#THE TERRITORIAL ARMY ACT, 1948 
___________ 

##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
__________ 

SECTIONS 

1.  Short title, extent and application. 
2.  Definitions. 
3.  Constitution of the Territorial Army. 
4.  Personnel of the Territorial Army. 
5.  Officers. 
6.  Persons eligible for enrolment. 
6A. Liability of certain persons for compulsory service in the Territorial Army. 
7.  Liability for military service. 
7A. Reinstatement in civil employ of persons required to perform military service. 
7B. Preservation of certain rights of persons required to perform military service. 
8.  Discharge. 
9.  Application of the Army Act, 1950. 
10.  Summary trial and punishment. 
10A. Punishment for failure to lodge forms duly filled up, etc. 
11.  Jurisdiction to try offences. 
12.  Presumption as to certain documents. 
13.  Persons subject to this Act to be deemed part of regular forces for certain purposes. 
14.  Power to make rules. 
15.  [Repealed.] 



#THE TERRITORIAL ARMY ACT, 1948 

##ACT NO. 56 OF 1948

[10th September, 1948.] 

An Act to provide for the constitution of a Territorial Army. 

  WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the constitution of Territorial Army; 

  It is hereby enacted as follows:— 

1. **Short title, extent and application.**—(1) This Act may be called the Territorial Army Act, 1948. 

(2) It extends to the whole of India and applies to all classes of persons in the Territorial Army, 
wherever they may be. 

2. **Definitions.**—In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,— 

  (a) “enrolled” means enrolled in the Territorial Army under the provisions of this Act; 

  (b) “officer” means an officer of any of the two classes specified in section 5; 

  (c) “non-commissioned  officer”  means  a  person  holding  a  non-commissioned  rank  in  the 
Territorial Army, and includes an acting non-commissioned officer; 

  (d) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 

  (dd) “public utility service” means any undertaking which supplies power, light, gas or water to 
the  public,  or  carries  on  a  public  transport,  or  maintains  any  system  of  public  conservancy  or 
sanitation and which is declared, by notification in the Official Gazette, by the Central Government to 
be a public utility service to which this Act applies: 

  Provided  that  no  such  modification  shall  be  issued  unless  the  Central  Government  is  satisfied 
that,  having  regard  to  the  needs  of  the  Territorial  Army,  the  persons  employed  in  any  such  public 
utility  service  should,  in  the  public  interest,  be  made  compulsorily  liable  for  service  in  that  Army 
under this Act; 

  (e) the  expression Regular Army means  officers  and  other  ranks  who,  by  their  commission, 
terms of enrolment or otherwise, are liable to render continuously for a term military service under 
the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950); and 

  (f) all words and expressions used herein and defined in the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), and 
not  hereinbefore  defined,  shall  be  deemed  to  have  the  meanings  respectively  attributed  to  them  by 
that Act. 

3. **Constitution of the Territorial Army.**—(1) There shall be raised and maintained in the manner 
hereinafter provided an army to be designated the Territorial Army. 

(2) The Central Government may constitute such number of units of the Territorial Army as it thinks 
fit and may disband or reconstitute any unit so constituted. 

4. **Personnel of the Territorial Army.**—There  shall  be  the  following  classes  of  persons  in  the 
Territorial Army, namely,— 

  (a) officers; and 

  (b) enrolled persons. 

5. **Officers.**—Officers in the Territorial Army shall be of the two following classes, namely,— 

  (a) officers  holding  commissions  in  the  Territorial  Army  granted  by  the  President  with 
designations of rank corresponding to those of Indian commissioned officers of the Regular Army; 
and 

  (b) junior  commissioned  officers  holding  commissions  in  the  Territorial  Army  granted  by  the 
President with designations of rank corresponding to those of junior commissioned officers of the 
Regular Army. 

6. **Persons eligible for enrolment.**— Any person who is a citizen of India may offer himself for 
enrolment in the Territorial Army, and may, if he satisfies the prescribed conditions, be enrolled for such 
period and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed. 

