wear any such decoration,medal, or medal ribbon, badge,wound stripe, or emblem, or

(c) without lawful authority or excusesupplies or offers to supply anysuch decoration, medal, medalribbon, badge, wound stripe, oremblem to any person notauthorized to use or wear it,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to a fine not exceedingtwo hundred rupees or to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingthree months:

Provided that nothing in this section shallbe deemed to prohibit the wearing or supplyof any ordinary service badge or any broochor ornament representing it by or to anyperson who is not a member of the unit towhich the badge belongs.

144. (1) It shall be the duty of everyemployer to give all proper facilities forenabling any person in his employ tobecome or to be a member of the VolunteerAir Force or the Volunteer Air ForceReserve and any such person who is amember of that force or reserve to undergoand render such air-force training andair-force service as he may be requiredto undergo and render by virtue of this Act.

Any employer who—

(a) fails to give the facilities referred toin subsection (I) of this section, or

(b) by dismissing an employee or byreducing his wages or in any otherm a n n e r p e n a l i z e s h im f o ru n d e r g o i n g or render ing anytraining or service referred to inthat subsection,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceedingsix months, or to a fine not exceedingone hundred rupees, or to both suchimprisonment and fine.

145. Where any person, other than aperson subject to this Act,

(a) being duly summoned as a witnessbefore a court martial and afterpayment or tender of the reasonableexpenses of his attendance, makesdefault in attending the courtmartial, or

(b) being in attendance as a witnessbefore a court martial—

(i) refuses to take any oath ormake any affirmation whichhe is lawfully required by thecourt martial to take or tomake, or

( i i ) r e fuses to p roduce anydocument, in his power orcontrol, which he is lawfullyrequired by the court martialto produce, or

(hi) refuses to answer any questionwhich he is lawfully requiredby the cour t mar t ia l toanswer,

he shall be deemed to commit an offence;and the president of the court martial mayunder his hand certify such offence of thatperson to the nearest civil court, and thatcourt may thereupon deal with that personin like manner as if he had committed a likeoffence in that court.

Misconductof civilianwitnessat courtmartial.

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146. (1) Where any person, other thana person subject to this Act, wilfully givesfalse evidence when examined on oath oraffirmation before a court martial, he shallhe deemed to commit the offence of givingfalse evidence under Chapter XI of thePenal Code and may be prosecuted andpunished accordingly.

(2) Where any person, other thana person subject to this Act, uses insultingor threatening language about or towardsa court martial, or causes any interruptionor disturbance in its proceedings, or printsor publishes observations or utters wordscalculated to influence the members of orwitnesses before a court martial or to bringa court martial into disrepute, he shall bedeemed to commit the offence of contemptof that court martial; and the president ofthat court martial may under his handcertify such offence of that person to theCourt of Appeal, and that court maythereupon deal with that person in likemanner as if he had been charged with theoffence of contempt committed against or indisrespect of the authority of that court.

147. Where any person promotes ororganizes or is a member of any associationor body of persons who, without thepermission of the President, are undergoingany training which will render them capableof being engaged in aerial warfare, he shallbe guilty of an offence and shall, onconviction after summary trial before aMagistrate, be liable to simple or rigorousimprisonment for a term not exceeding sixmonths.

PART XVI

DESERTERS AND ABSENTEESWITHOUT LEAVE

148. When any airman has been absentwithout leave from his duty for a period oftwenty-one days—

(a) a court of inquiry may as soon aspract icable be assembled, andinquire in the prescribed manner,on oath or affirmation which suchcourt is hereby au thor ized toadminister, respecting the fact of

the airman's absence, and thedeficiency, if any, in the arms,a m m u n i t i o n , e q u i p m e n t ,instruments, service necessaries orclothing of the airman, or in anypublic property issued to him forhis use in connexion with his dutiesor entrusted to his care for air-forcepurposes; and

(b) if satisfied of the fact of the airman'sabsence without leave or othersufficient cause, the court shalldeclare such absence and the periodthereof, and the said deficiency, ifany; and

(c) the commanding officer of the absentairman shall enter in the servicebooks a record of the declaration ofsuch court; and

(d) if the absent airman does notafterwards surrender or is notarrested such record shall have thelegal effect of a conviction by acourt martial for desertion.

