Tamil Nadu Pawnbrokers (Amendment) Act, 1993*
| [Tamil Nadu Act No. 1 of 1994] | [10th January, 1994] |
An Act further to amend the Tamil Nadu Pawnbrokers Act, 1943
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tamil Nadu in the Forty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
* Received the assent of the Governor on the 7th January, 1994 and published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, Extraordinary, No. 17, dated January 10, 1994.
1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Pawnbrokers (Amendment) Act, 1993.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint.
2. Amendment of section 1.- In section 1 of tbs Tamil Nadu Pawnbrokers Act, 1943 (Tamil Nadu Act XXIII of 1941) (hereinafter referred ???) sub-section (3), for the Expression "Fort St. George Gazette" the expression "Tamil Nadu Government Gazette" shall be substituted.
3. Amendment of section 3.- In section 3 of the principal Act,-
(1) in the marginal heading, the word "annually" shall be omitted;
(2) sub-section (2) shall be omitted.
4. Amendment of section 4.- In section 4 of the principal Act, for sub-section (4), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-
"(4) Every licence shall be granted in such form and subject to such conditions including-
(a) the condition for deposit of such sum as security for the ??? of the conditions of any such ???
(b) the condition for forfeiture of the whole of part of the sum so deposited for contravention of any condition on which a licence has been granted,
(c) the condition for the replenishment of the sum so forfeited within such time, as may be prescribed and on payment of such fee not exceeding live hundred rupees as the State Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, determine.
(5) Every licence granted under this section shall be valid for a period of one year and may be renewed, from time to time, for a period of three year at a time on payment of a renewal fee which is equal to three times the amount of fee payable under sub-section (4) for the grant of such licence.
5. Amendment of section 7.- (1) Section 7 of the principal Act shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) of that section and in sub-section (1) as so renumbered, after the words "in the prescribed form", the words "which shall be in English and in such language of the locality as may be prescribed shall be inserted;
(2) after sub-section (1) as so renumbered, the following sub-section shall be added, namely.
"(2) Every pawnbroker shall pay to the pawner the entire amount of the principal of the loan mentioned in the pawn-ticket and no amount shall be deducted from the loan towards future interest or on any other account whatsoever.".
6. Amendment of section 10.- In section 10 of the principal Act,-
(1) in sub-section (1), after clause (a), the following clause shall be inserted namely:-
"(aa) regularly record and maintain or cause to be recorded and maintained a cash book in the prescribed form indicating the actual cash balance;";
(2) in sub-section (2), the following shall be added at the end, namely:-
"All such books, accounts and documents and other records and flies shall fee-preserved by the pawnbroker for a period of throe years from the date of redemption of the pledges or the date of disposal of the pledges in public auction, as the case may be:
Provided that all entries made in the pawn-ticket shall be in English and in such language of the locality as may be prescribed.";
(3) after subjection (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-
"(2-A) The cash balance shown in the cash book maintained under ??? (aa) of sub-section (1) shall tally with the entries made in the relevant register and accounts."
7. Amendment of section 10-B.- In section 10-B of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), in clause (a),-
(1) for the expression "A Magistrate of the first class is the ??? or a Presidency Magistral in the Presidency-town", the expression "A Judicial Magistrate of the first class or a Metropolitan Magistrate" shall be substituted;
(2) in the first proviso, for the words "Provided that", the following shall be substituted, namely:-
"Provided that if the Inspector has reason to believe that the delay ??? by obtaining a search warrant will prevent the execution thereof, he may, after recording his reasons in writing, and without a warrant, enter the place and inspect the books, accounts, records, flies, documents, safes, vaults and pledges in such premises and may take to his office for further investigation such books, accounts, records, files and documents as he considers necessary;
Provided further that";
(3) in the last proviso,-
(a) for the words "Provided further that", the words "Provided also that" shall be substituted;
(b) after the words "who issued the warrant", the words "or as the case may be, in the case referred to in the first proviso, in the ??? of the Magistrate who has jurisdiction shall be inserted.
8. Amendment of section 12.- In section 12 of the principal Act, in sub-section (4),-
(1) for clause (a) the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-
"(a) Where a pledge has been sold for more than fee amount of the loan and the interest and prescribed charges due at the time of the sale, the pawnbroker shall, within thirty days after the sale, pay to pawner by money order the surplus after deducting therefrom the deficit, if any, referred to in clause (b), necessary costs and the prescribed charges of the sale. If the surplus has been returned undelivered, the pawnbroker shall pay the amount so returned to the holder of the pawn-ticket on demand made within six months after the sale.";
(2) in clause (b), the words "on such demand" shall be omitted;
(3) after clause (b), the following clauses shall be added, namely:-
"(c) If the surplus amount is not paid and no demand for the same is made within six months after the sale, the pawnbroker shall deposit the amount with the State Government as revenue deposit and shall intimate the fact of such deposit to the licensing authority.
(d) The surplus amount so deposited by the pawnbroker under clause (c) shall be dealt with by the licensing authority in accordance with such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf.".
9. Substitution of section 15.- In section 15 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the words "with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees", the following shall be substituted namely:-
"with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months but ??? than three months:
Provided that the court may, in addition to such imprisonment, impost ??? which may extend to one thousand rupees:
Provided further that the court may, for any adequate and special reasons to, be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a ??? of less than three months but not less than one month.".
10. Insertion of New section 16-A.- After section 16 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
"16-A. Punishment or absconding with pledges.- Any pawnbroker ??? absconds or conceals himself in order to evade the return of any pledge the pawner shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which nay ??? years or with fine or with both.".
11. Amendment of section 18.- In section 18 of the principal Act,-
(1) in sub-section (1), for the words "one hundred rupees", the weeds, "two thousand rupees" shall be substituted;
(2) ill sub-section (2), for the words "ten rupees", the words "fifty rupees" shall be substituted.
12. Substitution of new section for section 19.- For section 19 of the principal Act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:-
"19. Jurisdiction to try offences.- No court inferior to that of a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or a Chief Judicial Magistrate shall try any offence punishable under section 16-A.
19-A. Order to pay compensation.- (1) When imposing a sentence of ??? for an offence under section 16-A, the court may, when passing judgment, order the whole or any part of the fine recovered to be applied-
(a) in defraying the expenses properly incurred in the prosecution;
(b) in the payment to any person of compensation for any loss or injury caused by the offence;
(c) in replacing or, as the case may be, restoring to the envious state the property which has been pledged.
(2) If the fine is imposed in a case which is subject to appeal, no such payment shall be made before the period allowed for presenting the appeal has ???, or, if an appeal be presented, before the decision of the appeal.
(3) An order under this section may also be made by an Appellate Court or by the High Court or Court of Session when exercising, its powers of revision.
(4) At the time of awarding compensation in any subsequent civil suit relating to the same matter, the Court shall take into account any sum ??? or recovered as compensation under this section.".
13. Amendment of section 21.- In section 21 of the principal Act,-
(1) in the first proviso, for the expression "section 7" the expression "sub-section (1) of section 7" shall be substituted;
(2) in the second proviso, for the expression, "clause (a)" the expression "clause (a), clause (aa)" shall be substituted.
14. Amendment of section 22.- In section 22 of the principal Act,-
(1) sub-section (2), after clause (b), the following clause shall by inserted, namely:-
"(bb) the payment of security deposit for the due observance of the terms and conditions of the licence and its forfeiture for the ??? of such farms and conditions of the licence and for the replenishment of the such so forfeited;";
(2) in sub-section (3), for the expression "Fort St. Gazette" the expression "Tamil Nadu Government Gazette" shall be substituted.