27. Act to have over riding effect.
The provision of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law, other than this Act, or in any decree or order of any court, tribunal or other authority.
28. Provision relating to contracts.
(1)
Every contract entered into by the Company in relation to its undertakings before the date of taking over for any service, sale or supply and in force immediately before the appointed day, shall, on and from the expiry of one hundred and eighty days from the appointed day, cease to have effect unless such contract is, before the expiry of that period, ratified, in writing, by the Central Government, or the State Government, or the Government company, and, in ratifying such contract, the Central Government, the State Government, or the Government company, as the case may be, may make such alterations or modifications therein as it may think fit.
(2)
Every contract entered into by the Company, or the Authorsed Controller on behalf of the Company, in relation to its undetakings, on or after the date of taking over for any service, sale or supply and in force immediately before the appointed day shall remain in force, unless such contract is terminated or modified or altered by the Central Government, the State Government or the Government company, as the case may be, within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the appointed day.
(3)
The Central Government, the State Government or the Government company, as the case may be, shall not refuse to ratify, terminate, modify or alter a contract under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)--
(a)
unless it is satisfied that such contract is unduly onerous or has been entered into in bad faith or is detrimental to the interests of the undertakings of the Company; and
(b)
except after giving to the parties to such contract a reasonable opportunity of being heard and recording in writing its reasons for refusal to ratify the contract or for terminating the contract or for making any alteration or modification therein.
29. Transfer of assets, etc. to be void in certain cases.
(1)
Except with the prior approval of the Central Government, the State Government or the Government company, neither the Company nor any part thereof the management or the possession of which could not be taken over by the Authorised Controller or the Central Government or the State Government or the Government company by reason of any decree, order or injunction of any court or otherwise shall, on and from the appointed day, transfer by sale, mortgage or otherwise any property or other assets forming part of the undertakings of the Company and any such transfer, without such prior approval, shall be void and inoperative.
(2)
Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both.
30. Protection of action taken in good faith.
(1)
No suit, prosecution, or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government or any officer of that Government, or the Custodian, or the State Government, or the Government company, or any officer of the State Government or the Government, or the State Government, or the Government company, for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
(2)
No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government or any officer or other employee of that Government, or the State Government, or any officer or other employee of the State Government or of the Government company or other person authorised by the State Government, or the Government company, for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
31. Penalties.
Any person who -
(a)
having in his possession, custody or control any property forming part of any undertaking of the Company, wrongfully withholds such property from the Central Government, or the State Government, or the Government company; or
(b)
wrongfully obtains possession of, or retains, any property forming part of any undertaking of the Company or wilfully withholds or fails to furnish to the Central Government, or any person or body of persons specified by that Government, or the State Government, or the Government company, any document relating to such undertaking which may be in his possession, custody or control or fails to deliver to the Central Government, or the State Government, or the Government company or any person or body of persons specified by the Central Government, or the State Government, or the Government company, any assets, books of account, registers or other documents in his possession, custody or control, relating to the undertaking of the Company; or
(c)
wrongfully removes or destroys any property forming part of any undertaking of the Company or prefers any claims under this Act which he knows or has reasonable cause to believe to be false or grossly inaccurate, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both.
32. Offences by companies.
(1)
Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of and was reaponsible 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 any 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.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Act 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 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 anybody corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b)
"director", in realtion to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
33. Delegation of powers.
(1)
The Central Government may, by notification, direct that all or any of the powers exercisable by it under this Act, other than the power conferred by section 34, may also be exercised by such person or persons as may be specified in the notification.
(2)
Whenever any delegation of power is made under sub-section (1), the person to whom such power has been delegated shall act under the direction, control and supervision of the Central Government.
34. Power of Central Government to make rules.
(1)
The Central Government may, by notification, 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, an intimation shall be given to the Commissioner under sub-section (4) of section 4;
(b)
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 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.
35. Power to remove difficulties.
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, remove the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years from the appointed day.
36. Declaration as to the policy of the State.
It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in clause (b) of article 39 of the Constitution.
Explanation.--In this section, "State" has the same meaning as in article 12 of the Constitution.