149. (1) Where an airman signs aconfession that he has been guilty of the air-force offence of desertion or of fraudulentenlistment, a competent air-force authoritymay by order dispense with his trial bya court martial and award the sameforfeitures and the same deductions frompay as a court martial is empowered by thisAct to award for such offence.

(2) If, in any case where an airmanmakes any confession referred to insubsection (1) of this section, evidence of thetruth or falsehood of such confession cannotbe conveniently obtained, a record of suchconfession, certified by the commandingofficer of the airman shall be made in theservice books, and the airman shall continueto do duty in the corps in which he maythen be serving, or in any other corps towhich he may be transferred, until he isdischarged or transferred to the reserve, oruntil legal proof can be obtained of thetruth or falsehood of such confession.

(3) For the purposes of this section," competent air-force authority " meansthe President, or any such officer of a ranknot below that of Group Captain as isauthorized by the President.

Confession byairman ofdesertion orfraudulentenlistmenl.

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Arrest ofdeserters andabsenteeswithout leave.

150. The following provisions shall haveeffect with respect to deserters and absenteeswithout leave;—

(1) Upon reasonable suspicion that aperson is a deserter or absenteewithout leave, it shall be lawful forany police officer, or if there is nopolice officer at hand, then for anyofficer or airman or other person,to arrest such suspected person andforthwith to bring him before aMagistrate's Court.

(2) A Magistrate's Court, if satisfied byevidence on oath or affirmationthat a deserter or absentee withoutleave is or is reasonably suspectedto be within the jurisdiction of thatc o u r t , may i s s u e a w a r r a n ta u t h o r i z i n g such deser ter orabsentee to be arres ted andbrought forthwith before that court.

(3) Where a person is brought before aMagistrate's Court charged withbeing a deserter or absentee withoutleave under this Act, that court—

(a) if s a t i s f i e d , e i t h e r byindependent evidence takenon oath or affirmation or bythe confession of such person,tha t he is a deser ter orabsentee without leave, shallforthwith, as it may seem tothat court most expedientw i t h regard to h i s safecustody, cause him either tobe delivered into air-forcecustody in such manner asthat court may deem mostexpedient, or, until he can beso delivered, to be committedto some prison, police station,or other place legally providedfor the confinement of personsin custody, for such time asa p p e a r s t o t h a t c o u r treasonably necessary for thepurpose of delivering him intoair-force custody, and

(b) where such person confesseshimself to be a deserter orabsentee without leave and

that court is not convinced ofthe truth of the confession,shall remand such person forthe p u r p o s e of obtaininginformation as to the truthor falsehood of the confession,and for that purpose thatcourt shall transmit to theCommander of the Air Forcea return (in this Act referredto as a " descriptive return ")in such form and containingsuch particulars as may beprescribed.

(4) The court may, from time to time,remand the person referred to insubsection (3) of this section for aperiod not exceeding eight days ineach instance.

(5) Where under paragraph (3) (a) ofthis section a court causes a personeither to be delivered into air-forcecustody or to be committed as adeserter or absentee without leave,the c o u r t sha l l send to theCommander of the Air Force adescriptive return in relation tosuch deserter or absentee withoutleave.

(6) Where a person surrenders himselfto a police officer as being adeserter or absentee without leave,the officer in charge of the policestation to which he is brought shallforthwith inquire into the case, and,if it appears to him from theconfession of that person that thatperson is a deserter or absenteewithout leave, may cause thatperson to be delivered into air-forcecustody w i t h o u t b r i n g i n g himbefore a Magistrate's Court underthis section, and in such case shallsend to the Commander of the AirForce a cert if icate signed byhimself as to the fact, date, andplace of the surrender of thatperson.

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Committal,removal,release. &c.,of air-forceprisoner orairmanundergoingdetention.

Air-forceprisoners incivil prisons.

PART XVII

IMPRISONMENT AND DETENTION

151. (1) An order of the competentair-force authority shall be a sufficientwarrant for the committal of an air-forceprisoner to prison or detention barracks,or an airman under sentence of detentionto detention barracks.

