"Letters of Administration" shall include any letters of administration, whether general or limited, or with a will annexed, and letters ad colligenda bona:

"Letters of Administra

tion."

Next-of-kin" includes a widower or widow of a deceased person, or any other person who, by law and according to the practice of the Courts, would be entitled to letters of administration in preference to a creditor or legatee of the deceased:

"Next-of-kin."

"Officer."

"Soldier."

"Assets".

"Officer'means a commissioned officer of Her Majesty's Army, or of Her Majesty's Indian Army:

"Soldier" means a soldier of Her Majesty's Army, or European soldier of Her Majesty's Indian Army, including a warrant and a non-commissioned officer:

"Assets" includes immoveable as well as moveable property.

NOTE. In exercise of the power conferred by Section 3 of Act II of 1874 (the Adminis trator-General's Act), the Governor General in Council is pleased to direct that the dominions of Princes and States in India in alliance with Her Majesty shall, for the purposes of the said Act, be included in the Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, respectively, as

In exercise of the powers Foreign Department No. tification No. 101-J., dated the 19th July 1878 Her Majesty in those dominions, be deemed to be included in the Presidency of Bengal. (Government of India No. 510 E., dated 2nd March 1887, Gazette of India of 5th idem).

confered by Section 3 of the Admininistrator-General's Act (II of 1874), and in continuation of the Notification cited in the margin, the Governor-General in Council is pleased to direct that the dominions of His Highness the Khan of Kalat shall, for the purposes of the said Act, as regards British subjects of

PART II.

OF THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATOR-GENERAL.

Designation of the Administrators-General in the three Presidencies.

Appointment, suspension and removal of Administra

tors-General.

The said Administrators-General shall be called respectively the Administrator-General of Bengal, the Administrator-General of Madras, and the Administrator-General of Bombay.

Qualification of future and continuance of exist. ing incumbents.

The Administrator-General of Bengal, by the Governor-General in Council:

Administrator-General not an officer of High Court.

4. In each of the Presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay, there shall be an Administrator-General.

the Administrator-General of Madras, by the Government of Fort St. George; and

8. All probates

Probates, &c., granted by Supreme Courts to Ecclesiastical Registrars to have same effect as if granted to Administrator-General.

the Administrator-General of Bombay, by the Government of Bombay. 6. Any person hereafter appointed to the office of AdministratorGeneral or officiating Administrator-General of any of the said Presidencies, shall be a member of the Bar of England or Ireland, or of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland; but any person now holding such office shall continue to hold the same, subject to the provisions contained in the other sections of this Act.

5. Such officers shall be appointed and may be suspended or removed by the authorities hereinafter mentioned respectively; that is to say :

Administrator-General

not to hold any other office without sanction of Govern

ment.

7. The Administrator-General shall not be deemed in that capacity to be an officer of any High Court.

and letters of administration granted by any of the late Supreme Courts of Judicature to the Ecclesiastical Registrar of such Court in virtue of his office, shall have the same effect in all respects as to any act hereafter to be done or required to be done under this Act, as if they had been granted to the Administrator-General.

9. No person

No Administrator-General

now holding the office of

to be Ecclesiastical Regis. Administrator-General, or hereafter to be appointed to such office in any of the said Presidencies, shall hold the office of Ecclesiastical Registrar; nor, with

trar.

out the express sanction of Government, any other office together with that of Administrator-General : Provided that the Administrator-General of the Presidency may be appointed Official Trustee under Act No. XVII of 1864 (to constitute an office of Official Trustee) :

Provided also, that the Administrator-General of Bengal may hold the office of Receiver of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William. 10. It is hereby declared to be an offence punishable in manner provided Penalty for trading. by section one hundred and sixty-eight of the Indian Penal Code, for any Adminstrator-General to trade Exception. or traffic for his own benefit, or for the benefit of any other person, unless so far as appears to him to be expedient for the due management of the estates which come into his charge under the provisions of this Act, and for the sole benefit of the several persons entitled to the proceeds of such estates respectively; but this exception is not to be construed to alter the civil liabilities of the Administrator-General as trustee of such estates.

11. Unless the Governor-General in Council, or the Government, with Security to be given by the sanction of the Governor-General in Council, Administrator-General. otherwise orders, every Administrator-General hereafter to be appointed shall give security to the Secretary of State for India for the due execution of his office, for one lakh of rupees by his own bond, and for another lakh of rupees, or for separate sums amounting together to one lakh of rupees, by the deposit of Government securities, or by the joint and several bond or bonds of two or more securities to be approved by Government, or partly by such deposit and partly by such bond or bonds. Provided that every Administrator-General may, with the consent of Substitution of security Government, substitute either of the said two lastmentioned kinds of security for another previously given for such last-mentioned lakh or any part of it:

or sureties.

and every Administrator-General may, with the consent of Government, and shall from time to time when required by Government so to do, cause fresh sureties to be substituted for any of those previously bound, so far as the security relates to the due execution of his office for the time then to

come.

12. No Administrator-General shall be required by any Court to enter No security nor oath to into any administration bond, or to give other secube required from Admin- rity to the Court, on the grant of any letters of administration to him in virtue of his office.

istrator-General.

No Administrator-General shall be required to verify, otherwise than by signature, any petition presented by him under the provisions of this Act, and if the facts stated in any such petition are not within the Administrator-General's own personal knowledge, the petition may be subscribed and verified by any person competent to make the verification.

