25. Act to have overriding effect.—The provision of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding
anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law or 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.
26. Contracts to cease to have effect unless ratified by the Central Government or the
Government company.—(1) Every contract entered into by Britannia Engineering Company in relation
to the Mokameh unit, or Arthur Butler and Company in relation to any of the undertakings owned but it,
which has vested in the Central Government under section 3, for any service, sale or supply and in force
immediately before the appointed day, shall, on and from the expiry of one hundred and eighty days from
the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President, cease to have effect unless such contract is,
before the expiry of that period, ratified, in writing, by the Central Government, or the Government
company, and in ratifying such contract, the Central Government or the Government company may make
such alternation or modification therein as it may think fit:
Provided that the Central Government or the Government company shall not omit to ratify contract
and shall not make any alternation or modification in 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 Central
Government or the Government company.
(2) The Central Government or the Government company shall not omit to ratify a contract, and shall
not make any alternation or modification therein, except after giving 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 or for making any alternation or modification therein.
27. Penalties.—Any person who,—
(a) having in his possession, custody or control any property forming part of the Mokameh unit,
or any of the undertakings owned by Arthur Butler and Company, wrongfully withholds such
property from the Central Government or the Government company; or
(b) wrongfully obtains possession of, or retains, any property forming part of, the Mokameh unit,
or any of the undertakings owned by Arthur Butler and Company; or
(c) wilfully withholds or fails to furnish to the Central Government or the Government company
or any person or body of persons specified by that Government or the Government company, as the
case may be, any document relating to the Mokameh unit, or any of the undertakings owned by
Arthur Butler and Company, which may be in his possession, custody or control; or
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(d) fails to deliver to the Central Government or the Government company or any person or body
of persons specified by that Government or the Government company, any assets, books of account,
registers or other documents in his possession, custody or control relating to the Mokameh unit, or
any of the undertakings owned by Arthur Butler and Company; or
(e) wrongfully removes or destroys any property forming part of the Mokameh unit, or any of the
undertakings owned by Arthur Butler and Company or prefers any claim under this Act which he
knows or has reason 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.
28. 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 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 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.
29. Protection of action taken in good faith.—(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding
shall lie against the Central Government or any officer of that Government or the Government company
or other person authorised by that Government or the Government company for anything which is in good
faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
(2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government or any of its officers or
other employees or the Government company or any officer or other person authorised by that company
for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be
done under this Act.
30. Delegation of Powers.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, direct that all or any
of the powers exercisable by it under this Act, other than the powers conferred by sections 31 and 32, may
also be exercised by such 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.
31. Power to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules for
carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the time within which, and the manner in which, an intimation referred to in sub-section (3) of
section 4 shall be given;
(b) the manner in which the monies in any provident fund or other fund, referred to in
sub-section (2) of section 14 shall be dealt with;
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(c) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed.
(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.
32. 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 appointed
day.
33. Declaration as to the policy of the State.—It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect
to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in clause (b) of article 39 of the
Constitution,
Explanation—In this section, “State” has the same meaning as in article 12 of the Constitution.