(2) An order of the competent air-forceauthority shall be a sufficient authority forthe transfer of an air-force prisoner fromprison to detention barracks, or vice versa,or from any prison or detention barracks toany other prison or detention barracks, orfor the transfer of an airman undergoingdetention from any detention barracksto any other detention barracks, or forthe delivery into air-force custody of ana i r - fo rce p r i s o n e r or an a i r m a nundergoing detention.

(3) An air-force prisoner or an airmanundergoing detention may at any time, if hissentence is remitted, be released by order ofthe competent air-force authority.

(4) An air-force prisoner or an airmanundergoing detent ion may, during hisconveyance from place to place, or when onboard ship or otherwise, be subjected tosuch restraint as is necessary for his safeconduct and removal.

(5) For the purposes of this section," competent air-force authority " means thePresident or any such officer of a rank notbelow that of Group Captain as isauthorized by the President.

152. (1) An air-force prisoner while ina civil prison shall be confined, kept to hardlabour, and otherwise dealt with in the samemanner as an ordinary prisoner under a likesentence of imprisonment.

(2) Where the hospital or place forreception of sick persons in any prison ordetention barracks is detached from theprison or detention barracks, an air-forceprisoner or an airman undergoing detentionmay be detained in that hospital or place,and conveyed to or from it as circumstancesrequire.

153. (1) The superintendent of everyprison in Sri Lanka shall receive andconfine, until the time of discharge ordelivery into any other lawful custody—

(a) all prisoners sent to such prison inpursuance of this Act, and

(b) every person delivered into hiscustody as a deserter or absenteew i t h o u t leave by any personconveying him under legal authorityon production of the warrant of aMagistrate's Court on which suchdeserter or absentee without leavehas been taken or committed,

(2) Every superintendent referred to insubsection (1) of this section shall alsoreceive into his custody for a period notexceeding seven days any airman inair-force custody upon delivery to himof a written order purporting to be signedby the commanding officer of such airman.

(3) The provisions of this section withrespect to the superintendent of a prison inSri Lanka shall apply to a person havingcharge of any police station or other placein which prisoners may legally be confined.

154. (1) It shall be lawful for theMinister to set apart any building or part ofa building under his control as an air-forceprison or as detention barracks.

(2) In any country in which operationsagainst the enemy are being conducted, thepowers of the Minister under subsection (1)of this section and the powers of theMinister to make regulations in respect ofany of the matters mentioned in paragraphs(q), (r), (s) and (t) of subsection (1) ofsection 155 shall be exercised by the officerfor the time being in command of the forcesof Sri Lanka in the field, whether suchofficer is an air-force, military or navalofficer, and the limitations contained insubsection (2) of section 155 on the powerof making regulations as to the punishmentof p r i sone r s and airmen undergoingd e t e n t i o n and as to the severity ofimprisonment and detention shall notapply:

Provided that nothing in this subsectionor in any regulations made thereunder shall

Duty ofsuperintendentof any prison.

Establishmentand regulationof air-forceprisons anddetentionbarracks.

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authorize flogging or other corporalpunishment to be inflicted for any offence.

(3) The powers conferred by subsection(2) of this section shall continue to beexercisable after the cessation of operationsso long as the forces in the country inquestion are on active service.

PART XVIII

MISCELLANEOUS

155. (1) Subject to the provisions ofsubsection (2) of this section, the Ministermay make regulations in respect of all orany of the following matters :—

(a) the uniforms to be worn by membersof the Air Force ;

(b) the training of members of the AirForce, and the duties which theymay be ordered to perform whenthey are not on active service ;

(c) the discipline of members of the AirForce ;

(d) the disbandment of the whole or apart of any corps of the Air Force;

(e) the termination of the services of anymember of the Air Force;

(f) the administration of the Air Force ;

(g) the assembly and procedure ofcourts of inquiry;

(h) the convening and constituting ofcourts martial;

(i) the adjournment, dissolution, andsittings of courts martial;

(j) the procedure to be observed in trialsby courts martial;

(k) the confirmation and revision of thefindings and sentences of courtsmartial;

(l) the carrying into effect of sentencesof courts martial;

(m) the forms of orders to be madeunder the provisions of this Actr e l a t i n g to c o u r t s m a r t i a l ,imprisonment, or detention;

(n) any matter in this Act stated orrequired to be prescribed ;

(o) any matter in respect of which regulations are authorized by any

other provision of this Act;

