31. Penalty for contravention of provisions of Act or rules or regulations.—(1) Whoever instals
or uses any prohibited hazardous material in a ship in contravention of the provisions of this Act or rules
or regulations made thereunder shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
three months or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or with both.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 12 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees or with both.
(3) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 17 shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees
or with both.
(4) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 18, shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees
or with both.
(5) Whoever fails to ensure safe and environmentally sound removal and management of any
hazardous material from a ship in accordance with the regulations shall be punishable with an
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to five lakh
rupees or with both.
(6) Whoever fails to respond to the notice issued for oil spill under sub-section (2) of section 22 shall
be punishable—
(i) with a fine which may extend to five lakh rupees in case of non response within twelve hours
of issuance of first notice;
(ii) with a fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees in case of non response within twenty-four
hours of issue of second notice; and
(iii) with an imprisonment which may extend to three months and with a fine which may extend
to ten lakh rupees in case of non response beyond twenty-four hours of issue of third notice.
32. Penalty for contravention of provisions of this Act or rules or regulations for which no
specific punishment is provided.—Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or any rules
or regulations made thereunder, for which no specific punishment has been provided in this Act, shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine, which may
extend to two lakh rupees or with both and, in the case of a continuing contravention, with an additional
fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such contravention continues
after the conviction for the first such contravention.
33. Punishment for other offences.—(1) If any ship, after detention or after service of any notice or
order for such detention, proceeds to sea before it is released by the National Authority, the owner or
master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.
(2) Whoever restrains or detains or forcibly takes to sea, any person authorised under this Act to
detain or survey the ship, on the execution of his duty, the owner, master or agent of such ship shall each
be liable to pay all expenses of, and incidental to, such person being so taken to sea and shall also be
guilty of an offence under this Act.
34. 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, provided in this Act, 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 also 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 anybody corporate and includes a co-operative society, firm or other
association of individuals; and
(b) “director” means a whole time director in the company and in relation to a firm means a
partner in the firm.
35. Offences to be noncognizable, bailable and compoundable.—Notwithstanding anything
contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every offence under this Act shall be noncognizable, bailable and compoundable.
36. Cognizance of offences.—No court shall take cognizance of an offence under this Act except on
a complaint made by—
(a) the Central Government;
(b) the National Authority or an officer authorised in this behalf; or
(c) the Competent Authority or an officer authorised in this behalf.
37. Amount payable by owner, master or agent.—When any owner or master or agent is convicted
of an offence under sub-section (2) of section 33, the amount payable on account of expenses by such
owner or master or agent shall be determined and recovered in such manner as may be prescribed.
38. Place of trial and jurisdiction of court.—Any person committing any offence under this Act or
any rules made thereunder, may be tried for such offence in any place in which he may be found, or in
any Court which the Central Government may, by notification, direct in this behalf, or in any Court in
which he might be tried under any other law for the time being in force.
39. Compensation.—(1) Where a ship is unduly detained or delayed as a result of an inspection or
investigation without any reasonable cause, then, such ship shall be entitled to compensation for any loss
or damage suffered thereby.
(2) The rate of compensation referred to in sub-section (1), the method of calculation and the manner
of payment of such compensation shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3) For the purpose of adjudging compensation under this section, the Central Government may, by
notification, nominate an officer of the Central Government, not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the
Government of India, to be an adjudicating officer for holding an inquiry in the prescribed manner, after
giving any person concerned an opportunity of being heard.