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THE KERALA ESSENTIAL ARTICLES CONTROL
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(TEMPORARY POWERS) ACT, 1961
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(Act 3 of 1962)
CoNTENTS
Preamble.
Sections.
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2.
3.
4.
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Short title, ex~ent, co~~pc,emoe,nt a~d dur~ti~.n. Definitions.
Powers to control pro~_uction, supply, distribution, etc., of essential articles. '
Delegation of powers.
Effect of orders inconsistent with other enactmenb. Penalties
Attempt and abetment.
False statements.
Offences by companies.
Cognizance of offences.
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Presumption as to orders.
Burden of proof.
Protection of action taken under Act.
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ACT 3 OF 1962 •
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THE KERALA ESSENTIAL ARTICLES CONTROL,
(TEMPORARY POWERS) ACT 1961
An Act to provide, m the interest of the general public, for the control of th1 productwn, supply and distrzbutzon of, and trade and commerce in, certain articles
P,camble.-WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the control of the production, supply and distnbution of, and trade and commerce in, certain art1cles ;
BE it enacted in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as f'?l!ows!-
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I. Short tztle, extent, commencement and duratzon.-(1) This Act may be called. the Kerala Essential Articles Control (Tempora~y Powers) Act 1961:
* Received the assent of,the President on the lith day of January 1962 and published in the Gazette Extraordinary, dated the 17th January 1962.
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(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala. (3J It shall come into force at once and shall remain in force for a period of five years from the date of the commencement of tlus Act.
(4) Upon the cxp ry of this Act, the provisions of section 4 of T'
the Interpretation and General Clauses Act, 11~5 (Act VII of 1125), . shall apply as if this Act had then been repealed by an Act of the Kerala State Legtslature.
2. Difinitzons.-In this Act, unless the context otherwise re- quires,-
(a) "essential article" means any ar,:ticle (not being an essential commodity as defined in the Essential Commodities Act 1955) which may be declared by the Government by notified order to be an essential article ;
(b) "Notified order" means an order notified in the Gazette ;
(c) "Undertaking" means any undertaking by way of any trade or busmess and includes the occupation of handlmg, loadmg or unloadmg goods m the course of transport.
' 3. Powers to control production, supply, distrzbution, etc., of essential artzcles .-(1) If the Government are of opmion that it is necessary or expedient so to do for maintaining or mcreasing the suppltes of any essential article or for securing their equitable distribution and avail- ability at fair prices, they may, by notified order, provide for regulating or prohibiting the production, supply and distribution thereof and trade and commerce therein. ·
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by sub-section ( 1), an order made thereunder rna y provide- ( a) for regulating by licences, permits or otherwise the pro- duction or manufacture of any essential article ;
(b) for controlling the price at which any essential article may be bought or sold ;
(c) for regulating by licences, permits, or otherwise the storage, distribution, transport, disposal, acquisitiOn, use or consumption of any essential article ,
(d) for prohibiting the withholding from sale of any essential article ordinanly kept for sale ;
(e) for requiring any person holding in stock any essential article to sell the whole or a specified part of the stock to the Go\'ern- ment or to an officer or agent of the Government or to such other per- son or class of persons and in such circumstances as may be specified in the order ;
(f) for regulating or prohibiting any class of commercial or financial transactions relating to any essential article, which, in the opmion of the authority making the order, are, or if unregulated are hkcly to be detrimental to the public inte1 est ;
(g) for collecting any information or statistics with a view to
regulating or prohib1ting any ofth:: aforesaid matter.> ;
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(h) for requiring persons engaged in the production, supply or distribution of, or trade or commerce in, any essential article to maintain and produce for inspect;on such books, accounts and records relating to their busineSl> and to furnish such mformation relating thereto as may be specified in the order ;
(z) for regulating the processing of any essential article; (J ) for exercising over the whole or any pat t of an exbting undertaking, such functions of control and subject to such condttwns, as may be specified in the order;
(k) for any mctdental and supplementary matters includmg in particular the entermg and search of premises, vehicles, vessels and air- craft, the seizm e by person authonsed to make such search of any art- icle in respect of which such person has reason to bcheve that a contraventiOn of the order has been, is bemg or IS about to be com- mitted, the grant or issue of licences, permits or other documents, and the chargmg of fees therefor.
