Police Act property definition excludes immovable property; police custody and magistrate powers are confined to moveable property.

The Police Act, 1861 was construed as not extending the word "property" to immovable property. Although the term "include" is ordinarily broad, the scheme and object of the Act showed that the reference was confined to moveable property, consistent with its focus on police administration, crime prevention, and summary custody and disposal. On that construction, police had no authority under Section 25 to take charge of immovable property, and the District Magistrate could not proceed under Section 26 in relation to such property.

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Issues: Whether the word "property" in the Police Act, 1861 includes immovable property so as to empower the police to take charge of it and enable the District Magistrate to proceed under the Act in relation to such property.

Analysis: The definition of "property" in the Act was construed in the context of the scheme and object of the legislation. Although the term "include" is ordinarily expansive, the setting of the Act showed that the inclusion of "any moveable property" was not intended to enlarge the ordinary meaning of property to cover immovable property. The Act was enacted to facilitate police administration and the prevention and detection of crime, and the summary custody and disposal mechanism was regarded as suitable only for moveables. The reference to analogous provisions and rules dealing only with moveable property reinforced this construction.

Conclusion: The term "property" in the Police Act, 1861 does not include immovable property. The police had no authority under Section 25 to take charge of immovable property, and the District Magistrate had no jurisdiction under Section 26 to deal with it.

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