15. Appointment of Commissioner of Payments.—(1) The Central Government shall, for the
purpose of disbursing the amounts payable under sections 8 and 9 to the Company, 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.
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(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, an amount equal to the amount specified in section 8 and the amounts 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) The interests accruing on the amount standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in
sub-section (2) shall enure to the benefit of the Company.
17. Certain powers of the National Textile Corporation.—(1) The National Textile Corporation
shall be entitled to receive, up to the specified date, to the exclusion of all other persons, any money due
to a textile undertaking, realised after the appointed day, notwithstanding that the realisation pertains to a
period prior to the appointed day.
(2) The National Textile Corporation may make a claim to the Commissioner with regard to every
payment made by it as the authorised person in relation to a textile undertaking after the appointed day
but before the date on which the Ordinance was promulgated 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 authorised person.
(3) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the liabilities in relation to a textile undertaking in respect
of any period prior to the appointed day which have not been discharged by the authorised person shall be
the liabilities of the Company.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “authorised person” means the person authorised to
take over the management of any textile undertaking in pursuance of the order of the Government of India
in the late Ministry of Industrial Development No. S.O. 265(E), dated the 13th April, 1978, issued under
clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 18AA of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act,
1951 (65 of 1951).
18. Claims to be made to the Commissioner.—Every person having a claim against the Company
in relation to the textile undertakings with regard to any of the matters specified in the Schedule 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, but not thereafter.
19. Priorities of claims.—The claims arising out of matters specified in the Schedule 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.
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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.
(2) If on examination of the claims against the Company, the Commissioner is of the opinion that the
amounts paid to him under this Act for payment to such Company are not sufficient to meet the liabilities
specified in any lower category, he shall not be required to examine any claim in respect of such lower
category.
21. Admission or rejection of claims.—(1) After examining the claims against the Company with
reference to the priorities set out in the Schedule, the Commissioner shall fix a date on or before which
every claimant shall file the proof of his claim.
(2) Not less than fourteen days’s 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 in 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 period specified by the
Commissioner shall be excluded from the disbursements 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 any 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;
(c) the reception of evidence on affidavit;
(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 of Allahabad 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.—(1) After admitting a claim
against the Company 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.
(2) If, out of the moneys paid to him in relation to the textile undertakings, there is a balance left after
meeting the liabilities as specified in the Schedule, the Commissioner shall disburse such balance to the
Company.
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23. Undisbursed or unclaimed amount to be deposited with 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 wound 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.