28. Effect of Act on other laws.—The provisions 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.
29. Contracts cease to have effect unless ratified by the Central Government.—(1) Every
contract entered into by the owner or occupier of any coking coal mine or coke oven plant for any service,
sale or supply before the appointed day shall, on and from the expiry of one hundred and twenty days
from the date of assent, cease to have effect unless such contract is, before the expiry of that period,
ratified, in writing, by the Central Government and in ratifying such contract the Central Government
may make such alterations or modifications therein as it may think fit:
Provided that the Central Government shall not omit to ratify a contract 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
coking coal mine or coke oven plant.
(2) The Central Government shall not omit to ratify a contract or make any alteration or modification
therein except after giving to the parties to the contract a reasonable opportunity of being heard and
except after recording in writing its reasons for refusal to ratify the contract.
30. Penalties.—Any person who,—
(a) having in his possession, custody or control of any property forming part of the undertaking of
any coking coal mine or coke oven plant referred to in the First Schedule or the Second Schedule, as
the case may be, wrongfully withholds such property from the Central Government or Government
company, or
1. Ins. by Act 57 of 1986, s. 10 (w.e.f. 1-5-1972).
2. Subs. by Act 22 of 1978, s. 9, for “which remains undisbursed or unclaimed after such payment for a period of three
years” (w.e.f. 29-3-1976).
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(b) wrongfully obtains possession of, or retains, any property forming part of the undertaking of
any coking coal mine or coke oven plant referred to in the First Schedule or the Second Schedule, as
the case may be, or wilfully withholds or fails to furnish to the Central Government or any person
specified by that Government, any document relating to such coking coal mine or coke oven plant,
which may be in his possession, custody or control, or fails to deliver to the Custodian any assets,
books of account, registers or other documents in his custody relating to the coking coal mine or coke
oven plant in respect of which a Custodian has been appointed, or
(c) wrongfully removes or destroys any property of any coking coal mine or coke oven plant or
prefers any claim under this Act in relation to such mine or plant, 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.
31. 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 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 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 any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals;
and
(b) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
32. Mining companies not to be wound up by court.—No proceeding for the winding up of a
mining company, the right, title and interest in relation to the coking coal mine or coke oven plant owned
by which have vested in the Central Government or in a Government company under this Act or for the
appointment of a receiver in respect of such business, shall lie in any court except with the consent of the
Central Government.
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 may also be exercised by any 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 to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules to carry
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 manner in which the coking coal mines or coke oven plants shall be managed by a
Government company or a Custodian;
(b) the manner in which provident fund monies referred to in section 18 shall be dealt with;
(c) the form and manner in which the statement of accounts referred to in section 22 shall be
prepared;
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(d) any other matter in relation to which such rule is required to be, or may be, made.
(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 date of
assent.
36. Coking coal mines to which the Act shall not apply.—Nothing in this Act shall apply to any
coking coal mine—
(a) owned or managed by a Government company or corporation owned or controlled by
Government;
(b) owned or managed by a company engaged in the production of iron or steel:
Provided that this section shall not extend to such mine or part thereof which, in the opinion of the
Central Government, is in excess of the requirements for the production of iron and steel by that
company