Whoever makes a statement in any such petition which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, shall be deemed to have intentionally given false evidence in a stage of a judicial proceeding.

13. Whenever any person holding the office of Administrator-General obtains leave of absence, the Government may apAppointment of officiating Administrator-General. point some person to officiate as AdministratorGeneral, and such person, while so officiating, shall be subject to the same conditions and be bound by the same responsibilities as the Administrator-General by any law for the time being in force, and he shall be deemed to be Administrator-General for the time being under this Act, and shall be liable to give security under section eleven in like manner as if he had been appointed Administrator-General.

PART III.

OF THE RIGHTS, POWERS, AND DUTIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR-GENERAL. (a). Grant of Letters of Administration and Probate to the AdministratorGeneral.

General, High Court at Presidency town to be deemed a Court of competent jurisdiction within meaning of Act X of 1865, sections 187 and 190.

14. So far as regards the Administrator-General of any of the PresidenAs regards Administrator- cies of Bengal, Madras,and Bombay, the High Court at the Presidency town shall be deemed to be a Court of competent jurisdiction within the meaning of sections one hundred and eighty-seven and one handred and ninety of the Indian Succession Act, 1865, wheresoever within the Presidency the property to be comprised in the probate or letters of administration may be situate. 15. Any letters of administration, or letters ad colligenda bona, hereafter granted by the High Court of Judicature at any Presidency town, shall be granted to the Administrator-General of the Presidency, unless they are granted to the next-of-kin of the deceased.

Administrator-General entitled to letters of administration, unless granted to next-of kin.

Administrator-General

The Administrator-General of the Presidency shall be deemed by all the Courts in the Presidency to have a right to letters of administration in preference to that of any person merely on the ground of his being a creditor, a legatee other than an universal legatee, or a friend of the deceased.

entitled in preference to creditor, non-universal

legatee or friend.

When administration of estates of persons other than Hindus, &c., is to be by Administrator General.

16. If any person, not being a Hindu, Muhammadan, Parsi, or Buddhist, or a person exempted under the Indian Succession Act, 1865, section three hundred and thirty-two, from the operation of that Act, shall have died, whether within any of the said Presidencies or not, and whether before or after the passing of this Act, and shall have left assets exceeding at the date of the death or within one year thereafter the value of one thousand rupees within any of the said Presidencies,

and if no person to whom the Court would have jurisdiction to commit administration of such assets has, within one month after his death, applied in such Presidency for probate of his will, or for any letters of administration of his estate,

the Administrator-General of the Presidency in which such assets are, shall, within a reasonable time after he has had notice of the death of such person, and of his having left such assets as aforesaid, take such proceedings as may be necessary to obtain from the High Court at the Presidency town, letters of administration to the effects of such person, either generally or with a will annexed, as the case may require.

Whenever the Administrator-General of the Presidency takes proceedings under this section, it shall be sufficient if the petition required by section two hundred and forty-six of the Indian Succession Act, 1865, states

(a) the time and place of the deceased's death to the best of the petitioner's knowledge or belief,

(b) that the deceased left some property within the Presidency as hereinbefore defined, and

(c) the amount or value of assets which are likely to come into the petitioner's hands.

17. Whenever any person, whether a Hindu, Muhammadan, Parsi, or Power to direct Adminis- Buddhist, or not, shall have died leaving assets trator-General to apply for within the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court at the Presidency town, it shall be lawful for the Court,

administration.

upon the application of any person interested in such assets, or in the due administration thereof, either as a creditor, legatee, next-of-kin, or otherwise, or

upon the application of a friend of any minor so interested, or

upon the application of the Administrator-General,

if the applicant satisfies the Court that danger is to be apprehended of the misappropriation, deterioration, or waste of such assets unless letters of administration of the effects of such person are granted,

to make an order upon such terms as to indemnifying the Administrator-General against costs and other expenses as the Court thinks fit, directing the Administrator-General to apply for letters of administration of the effects of such person :

Administration to effects

of Hindus, &c, when grant

ed under this section.

Provided that, in the case of an application being made under this section for letters of administration to the effects of a deceased Hindu, Muhammadan, Parsi, or Buddhist, or person exempted as aforesaid, the Court may of administration to any person, if it be satisfied that such grant is unnecessary for the protection of the assets, and in such case the Court shall make

such order as to the costs of the application as it thinks just.

refuse to grant letters

Costs of unnecessary ap plication.

Power to enjoin Adminis trator General to collect and hold assets until right of succession or administration is ascertained.

18. Whenever any person, whether a Hindu, Muhammadan, Parsi, or Buddhist, or not, shall have died, whether before or after the passing of this Act, leaving assets within the local limits of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of any of the said High Courts, and such Court is satisfied that danger is to be apprehended of the misappropriation, deterioration, or waste of such property, before it can be ascertained who may be legally entitled to the succession to such property, or whether the Administrator-General is entitled to letters of administration to such deceased person,

the Court may authorize and enjoin the Administrator-General to collect and take possession of such property, and to hold or deposit or invest the same according to the orders and directions of the Court, and in default of any such orders or directions, according to the provisions of this Act so far as the same are applicable to such property;

able in such case.

and the Administrator-General shall be entitled to a commission of one Rate of commission pay- per centum upon the amount of all moveable assets collected or received by him in pursuance of such order, and also to reimburse himself for all payments made by him in respect of the assets which a private administrator of such assets might lawfully have made;