Clause 21

Any person who commits an offence under section 18, 19 or 20 may be arrested without warrant by any police officer, public health officer or public officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner and taken before a Magistrate’s Court and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

Notwithstanding subsection (1) or of any other written law, any police officer, public health officer or public officer who, having effected an arrest in accordance with this section, is satisfied as to the identity, name and place of residence of the person arrested, may, instead of taking such person before a Court or to a police station, serve upon such person a notice in such form as may be prescribed under section 115 requiring the person to attend at the Court described at the hour and on the date specified in the notice.

For the purpose of satisfying himself as to the identity of the person arrested, the police officer, public health officer or public officer may require the person to furnish such evidence of identity as he may consider necessary.

A duplicate of the notice referred to in subsection (2) shall be prepared by the police officer, public health officer or public officer, as the case may be, and produced by him to the Court, if so required by the Court.

On an accused person appearing before a Court in pursuance of such a notice, the Court shall take cognizance of the offence alleged and shall proceed as though he were produced before it in pursuance of subsection (1).

If a person upon whom a notice under subsection (2) has been served fails to appear before a Court in accordance therewith, the Court shall thereupon issue a warrant for the arrest of that person.

Upon a person arrested in pursuance of a warrant of arrest issued under subsection (6) being produced before a Court, the Court shall proceed as though he were produced before it under subsection (1) and shall at the conclusion of the proceedings call upon him to show cause why he should not be punished for failing to attend in compliance with the notice served upon him and if cause is not shown may order him to pay such penalty not exceeding $2,000 as the Court thinks fit or may commit him to prison for a term not exceeding 2 months.

Upon the conviction of any person under subsection (1), the Commissioner may, in the manner provided in section 95, recover from such person the costs and expenses incurred by the Commissioner in cleaning the public place except that where an offence was committed by any person in the course of his employment, the Commissioner may recover the costs and expenses in the said manner from the employer of such person.

This section shall apply mutatis mutandis to any person who contravenes any regulations made under this Act in respect of public cleansing.