15.Appointment of Commissioner of Payments.—(1) the Central Government shall, for the
purpose of disbursing the amount payable under sections 7 and 8 to Britannia Engineering Company and
to Arthur Butler and 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.
(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 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 Britannia
Engineering Company and to Arthur Butler and Company,—
(a) an amount equal to that specified against each of their names in the First Schedule,
(b) an amount equal to that payable to Britannia Engineering Company and Arthur Butler and
company under section 8.
(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.
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(3) Separate records shall be maintained by the Commissioner in respect of Mokameh unit and the
undertakings owned by Arthur Butler and Company in relation to which payment has been made to him
under this Act.
(4) Interest acquiring on the amounts standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in
sub-section (2) shall enure to the benefit of Britannia Engineering Company and Arthur Butler and
Company.
17. Certain powers of the Central Government or Government company.—(1) The Central
Government or the 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 Britannia Engineering Company in
relation to any of the Mokameh unit, or Arthur Butler and Company in relation to any of the undertakings
owned by it, which has vested in the Central Government or the 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 Government company, as the case may be, may make a claim to
the Commissioner with regard to every payment made by that Government after the appointed day for
discharging any liability of Britannia Engineering Company in relation to the Mokameh unit, or of Arthur
Butler and Company in relation to any of the undertakings owned by it, 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.
(3) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the liabilities of Britannia Engineering Company in
relation to the Mokameh unit, or of Arthur Butler and Company in relation to any of the undertakings
owned by it, 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 Britannia Engineering Company or Arthur Butler
and Company, as the case may be.
18. Claims to be made to the Commissioner.—Every person having a claim against Britannia
Engineering Company in relation to the Mokameh unit, or against Arthur Butler and Company in relation
to the undertakings owned by it, 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. Priority of claims.—The claims arising out of the matters specified in the Second Schedule shall
have priorities in accordance with the following principles, namely:—
(a) category I shall have precedence over all categories and category II shall have precedence over
category III and so on;
(b) the claims specified in each of the categories, except category IV, 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 proportion
and be paid accordingly;
(c) the liabilities specified in category IV shall be discharged subject to the priorities specified in this
section in accordance with the terms of the secured loan and the priority inter se, of such loans; and
(d) 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 or priorities specified in the Second Schedule and examine the same
in accordance with such order of priorities.
(2) If on an examination of the claim, 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 claim in respect of such lower category.
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21. Admission or rejection of claims.—(1) After examining the claims with reference to the
priorities set out in the Second Schedule, the Commissioner shall fix a date on or before which every
claimant shall file the proof of his claim failing which he will be excluded from the benefit of the
disbursement made by the Commissioner.
(2) Not less than fourteen days’ notice of the date so fixed shall be given by advertisement in one
issue of the daily newspaper in the English language having circulation in the major part of the country
and one issue of such daily newspaper in the 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 disbursement made by the Commissioner.
(4) The Commissioner shall, after such investigation as may, in his opinion, be necessary and after
giving Britannia Engineering Company or, as the case may be, Arthur Butler and Company, an
opportunity of refuting the claim and after giving the claimant a reasonable opportunity of being heard, 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 sitting 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, 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 evidence;
(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 court of original jurisdiction within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the Mokameh unit or, as the case may be, the registered office of Arthur Butler and 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 the State in which the registered office of Britannia Engineering
Company or, as the case may be, Arthur Butler and 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 Commissioner.—After admitting the 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 sums are due and on such payment the liability of Britannia Engineering Company in relation to the
Mokameh unit, or of Arthur Butler and Company in respect of any claim relating to the undertakings
owned by it shall stand discharged.
23. Disbursement of amounts to Britannia Engineering Company and Arthur Butler and
Company.—(1) If out of the monies paid to him in relation to the Mokameh unit or in relation to any
undertaking owned by Arthur Butler and Company there is a balance left after meeting the liabilities as
specified in the Second Schedule, the Commissioner shall disburse such balance to Britannia Engineering
Company, or as the case may be, to Arthur Butler and Company.
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(2) Where the possession of any machinery, equipment or other property has vested in the Central
Government or the Government company under this Act, but such machinery, equipment or other
property does not belong to Britannia Engineering Company or, as the case may be, Arthur Butler and
Company, it shall be lawful for the Central Government to continue to possess such machinery or
equipment or other property on the same terms and conditions under which they were possessed by
Britannia Engineering Company or, as the case may be, Arthur Butler and Company, immediately before
the appointed day.
24. Undisbursed or unclaimed amount to be deposited with the General Revenue Account.—
Any money paid to the Commissioner which remains undisbursed or unclaimed for a period of three
years from the last date on which the disbursement was made, shall be transferred by the Commissioner
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, the order, if any, for payment of the claim being treated as an order
for the refund of the revenue.