12. Power to prohibit payment of currency received in contravention of the Act
Where the Central Government is satisfied, after making such enquiry as it may deem fit, that any
person has in his custody or control any article or currency, whether Indian or foreign, which has been
accepted by such person in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, it may, by order in
writing, prohibit such person from paying, delivering, transferring or otherwise dealing with, in any
manner whatsoever, such article or currency save in accordance with the written orders of the Central
Government and a copy of such order shall be served upon the person so prohibited in the prescribed
manner, and thereupon the provisions of sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of section 7 of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), shall, so far as may be, apply to, or in relation to, such
article or currency and references in the said sub-sections to moneys, securities or credits shall be
construed as references to such article or currency.
13. Recipients of foreign contribution to maintain accounts, etc.
Every association, referred to in section 6, shall maintain, in such form and in such manner as may be
prescribed,-
(a) an account of any foreign contribution received by it, and
(b) a record as to the manner in which such contribution has been utilised by it.
14. Inspection of accounts or records
If the Central Government has, for any reason, to be recorded in writing, any ground to suspect that
any provision of this Act has been, or is being, contravened by-
(a) any political party, or
(b) any person, or
(c) any organisation, or
(d) any association,
it may, by general or special order, authorise such gazetted officer, holding a 6[Group A post], as it
may think fit (hereinafter referred to as the authorised officer), to inspect any account or record
maintained by such political party, person, organisation or association, as the case may be, and
thereupon every such authorised official shall have the right to enter in or upon any premises at any
reasonable hour, before sunset and after sunrise, for the purpose of inspecting the said account or
record :
PROVIDED that no gazetted officer shall be authorised to inspect the account or record maintained by
a political party, unless he has been holding a 6[Group A post] in connection with the affairs of the
Union or a State, for not less than ten years.
15. Seizure of accounts or records
If, after inspection of an account or record referred to in section 14, the authorised officer has any
reasonable cause to believe that any provision of this Act or of any other law relating to foreign
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exchange has been, or is being, contravened, he may seize such account or record and produce the
same before the court in which any proceeding is brought for such contravention:
PROVIDED that the authorised officer shall return such account or record to the person from whom it
was seized if no proceeding is brought within six months from the date of such seizure for the
contravention disclosed by such account or record.
1
[15A. Audit of accounts
Where any organisation or association fails to furnish any returns under this Act within the time
specified therefor or the returns so furnished are not in accordance with law or if, after inspection of
such returns, the Central Government has any reasonable cause to believe that any provision of this
Act has been, or is being, contravened, that government may, by general or special order, authorise
such gazetted officer, holding a Group A post, as it may think fit, to audit any books of account kept or
maintained by such organisation or association, as the case may be, and thereupon every such officer
shall have the right to enter in or upon any premises at any reasonable hour, before sunset and after
sunrise, for the purpose of auditing the said books of account:
PROVIDED that any information obtained from such audit shall be kept confidential and shall not be
disclosed except for the purposes of this Act.]
16. Seizure of article or currency received in contravention of the Act
If any gazetted officer, authorised in this behalf by the Central Government, by general or special
order, has any reason to believe that any person has in his possession or control any article
exceeding rupees one thousand in value, or currency, whether Indian or foreign, in relation to which
any provision of this Act has been, or is being, contravened, he may seize such article or currency.
17. Seizure to be made in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
Every seizure made under this Act shall be made in accordance with the provision of section 100 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
18. Confiscation of article or currency obtained in contravention of the Act
Any article or currency which is seized under section 16 shall be liable to confiscation if such article or
currency has been adjudged under section 19 to have been received or obtained in contravention of
this Act.
19. Adjudication of confiscation
Any confiscation referred to in section 18 may be adjudged-
(a) without limits, by the Court of Session within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the
seizure was made; and
(b) subject to such limits as may be prescribed, by such officer not below the rank of an
Assistant Sessions Judge, as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, specify in this behalf.
20. Opportunity to be given before adjudication of confiscation
No order of adjudication of confiscation shall be made unless a reasonable opportunity of making a
representation against such confiscation has been given to the person from whom any article or
currency has been seized.
21. Appeal
(1) Any person aggrieved by any order made under section 19 may prefer an appeal-
(a) where the order has been made by the Court of Session, to the High Court to which such
court is subordinate; or
(b) where the order has been made by any officer specified under clause (b) of section 19, to
the Court of Session within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such order of adjudication of
confiscation was made,
within one month from the date of communication to such person of the order:
PROVIDED that the appellate court may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient
cause from preferring the appeal within the said period of one month, allow such appeal to be
preferred within a further period of one month, but not thereafter.
