Whoever, being a public servant and having the custody of any State prisoner or prisoner of war, voluntarily allows such prisoner to escape from any place in which such prisoner is confined, shall be punished with *[imprisonment for life], or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
*Subs. by Act 26 of 1955, see 117 and Sch., for "transportation for life" (w.e.f. 1956).