Punishments awardable by Coast Guard Courts.

53.(1) Punishments may be inflicted in respect of offences committed by person subject to this Act and convicted by Coast Guard Courts according to the scale following, that is to say, —
 

(a)  death;   (b)  imprisonment which may be for the term of life or any other lesser term;   (c)  dismissal from the Coast Guard;   (d)  detention in Coast Guard custody for a period not exceeding two years;   (e)  reduction to the ranks or to a lower rank in the case of sailors;   (f)  forfeiture of seniority of rank, forfeiture of all or any part of the service for the purpose of promotion;   (g)  forfeiture of service for the purpose of increased pay, pension or any other   prescribed purpose;   (h)  fine, in respect of civil offences;   (i)  mulcts of pay and allowances;   (j)  severe reprimand or reprimand except in the case of persons below the rank of  an Uttam Navik or Uttam Yantrik

   (2) Each of the punishments specified in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be inferior in degree to every punishment preceding it in the above scale.

54. Subject to the provisions of this Act, a Coast Guard Court may, on convicting a person subject to this Act of any of the offences specified in sections 15 to 48 (both inclusive) award either the particular punishment, with which the offence is stated in the said sections to be punishable, or in lieu thereof, any one of the punishments lower in the scale set out in section 53 regard being had to the nature and degree of the offence.

55. Subject to the provisions of section 58, a sentence of a Coast Guard Court may award in addition to, or without any one other punishment, the punishment specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 53 and any one or more of the punishments specified in clauses (e) to (j) (both inclusive) of that sub-section.

56. Punishments may also be inflicted in respect of offences committed by persons subject to this Act without the intervention of a Coast Guard Court in the manner stated in section 57 or section 57A*

* Inserted by the Coast Guard (Amendment) Act, 2002

57. Subject to the provisions of section 58, a Commanding Officer or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by the Director-General may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against a person subject to this Act, otherwise than as an officer, who is charged with an offence under this Act and award such person, to the extent prescribed, one or more of the following punishments, that is to say,—

* 57A.(1) The Director-General or an officer not below the rank of Deputy- Inspector General who is appointed as Commander of a region or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by the Director-General, may in the prescribed manner proceed against an officer below the rank of Commandant, who is charged with an offence under this Act and award such person one or more of the following punishments, that is to say, -

 *. *  Inserted by the Coast Guard (Amendment) Act, 2002

58.(1) The punishments that may be inflicted under this Act shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of this section.

    (2) A sentence of imprisonment under this Act shall in all cases be accompanied by a sentence of dismissal.

    (3) A sentence of imprisonment may be rigorous or simple or partly rigorous and partly simple.

    (4) No officer shall be subject to detention for any offence under this Act.

    (5) No subordinate officer shall be sentenced to detention except for desertion.

    (6) A sentence of detention shall not be accompanied by a sentence of dismissal from the Coast Guard.

    (7) A sentence of detention for a period exceeding fourteen days shall in all cases be accompanied by stoppage of pay and allowances during the period of detention.

    *(8) Where mulcts of pay and allowances are awarded for absence without leave, the absence shall be treated as regularised for all purposes.*

 *.*  Inserted by the Coast Guard (Amendment) Act, 2002