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(2) Any organisation referred to in section 5, or any person or association referred to in section 9 or
section 10,aggrieved by an order made in pursuance of the Explanation to sub-section (1) of section 5
or by an order of the Central Government refusing to give permission, or by any order made by the
Central Government, under section 5 or section 9 or section 10, as the case may be, may within sixty
days from the date of such order prefer an appeal against such order to the High Court within the local
limits of whose jurisdiction the appellant ordinarily resides or carries on business or personally works
for gain, or, where the appellant is an organisation or association, the principal office of such
organisation or association is located.
(3) Every appeal preferred under this section shall be deemed to be an appeal from an original decree
and the provisions of Order XLI of the First Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908),
shall, as far as may be, apply thereto as they apply to an appeal from an original decree.
22. Penalty for article or currency obtained in contravention of section 12
If any person, on whom any prohibitory order has been served under section 12, pays, delivers,
transfers or otherwise deals with, in any manner whatsoever, any article or currency, whether Indian
or foreign, in contravention of such prohibitory order, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both; and notwithstanding anything
contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(2 of 1974), the court trying such contravention
may also impose on the person convicted and additional fine equivalent to the market value of the
article or the amount of the currency in respect of which the prohibitory order has been contravened
by him or such part thereof as the court may deem fit.
23. Punishment for the contravention of any provision of the Act
(1) Whoever accepts, or assists any person, political party or organisation in accepting any foreign
contribution or any currency from a foreign source, in contravention of any provision of this Act or any
rule made thereunder, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years,
or with fine, or with both.
(2) Whoever accepts any foreign hospitality in contravention of any provision of this Act or any rule
made thereunder, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or
with fine, or with both.
24. Power to impose additional fine where article or currency is not available for confiscation
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), the court
trying a person, who, in relation to any article or currency, whether Indian or foreign, does or omits to
do any act which act or omission would render such article or currency liable to confiscation under this
Act, may, in the event of the conviction of such person for the act or omission aforesaid, impose on
such person a fine not exceeding five times the value of the article or currency or one thousand
rupees, whichever is more, if such article or currency is not available for confiscation, and the fine so
imposed shall be in addition to any other fine which may be imposed on such person under this Act.
25. Penalty for offences where no separate punishment has been provided
Whoever fails to comply with any provision of this Act for which no separate penalty has been
provided in this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or
with fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, or with both.
1
[25A. Prohibition of acceptance of foreign contribution
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, whoever, having been convicted of any offence under
sub-section (1) of section 23 or section 25, insofar as such offence relates to the acceptance or
utilisation of foreign contribution, is again convicted of such offence shall not accept any foreign
contribution for a period of three years from the date of the subsequent conviction.]
26. Offences by companies
(1) Where an offence under this Act or any rule made thereunder has been committed by a company,
every person who, at the time the offence was, committed, 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 offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly:
PROVIDED that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render such person liable to any
punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had
exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act or any rule
made thereunder has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been
committed with 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 liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a firm, society, trade union or other
association of individuals; and
(b) "director", in relation to a firm, society, trade union or other association of individuals,
means a partner in the firm or a member of the governing body of such society, trade union or
other association of individuals.
27. Bar to the prosecution of offences under the Act
No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act, except with the previous sanction of the
Central Government or any officer authorised by that Government in this behalf.
28. Investigation into cases under the Act
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), any offence
punishable under this Act may also be investigated into by such authority as the Central Government
may specify in this behalf and the authority so specified shall have all the powers which an officer-incharge of a police station has while making an investigation into a cognizable offence.
29. Protection of action taken in good faith
No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Central Government in respect of any loss or
damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done
in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
30. Power to make rules
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out
the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely,-
(a) the time within which, and the manner in which, intimation is to be given by an association
referred to in section 6, with regard to the foreign contributions received by it;
(b) the limits up to which receipt of scholarship, stipends or payments of a like nature need
not be intimated to the Central Government;
(c) the time within which, and the manner in which, intimation is to be given by persons
receiving any scholarship, stipend or any payment of a like nature from a foreign source;
(d) the time within which, and the manner in which a candidate for election should give
intimation as to the amount of foreign contribution received by him at any time within one
hundred and eighty days from the date when he became such candidate;
(e) the form and manner in which an application shall be made for obtaining prior permission
of the Central Government to receive foreign contribution or foreign hospitality;
(f) the manner of service of the prohibitory order made under section 12;
(g) the form and manner in which account or record referred to in section 13 shall be
maintained;
(h) the limits up to which an officer, not below the rank of an Assistant Sessions Judge, may
make adjudication of confiscation;
(i) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed.
(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this Act 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
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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 in 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.
31. Power to exempt
If the Central Government is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the interests of the general
public so to do, it may, by order and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order,
exempt any association (not being a political party), organisation or any individual (not being a
candidate for election) from the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act and may, as often
as may be necessary, revoke or modify such order.
32. Act not to apply to government transactions
Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to any transaction between the Government of India and the
government of any foreign country or territory.