6A. **Liability of certain persons for compulsory service in the Territorial Army.**—(1) Without 
prejudice to the provision contained in section 6, every person  employed under the Government or in a 
public utility service who has attained the age of twenty years but has not completed the age of forty years 
shall, subject to the other provisions contained in this section and subject to such rules as may be made in 
this behalf, be liable, when so required to do, to perform service in the Territorial Army. 

(2) Where it appears to the prescribed authority that, having regard to the strength of the Territorial 
Army  or  of  any  unit  thereof  in  any  area  or  place  or,  having  regard  to  the  exigencies  of  service  in  the 
Territorial  Army,  it  is  necessary  that  persons  compulsorily  liable  to  perform  service  in  the  Territorial 
Army  under  sub-section  (1)  should  be  called  upon  for  such  service,  the  prescribed  authority  may  call 
upon  such  number  of  persons  as  he  thinks  fit  for  the  purpose  of  performing  service  in  the  Territorial 
Army. 

(3) In requisitioning the services of any persons under sub-section (2), the prescribed authority shall 
have regard to the age, physical fitness, qualifications and experience of the persons to be called upon for 
service and the nature of the work previously performed by them while employed under the Government 
or in the public utility service, and the work to be performed by them in the Territorial Army. 

(4) Every person liable to perform service under sub-section (1) shall, if so required by the prescribed 
authority,  be  bound  to  fill  up  such  norms  as  may  be  prescribed  and  sign  and  lodge  them  with  the 
prescribed authority within such time as may be specified in the requisition. 

(5) The prescribed authority may require any person incharge of the management of a public utility 
service  to  furnish  within  such  time  as  may  be  specified  in  the  requisition  such  particulars  as  may  be 
prescribed  with  respect  to  persons  employed  under  him,  who  may  be  liable  to  perform  service  under 
sub-section (1). 

(6)  Any  person  whose  services  are  requisitioned  under  this  section  may  be  required  to  join  the 
Territorial Army as an officer or as an enrolled person according to  the rules made in this behalf by the 
Central Government, and where any person has so jointed the Territorial Army, he shall be entitled to the 
same rights and privileges and be subject to the same liabilities as an officer or enrolled person under the 
provisions of this Act. 

*Explanation.*—For  the  purposes  of  this  section,  the  expression  “person  employed  under  the 
Government or in a public utility service” shall not include— 

  (a) a woman; 

  (b) a member of the Regular Army, the Navy or the Air Force or a member of any Reserve Force; 

  (c) a person who is not a citizen of India; 

  (d) a person employed under the Government in any country or place outside India for so long as 
he is so employed; and 

  (e) any  other  persons  as  may  be  exempted  from  the  operation  of  this  Act  by  the  Central 
Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, on the ground that, having regard to the nature of 
the service performed by such persons or to the exigencies of the service in which they are employed, 
it is, in the opinion of the Central Government, expedient in the public interest that they should not be 
liable to perform service under this Act. 

7. **Liability for military service.**—(1)  No  officer  or  enrolled  person  shall  be  required  to  perform 
military  service  beyond  the  limits  of  India  save  under  a  general  or  special  order  of  the  Central 
Government. 

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), every officer or enrolled person shall, subject to such 
conditions as may be prescribed, be bound to serve in any unit of the Territorial Army to which he is for 
the time being attached, and shall be subject to all the rules made under this Act in relation to such unit. 

(3) Every officer or enrolled person shall be liable to perform military service,— 

  (a) when called  out in the prescribed  manner to act  in  support  of the civil  power  or to provide 
essential guards; 

  (b) when embodied in the prescribed manner for training or for supporting or supplementing the 
regular forces; and 

  (c) when  attached  to  any  regular  forces  either  at  his  own  request  or  under  the  prescribed 
conditions. 