(p) any matter expedient or necessaryfor the purpose of carrying this Actinto execution so far as relates tothe i n v e s t i g a t i o n , t r i a l , andpunishment of air-force offences;

(q) the government, management, andregulation of air-force prisons anddetention barracks;

(r) the appointment, removal, powersand duties of inspectors, visitors,superintendents and officers ofair-force prisons and detentionbarracks;

(s) the labour of prisoners in air-forceprisons and of airmen undergoingdetention in detention barracks,and the enabling of such prisonersor airmen to earn, by speciali ndus t ry and good conduct, aremission of portion of theirsentence;

(t) the safe custody of the aforesaidp r i s o n e r s or a i r m e n , t h emaintenance of discipline amongthem, the punishment by personalcorrection, restraint or otherwise ofoffences committed by them, andthe temporary release of them insuch cases, for such periods, andsubject to such conditions, as maybe prescribed.

(2) No regulation made in respect of thematters mentioned in paragraph (s) orparagraph (t) of subsection (1) of thissection shall authorize corporal punishmentto be inflicted for any offence, nor renderthe imprisonment or detention more severethan it is, under the law in force for the timebeing, in any civil prison.

(3) The regulations as to the procedureof courts of inquiry may provide for thetaking of evidence on oath or affirmationand may e m p o w e r s u c h c o u r t s toadminister oaths or affirmations for thatpurpose.

(4) T h e r e g u l a t i o n s as to t h einvestigation of a charge may provide forthe taking of a written summary of the

Regulations.

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evidence on oath or affirmation, and mayempower a commanding officer, or anyother officer before whom he directs suchsummary to be taken, to administer oaths oraffirmations for that purpose.

(5) Every regulation made by theMinister under this section shall bepublished in the Gazette and shall come intooperation from the date on which it is sopublished.

(6) Every regulation made by theMinister under this section shall, as soon aspracticable, be brought before Parliamentby motion that such regulation shall beapproved.

(7) Any regulation which Parliamentrefuses to approve shall be deemed to berescinded but without prejudice to theval idi ty of any th ing p r e v i o u s l y donethereunder or to the making of any newregulation. The date on which a regulationshall be so deemed to be rescinded shall bethe date on which Parliament refuses toapprove it.

(8) Notification of the date on whichany regulation made by the Minister underthis section is deemed to be rescinded shallbe published in the Gazette.

156. All property belonging to the AirForce or to any part of the Air Force, otherthan the property of individual members ofthe Air Force, and the exclusive right to suefor and recover moneys and other propertydue to the Air Force or to any part of theAir Force, shall vest in the Commander ofthe Air Force for the time being, with powerfor him to sue, to make contracts andconveyances, and to do all other lawfulthings relating to such property; and anycivil or criminal proceedings taken by virtueof this section by the Commander of theAir Force shall not be discontinued andshall not abate by reason of his death,resignation, retirement, or removal fromoffice, but may be carried on by and in thename of his successor in office.

157. (1) Where a person has beenconvicted by a court martial of the offenceof committing theft or criminal breach oftrust of any property, or of receiving any

property knowing it to be stolen property,and the property or any part thereof isfound in the possession of that person, theauthority confirming the conviction of, andthe sentence passed on, that person by thatcourt martial, or the Minister, may orderthe property so found to be restored to theperson appearing to be the lawful ownerthereof.

(2) Where any property found in thepossession of any person referred to insubsection (1 ) of this section appears to theauthority mentioned in that subsection or tothe Minister to have been obtained by theconversion or exchange of any of theproperty referred to in that subsection,an order similar to an order under thatsubsection may be made by such authorityor the Minister.

(3) Where it appears to the authoritymentioned in subsection (1) of this sectionor to the Minister, from the evidence givenbefore the court martial, that any part of theproperty referred to in that subsection wassold to or pawned with any person withoutany guilty knowledge on the part of thatperson, such authority or the Minister may,on the application of that person, and onthe restitution of such property to the ownerthereof, order that out of the money, if any,found in the possession of the offender,a sum not exceeding the amount of theproceeds of the sale or pawning shall bepaid to that person.

(4) An order under this section shall notbar the right of any person, other thanthe offender or anyone claiming throughhim, to recover any property delivered inpursuance of such order from the person towhom it is so delivered.

