12. Prohibition of making or melting or destruction of coins.—(1) No person shall—
(i) use any metal piece as coin whether stamped or unstamped, intended to be used as money
except by the authority of the Government, or
(ii) melt or destroy any coin, or
(iii) use coin other than as a medium of exchange, or
(iv) have in his possession, custody or control,—
(a) any melted coin, whether in the molten state or in a solid state, or
(b) any coin in a destroyed or mutilated state, or
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(c) coins substantially in excess of his reasonable requirements for the purpose of selling such
coins for value other than their face value or for melting or for destroying or for disposing these
coins other than as a medium of exchange.
Explanation.—For the purposes of determining the reasonable requirements of coins of a
person, due regard shall be had to—
(i) his total daily requirements of coins;
(ii) the nature of his business, occupation or profession;
(iii) the mode of his acquisition of coins; and
(iv) the manner in which, and the place at which, such coins are being possessed, held or
controlled by him.
(2) Whoever is found to be in possession of any metal or material which contains alloys in the same
proportions in which they have been used in the manufacture of any coin shall be presumed, until the
contrary is proved, to have contravened the provisions of sub-section (1).
(3) Nothing in this section shall apply—
(i) to any person who is found in possession of any metal or scraps or scissel, etc., of nonrecyclable coinage metal, which he may so possess as a result of valid disposal by auctions by a Mint;
(ii) to the Mint, Reserve Bank of India and its authorised agents, and suppliers of coins or coin
blanks to the extent of orders placed by or under the authority of the Government until their supply or
completion of orders placed by the Government;
(iii) to any prospective supplier who intends to supply coin or coin blanks as samples against a
valid tender documents purchased by him provided that quantity is in reasonable agreement with
quantity of samples to be supplied.
13. Penalty for contravention of section 12.—Whoever contravenes any provisions of section 12
shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to seven years and with fine.
14. Prohibition and penalty for unlawful making, issue or possession of pieces of metal to be
used as money.—(1) No person shall—
(a) make or issue or attempt to issue any metal piece except as provided under section 4 for the
purpose of coin;
(b) possess, custody or control of any metal piece with the intent to issue the piece for use as
money for a medium of exchange.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment
which may extend to one year or with fine or with both:
Provided that if any person convicted under this section is again convicted, he shall be punishable
with imprisonment which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.
15. Prohibition and penalty for bringing metal piece for use as coin.—(1) No person shall bring
by sea or by land or by air into India of any piece of metal to be used as coin except with the authority or
permission of the Government.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment
which may extend to seven years and with fine.
16. 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 responsible
to, the company for the conduct of its business, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
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Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any person liable to any punishment,
if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he 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, such director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company 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 any body corporate and includes a firm, society or other association of
individuals; and
(b) “director”, in relation to—
(i) a firm, means a partner or proprietor of the firm;
(ii) a society or other association of individuals, means the person who is entrusted, under the
rules of the society or other association, with the management of the affairs of the society or other
association of the individuals, as the case may be