7A. **Reinstatement in civil employ of persons required to perform military service.**—(1) It shall 
be  the  duty  of  every  employer  by  whom  a  person  who  is  required  to  perform  military  service  under 
section 7 was employed to reinstate him in his employment on the termination of the military service in 
an  occupation  and  under  conditions  not  less  favourable  to  him  than  those  which  would  have  been 
applicable to him had his employment not been so interrupted: 

  Provided that if the employer refuses to reinstate such person or denies his liability to reinstate such 
person,  or  if  for  any  reason  reinstatement  of  such  person  is  represented  by  the  employer  to  be 
impracticable, either party may refer the matter to the prescribed authority and that authority shall, after 
considering all matters which may be put before it and after making such further inquiry into the matter as 
may be prescribed, pass an order— 

  (a) exempting the employer from the provisions of this section, or 

  (b) requiring him to re-employ such person on such terms as he thinks suitable, or 

  (c) requiring  him  to  pay  to  such  person  by  way  of  compensation  for  failure  or  inability  to 
re-employ a sum not exceeding an amount equal to six months' remuneration at the rate at which his 
last remuneration was payable to him by the employer. 

(2) If  any  employer  fails  to  obey  the  order  of any  such  authority  as  is  referred to  in  the  proviso to 
sub-section (1), he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, and the court 
by  which  an  employer  is  convicted  under  this  section  shall  order  him  (if  he  has  not  already  been  so 
required by the said authority) to pay to the person whom he has failed to re-employ a sum equal to six 
months' remuneration at the rate at which his last remuneration was payable to him by the employer, and 
any amount so required to be paid either by the said authority or by the court shall be recoverable as if it 
were a fine imposed by such court. 

(3) In any proceeding under this section it shall be a defence for an employer to prove that the person 
formerly employed did not apply to the employer for reinstatement within a period of two months from 
the termination of his military service. 

(4) The duty imposed by sub-section (1) upon an employer to reinstate in his employment a person 
such as is described in that sub-section shall attach to an employer who, before such person is actually 
required to perform military service under section 7, terminates his employment in circumstances such as 
to  indicate  an  intention  to  evade  the  duty  imposed  by  that  sub-section,  and  such  intention  shall  be 
presumed until the contrary is proved if the termination takes place after the issue of orders requiring him 
to perform military service under this Act. 

7B. **Preservation of certain rights of persons required to perform military service.**—When any 
person required to perform  military  service  under  section  7  has  any rights  under  any  provident  fund or 
superannuation  fund  or  other  scheme  for  the  benefit  of  employees  maintained  in  connection  with  the 
employment he relinquishes, he shall continue, so long as he is engaged in military service and if he is 
reinstated,  until  such  reinstatement  under the  provisions  of this  Act,  to  have  in respect  of  such  fund  or 
scheme such rights as may be prescribed. 

8. **Discharge.**—Every person enrolled under this Act shall be entitled to receive his discharge from 
the Territorial Army on the expiration of the period for which he was enrolled and any such person may, 
prior to the expiration of that period, be discharged from the said army by such authority and subject to 
such conditions as may be prescribed: 

  Provided  that  no  enrolled  person  who  is  for  the  time  being  engaged  in  military  service  under  the 
provisions of this Act, shall be entitled to receive his discharge before the termination of such service. 

9. **Application of the Army Act, 1950.**—(1)  Every  officer,  when  doing  duty  as  such  officer,  and 
every enrolled person when called out or embodied or attached to the Regular Army, shall, subject to 
such adaptations and modifications as may be made therein by the Central Government by notification in 
the Official Gazette, be subject to the provisions of the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), and the rules or 
regulations  made  thereunder  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  if  such  officer  or  enrolled 
person held the same rank in the Regular Army as he holds for the time being in the Territorial Army. 

(2) When an offence punishable under the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), has been committed by 
any person whilst subject to that Act under the provisions of sub-section (1) such person may be taken 
into and kept in military custody and tried and punished for such offence as aforesaid in like manner as he 
might have been taken into and kept in military custody, tried and punished if he had continued to be so 
subject. 

10. **Summary trial and punishment.**—In  addition  to,  or  in  substitution  for,  any  punishment  or 
punishments to which he may be liable under the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), any enrolled person 
may  be  punished  either  by  a  criminal  Court  or  summarily  by  order  of  the  prescribed  authority  for  any 
offence under that Act or for the contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rules made 
thereunder  with  fine  which  may  extend  to  one  hundred  rupees  to  be  recovered  in  such  manner  and  by 
such authority as may be prescribed: 

  Provided that no fine shall be summarily inflicted by order of the prescribed authority in any case in 
which the accused claims to be tried by a criminal Court. 

