15. Appointment of Commissioner of Payments.—(1) The Central Government shall, for the
purpose of disbursing the amounts payable under sections 8 and 9, by notification, appoint a
Commissioner of Payments.
(2) The Central Government may appoint such other persons as it may think fit to assist the
Commissioner and thereupon the Commissioner may authorise one or more of such persons also to
exercise all or any of the powers exercisable by him under this Act and different persons may be
authorised to exercise different powers.
(3) Any person authorised by the Commissioner to exercise any of the powers exercisable by the
Commissioner may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they have
been conferred on that person directly by this Act and not by way of authorisation.
(4) The salaries and allowances of the Commissioner and other persons appointed under this section
shall be defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
16. Payment by the Central Government to the Commissioner.—(1) The Central Government
shall, within thirty days from the specified date, pay, in cash, to the Commissioner, for payment to the
Company—
(a) an amount equal to the amount specified in section 8, and
(b) an amount equal to the amount payable to the Company under section 9.
(2) A deposit account shall be opened by the Central Government in favour of the Commissioner, in
the Public Account of India, and every amount paid under this Act to the Commissioner shall be
deposited by him to the credit of the said deposit account and the said deposit account shall be operated
by the Commissioner.
(3) Records shall be maintained by the Commissioner in respect of the undertakings of the Company
in relation to which payment has been made to him under this Act.
(4) The interest accruing on the amount standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in
sub-section (2) shall ensure to the benefit of the Company.
17. Certain powers of the Central Government or the Government company.—(1) The Central
Government or the existing, or new, Government company, as the case may be, shall be entitled to
receive up to the specified date, to the exclusion of all other persons, any money due to the Company, in
relation to its undertakings which have vested in the Central Government or such Government company,
and realised after the appointed day, notwithstanding that the realisation pertains to a period prior to the
appointed day.
(2) The Central Government or the existing, or new, Government company, as the case may be, may
make a claim to the Commissioner with regard to every payment made by that Government or
Government company, after the appointed day for discharging any liability of the Company in relation to
any period prior to the appointed day; and every such claim shall have priority in accordance with the
priorities attaching, under this Act, to the matter in relation to which such liability has been discharged by
the Central Government or the Government company.
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(3) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the liabilities of the Company in respect of any transaction
prior to the appointed day, which have not been discharged on or before the specified date, shall be the
liabilities of the Company.
18. Claims to be made to the Commissioner.—Every person having a claim against the Company
with regard to any of the matters specified in the Schedule pertaining to the undertakings of the Company
shall prefer such claim before the Commissioner within thirty days from the specified date:
Provided that if the Commissioner is satisfied that the claimant was prevented by sufficient cause
from preferring the claim within the said period of thirty days, he may entertain the claim within a further
period of thirty days and not thereafter.
19. Priority of claims.—The claims made under section 18 shall have priorities in accordance with
the following principles, namely:—
(a) Category I shall have precedence over all other categories and Category II shall have
precedence over Category III, and so on;
(b) the claims specified in each of the categories shall rank equally and be paid in full, but, if the
amount is insufficient to meet such claims in full, they shall abate in equal proportions and be paid
accordingly; and
(c) the question of discharging any liability with regard to a matter specified in a lower category
shall arise only if a surplus is left after meeting all the liabilities specified in the immediately higher
category.
20. Examination of claims.—(1) On receipt of the claims made under section 18, the Commissioner
shall arrange the claims in the order of priorities specified in the Schedule and examine the same in
accordance with such order of priorities.
(2) If, on examination of the claims, the Commissioner is of opinion that the amount paid to him
under this Act is not sufficient to meet the liabilities specified in any lower category, he shall not be
required to examine the claims in respect of such lower category.
21. Admission or rejection of claims.—(1) After examining the claims with reference to the
priorities set out in the Schedule, the Commissioner shall fix a certain date on or before which every
claimant shall file the proof of his claim.
(2) Not less than fourteen days’ notice of the date so fixed shall be given by advertisement in one
issue of any daily newspaper in the English language having circulation in the major part of the country
and one issue of any daily newspaper in such regional language as the Commissioner may consider
suitable, and every such notice shall call upon the claimant to file the proof of his claim with the
Commissioner within the period specified in the advertisement.
(3) Every claimant who fails to file the proof of his claim within the time specified by the
Commissioner shall be excluded from the disbursement made by the Commissioner.
(4) The Commissioner shall, after such investigation as may, in his opinion, be necessary and after
giving the Company an opportunity of refuting the claim and after giving the claimant a reasonable
opportunity of being heard, by order in writing, admit or reject the claim in whole or in part.
(5) The Commissioner shall have the power to regulate his own procedure in all matters arising out of
the discharge of his functions, including the place or places at which he may hold his sittings and shall,
for the purpose of making an investigation under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a civil
court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit, in respect of the following
matters, namely:—
(a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
(b) the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as
evidence;
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(c) the reception of evidence on affidavits;
(d) the issuing of any commission for the examination of witnesses.
(6) Any investigation before the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within
the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and the Commissioner shall
be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
(7) A claimant, who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioner, may prefer an appeal
against the decision to the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the registered office of the Company is situated:
Provided that where a person who is a Judge of a High Court is appointed to be the Commissioner,
such appeal shall lie to the High Court exercising jurisdiction over the place in which the registered office
of the Company is situated and such appeal shall be heard and disposed of by not less than two Judges of
that High Court.
22. Disbursement of money by the Commissioner to claimants.—After admitting a claim under
this Act, the amount due in respect of such claim shall be paid by the Commissioner to the person or
persons to whom such amount is due, and on such payment, the liability of the Company in respect of
such claim shall stand discharged.
23. Disbursement of amounts of the Company.—(1) If, out of the monies paid to him in relation to
the undertakings of the Company, there is a balance left after meeting the liabilities as specified in the
Schedule, the Commissioner shall disburse such balance to the Company.
(2) Where the possession of any machinery, equipment or other property has vested in the Central
Government or the existing, or new, Government company under this Act, but such machinery,
equipment or other property does not belong to the Company, it shall be lawful for the Central
Government or the existing, or new, Government company to continue to possess such machinery or
equipment or other property on the same terms and conditions under which they were possessed by the
Company immediately before the appointed day.
24. Undisbursed or unclaimed amount to be deposited to the general revenue account.—Any
money paid to the Commissioner which remains undisbursed or unclaimed on the date immediately
preceding the date on which the office of the Commissioner is finally wound up, shall be transferred by
the Commissioner, before his office is finally would up to the general revenue account of the Central
Government; but a claim to any money so transferred may be preferred to the Central Government by the
person entitled to such payment and shall be dealt with as if such transfer had not been made, and the
order, if any, for payment of the claim, being treated as an order for the refund of revenue.