(3) Where any person sells any essential article in compliance with an order made with reference to clause (e) of sub-section (2), there shall be paid to him the price therefor, as heremafter provided:-
(a) where the price can, consistently With the controlled price if any, fixed under this section, be agreed upon, the agreed price ; ·
(b) where no such agreement can be reached, the price calcu- lated with reference to the controlled price, rf any; •
(c) whe1e neither clause (a) nor clause (b) applies, the ptice calculated at the market rate prevatlmg m the locality at the date of sale.
4. Delegatzon of powers.-The Government may, by notified order, direct that the power to make orders shall, in ·relation to such matters and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be speci- fied in the direction, be exercisable also by such officer or authority subordinate to the Government, as may be specified m the direction.
5. Effect of orders mconsistent with other enactments.-Any order made under section 3 shall have effect notwithstanding anythmg inconsistent therewith contained in any enactment other than this Act or m any instrument having effect by vrrtue of any enactment other than this Act.
6. Penallies.-If any person contravenes any order made under section 3,-
(a) he shall be punishable-
(z) in the case of an order made w1th reference to clause (g) or clause (h) ofsub-sectlon (2) of that section, wtth imprisonment for a term which may extend to one )'ear and shall also be hable to fine, and (zi) in the case of any other order, with imprisonment for a term whtch may extend to three years and shall also be hablc to fine:
Provided that if the court is of opinion that a sentence of fine only will meet the ends of justice, it may, for reasons to be recorded, refrain from imposing a sentence of imprisonment ; and
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(b) any property in respect of which the order has been contra- vened or such part thereof as to the court may seem fit shall be forfeited to the Government :
Provided that if the court is of opinion that it is not necessary to direct forfeiture m respect of the whole or, as the case may be, any part of the property, it may, for reasons to be recorded, refrain from doing so.
7. Attempt and abetment.-Any person who attempts to contravene or abets a contravention, of any order made under section 3, shall be deemed to have contravened that order.
8. False statements.-If any person,-
(i) when required by any order made under section 3 to make any statement or furnish any information, makes any statement or furnishes any information which is false in any matenal part1cular and which he knows or has reasonaule cause to believe to be false, or does not believe to be true, or
(ii) makes any such statement as aforesaid in any book, account, record, declaration, return or other document which he is required by any such order to maintain or furnish, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine or with both.
9. Offences by companies.-( 1) If the person COiltravening an order made under sect1on 3 is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was comm1tted, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be hable to be proceede~ against and punished accordingly :
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the contra- vention took place without h1s knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (I), where an offence under this Act has been commttted by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed w1th the consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be hable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "company" means any body-corporate, and includes a firm or other assoc1ation of individuals ; and
(b) "director " in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm
10. Cognizance of offences .-No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this,Act except on a report in writing of the '
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facts constituting such offence made by a person who Is a public servant as defined in section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act 45 of 1860).
11. PrfSumption as to orders.-Where an order purports to have been made and signed by an authority in exercise of any power conferred by or under this Act, a court shall presume that such order was so made by that authonty within the meaning of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Central Act 1 of 1872).
12. Burden of proof.-Where any person is prosecuted for contra- vening any order made under section 3 which prohibits him from doing an Act or being in possession of a thing without lawful authority or without a permit, licence, or other document, the burden of proving that he has such authority, or as the case may be, the requisite permit, licence, or other document shall be on him.
13 Protection of action takm under Act.-(1) No suit, pro~ecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anythmg which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of any order made under section 3.
(2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of any order made under section 3.
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