10A. **Punishment for failure to lodge forms duly filled up, etc.**—If any person fails without 
sufficient cause— 

  (a) to comply with any requisition under sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) of section 6A, or 

  (b) to  report  himself  for  service  when  so  required  to  do  by  the  prescribed  authority  under 
sub-section (2) of that section, or 

  (c) to submit himself to medical or other examination when so called upon to do by the prescribed 
authority under rules made under this Act. 

he  shall  be  punishable  with  imprisonment  which  may  extend  to  three  months,  or  with  fine  which  may 
extend to two hundred rupees, or with both. 

11. **Jurisdiction to try offences.**—No  Court  inferior  to  that  of  a  Presidency  Magistrate  or  a 
Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence made punishable by or under this Act. 

12. **Presumption as to certain documents.**—Where  an  enrolled  person  is  required  by  or  in 
pursuance of any rule made under this Act to attend at any place, a certificate purporting to be signed by 
the prescribed officer stating that the person so required to attend failed to do so in accordance with such 
requirement  shall,  without  proof  of  the  signature  or  appointment  of  such  officer,  be  evidence  of  the 
matters stated therein. 

13. **Persons subject to this Act to be deemed part of regular forces for certain purposes.**—For 
the  purposes  of  sections  128,  130  and  131  of  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure,  1898  (5  of  1898),  all 
officers, non-commissioned officers and other enrolled persons who have been attached to a unit shall be 
deemed to be officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers for respectively of the Regular Army. 

14. **Power to make rules.**—(1) The Central Government may make rules to carry out the purposes of 
this Act. 

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may— 

  (a) prescribe  the  form  under  sub-section  (4)  of  section  6A,  the  particulars  that  should  be 
furnished therein and which, and the period within which, the form should be lodged; 

  (aa) prescribe the procedure for requiring persons liable for compulsory service in the Territorial 
Army  to  be  medically  or  otherwise  examined  with  a  view  to  determining  whether  they  satisfy  the 
conditions imposed under this Act; 

  (aaa) prescribe  the  manner  in  which,  and  the  period  for  which  and  the  conditions  subject  to 
which  any  person  may  be  enrolled  under  this  Act; or may be  required  to  perform  compulsory 
service is the territorial Army 

  (b) prescribe  the  manner  in  which  and  the  conditions  subject  to  which  officers  and  enrolled 
persons may be called out for service, or embodied for training or for supporting or for supplementing 
the Regular Army or attached to the Regular Army; 

  (c) prescribe  preliminary  and  periodical  military  training,  compulsory  and  voluntary,  for  any 
enrolled person and provide for the embodiment of any unit for that purpose; 

  (d) define  the  manner  in  which  and  the  conditions  under  which  any  enrolled  person  may  be 
excused from training ; 

  (dd) specify the authority for the purpose of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 7A and the 
manner in which any inquiry may be held by him; 

  (ddd) define the rights under section 7B; 

  (e) prescribe the authorities by which and the conditions subject to which enrolled persons may 
be discharged under section 8; 

  (f) prescribe  the  authorities  by  which  offences  under  this  Act  may  be  punished  and  the  fine 
inflicted may be recovered; 

  (g) prescribe the officers by whom certificates may be signed under section 12; 

  (h) generally provide for any other matter which under this Act is to be or may be prescribed. 

[^1][(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each 
House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in 
one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately 
following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification 
in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only 
such  modified  form  or  be of  no  effect,  as  the  case  may  be; so,  however, that  any  such  modification  or 
annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.] 

15. *[Repeal of Act XLVIII of 1920.] Rep. by the Repealing and Amending Act,*  1950  (35  of  1950), 
s. 2 *and the Schedule.*





[^1]. Ins. by Act 53 of 1980, s. 2. 