183. Penalty for allowing cattle to stray in street or to trespass upon private or public property.
(1)Whoever, within the limits of a village, allows any cattle which are his property' or in his charge to stray in any street or to trespass upon any private or public property shall, on conviction, be punished-(i)for the first offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to three hundred rupees, or with both;(ii)for a second or subsequent offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both:Provided that in absence of adequate and special reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgement of the Court,-(i)for a first offence, such fine shall not be less than one hundred rupees, and(ii)for a second or subsequent offence, such fine shall not be less than two hundred and fifty rupees.(2)The Magistrate trying the offence under sub-section (1), may order,-(a)that the accused shall pay such compensation not exceeding two hundred fifty rupees as the Magistrate considers reasonable, to any person for any damage proved to have been caused to his property or to the produce of land, by' the cattle under the control of the accused, trespassing on his land; and also,(b)that the cattle in respect of which the accused is convicted shall be forfeited to the State Government.(3)Any compensation awarded under sub-section (2) may' be recovered as if it were a fine imposed under this section.(4)An offence under this section shall be cognizable.(5)Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall render any person liable to any punishment provided in that sub-section, if in the opinion of the Court, the offence was committed without his knowledge of that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
