14. [Amendment of Act 67 of 1957.]—Rep. by Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 (30 of 2001), s.2
and The First Schedule (w.e.f. 3-9-2001).
15. Penalties.—Any person who contravenes the provisions of this Act shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to two thousand
rupees, or with both.
16. 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.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an 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 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.
17. Protection of action taken in good faith.—(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding
shall lie against the Central Government or any officer or other employee of that Government, or any
person authorised by that Government 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 officer or other
employee of that Government or any person authorised by that Government 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.
18. 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 20 and 21,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.
19. 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 clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 of
the Constitution.
Explanation.—In this section, ―State‖ has the same meaning as in Article 12 of the Constitution.
20. Power to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules to carry
out the provisions of this Act.
(2) 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.
21. 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.
22. Validation.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in any other law for the time being in force or any
judgment, decree or order of any court, tribunal or other authority,—
(a) every concession holder shall, for the period commencing on and from the date when his
mining concession had been declared to be a mining lease and ending with the date of expiry of the
period of his lease under the provisions of this Act (hereafter in this section referred to as the said
period), be liable to pay the dead rent or, as the case may be, royalty, due in respect of such lease
under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act and the rules made thereunder, and such amount
shall, save as otherwise provided in this section, be recoverable from him;
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(b) any amount paid by the concession holder for the said period, either as a fixed tax or as a
proportional tax, or both, or as a royalty under protest shall be deemed to have been dead rent or, as
the case may be, royalty, paid in accordance with law and such amounts shall not be liable to be
refunded; and
(c) due credit of all such amounts paid by a concession holder under clause (b) shall be given to
him in determining the dead rent or, as the case may be, royalty payable by him under clause (a), as if
this Act and the Mines and Minerals Act and the rules made thereunder had been in force at all
material times, and accordingly—
(i) no suit or other proceeding shall be instituted, maintained or continued in any court or
other authority against the Government or any person or authority whatsoever for the refund of
any amounts paid by a concession holder under clause (b); and
(ii) no court shall enforce any decree or order directing the refund of any amounts so paid, on
the ground that the mining concession is not a mining lease.
(2) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing in sub-section (1) shall be construed
as preventing any person,—
(a) from questioning, in accordance with the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act and the
rules made thereunder, the assessment of any dead rent or royalty for the said period; or
(b) from claiming refund of any dead rent or royalty paid by him in excess of the amount due
from him under the Mines and Minerals Act and the rules made thereunder.