Explosives Act, 1875

Inspection of wharf, carriage boat, &c. with explosives in transitu.

75. Any of the following officers, namely, any Government inspector under this Act, any chief officer of police, and any superior officer appointed for the purposes of this Act where the justices in petty sessions are the local authority, by the court of quarter sessions to which such justices belong, and in the case of any other local authority by the local authority itself, may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act with respect to the conveyance, loading, unloading, and importation of an explosive are complied with, enter, inspect, and examine at any time, and as well on Sundays as on other days, the wharf, carriage, ship, or boat of any carrier or other person who conveys goods for hire, or of the occupier of any factory, magazine, or store, or of the importer of any explosive, on or in which wharf, carriage, ship, or boat he has reasonable cause to suppose an explosive to be for the purpose of or in course of conveyance, but so as not to unnecessarily obstruct the work or business of any such carrier, person, occupier, or importer.

Any such officer, if he find any offence being committed under this Act in any such wharf, carriage, ship, or boat, or on any public wharf, may seize and detain or remove the said carriage, ship, or boat, or the explosive, in such manner and with such precautions as appear to him to be necessary to remove any danger to the public, and may seize and detain the said explosive, as if it were liable to forfeiture.

Any officer above mentioned in this section, and any officer of police, or officer of the local authority who has reasonable cause to suppose that any offence against this Act is being committed in respect of any carriage (not being on a railway) or any boat conveying, loading, or unloading any explosive, and that the case is one of emergency, and that the delay in obtaining a warrant will be likely to endanger life, may stop, and enter, inspect, and examine, such carriage or boat, and by detention or removal thereof or otherwise take such precautions as may be reasonably necessary for removing such danger, in like manner as if such explosive were liable to forfeiture.

Every officer shall for the purpose of this section have the same powers and be in the same position as if he were authorised by a search warrant granted under this Act, and any person failing to admit or obstructing such officer shall be liable to the same penalty.