(5) For the purposes of this section," property " includes money.

158. Any power vested in, any report orother communication to be made to, andany act or thing to be done before, a personholding any air-force office may beexercised by, made to, or done before, anyother person for the time being authorizedin that behalf according to the custom of theAir Force or according to regulations madeunder section 155.

Exercise ofpowers vestedin holder ofair-force office.

Vesting ofproperty ofthe Air Forcein theCommander ofthe Air Force.

Power as torestitutionof stolenproperty.

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Provisions asto warrantsand orders ofair-forceauthorities.

159. (1) Where any order is authorizedby this Act to be made by the Minister, theCommander of the Air Force, or any otherofficer commanding, such order may besignified by an order under the hand of anyofficer authorized to issue orders on behalfof the Minister, or Commander of the AirForce, or other officer commanding, and anorder purporting to be signed by any officerappearing therein to be so authorized shallbe evidence of his being so authorized.

(2) Subsection (I) of this section shallextend to any order or direction issuedin pursuance of this Act in relation to anair-force prisoner or airman undergoingdetention, and any such order or directionshall not be held void by reason of the deathor removal from office of the officer signingit or ordering its issue, or by reason of anydefect in it, if it states that the prisoner orairman has been convicted-

(3) An order in any case if issued in theprescribed form shall be valid, but an orderdeviating from the prescribed form ifotherwise valid shall not be rendered invalidby reason only of the deviation.

(4) Where any air-force prisoner orairman undergoing detention is for the timebeing in custody, whether air-force or civil,in any place or in any manner in whichhe might legally be kept in custody inpursuance of this Act, custody of suchprisoner or airman shall not be deemed tobe illegal only by reason of any informalityor error in or as respects the order, warrant,or other document, or the authority by or inpursuance whereof such prisoner or airmanwas brought into or is detained in suchcustody, and any such order, warrant, ordocument may be amended accordingly.

(5) W h e r e f o r t h e p u r p o s e ofconveyance by sea, any person in air-forcecustody is delivered on board a ship to theperson in command of the ship, the order ofthe air-force authority which authorizes theperson in air-force custody to be conveyedby sea shall be a sufficient authority to theperson in command of the ship to keep himin custody and convey him in accordancewith the order, and the person kept in suchcustody shall be deemed to be in air-forcecustody.

Members ofany foreignair forceattached to theAir Force ofSri Lanka.

160. (1 ) Where any member of any airforce raised outside Sri Lanka is attached tothe Air Force of Sri Lanka for duty andservice with that Air Force he shall besubject to the provisions of this Act while heis so attached.

(2) Any member of any air force raisedoutside Sri Lanka may, at the request of thecommanding officer of that force and withthe consent of the Minister, be attachedto the Air Force of Sri Lanka for exerciseor training, and where such member isso attached, he shall be subject to theprovisions of this Act save in respect ofliability to be called out on active service.

161. In this Act unless the context Interpretation.otherwise requires—

" active service " means service rendered—

(a) in the defence of Sri Lanka intime of war whether actual orapprehended, or

(b) i n t h e p r e v e n t i o n orsuppression of any rebellion,insurrection or other civildisturbance in Sri Lanka;

" airman " does not include an officer asdefined by this Act, but, subject tothe special provisions in this Actcontained in relation to warrantofficers and non-commissionedofficers, does include a warrantofficer and a non-commissionedofficer;

"Air Force" means the Sri Lanka AirForce;

" air-force prison " means a prison forair-force prisoners;

"air-force prisoner" means a personunder sentence of imprisonmentpassed by a court martial under thisAct;

" civil court" means any court other thancourts martial;

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" civil offence " means an offence againstany law of Sri Lanka which is notan air-force offence;

" civil prison " means any prison in whicho f f e n d e r s s e n t e n c e d t oimprisonment by a civil court areconfined ;

" Minister " means the Minister in chargeof the subject of Defence ;

" non-commissioned officer " includes anacting non-commissioned officer,

but does not include a warrantofficer;

" officer " means an officer commissionedas an officer of the Air Force ;

" prescribed " means p re sc r ibed byregulation made under this Act;and

" superior officer", in relation to anairman, includes a warrant officerand a non-commissioned officer.

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