15. Power of Bank to require bonds.
15. Power of Bank to require bonds.—(1) Before making any order which it is empowered to make under this Act, the Bank may require the person in whose favour the order is to be made to execute an indemnity bond with one or more sureties in such form as may be prescribed or to furnish security not exceeding twice the value of the subject-matter of the order, to be held at the disposal of the Bank, to pay to the Bank or any person to whom the Bank may assign the indemnity bond or security in furtherance of sub-section (2) the amount thereof.
(2) A court before which a claim in respect of the subject-matter of any such order is established may order the indemnity bond or security to be assigned to the successful claimant who shall thereupon be entitled to enforce the indemnity bond or realise the security to the extent of such claim.
16. Publication of notices in Official Gazette.
16. Publication of notices in Official Gazette.—Any notice required to be given by the Bank under this Act may be served by post, but every such notice shall also be published by the Bank in the Official Gazette or the Official Gazette of a State, according as the notice relates to a Government security, issued by the Central Government or a State Government, and on such publication shall be deemed to have been delivered to all persons for whom it is intended.
17. Procedure and scope of vesting order.
17. Procedure and scope of vesting order.—(1) The Bank shall, while making a vesting order under Section 7, Section 10, Section 11 or Section 12, follow such procedure as may be prescribed.
(2) An order made by the Bank under this Act may either confer full title to a Government security or a title only to the accrued and accruing interest on the Government security pending a further order vesting full title.
18. Legal effect of orders made by Bank.
18. Legal effect of orders made by Bank.—No recognition by the Bank of a person as the holder of a Government security, and no order made by the Bank under this Act shall be called in question by any Court so far as such recognition or order affects the relations of the Government or the Bank with the person recognised by the Bank as the holder of a Government security or with any person claiming an interest in such security; and any such recognition by the Bank of any person or any order by the Bank vesting a Government security in any person shall operate to confer on that person a title to the security subject only to his personal liability to the rightful owner of the security for money had and received on his account.
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Other Contents of Government Securities Act, 2006 |
19. Stay of proceedings on order of Court.
19. Stay of proceedings on order of Court.—Where the Bank contemplates making with reference to any Government security any order which it is empowered to make under this Act and before the order is made the Bank receives from a Court in India an order to stay the making of such order, the Bank shall either—
(a) hold the security together with any interest unpaid or accruing thereon until further orders of the Court are received; or
(b) apply to the Court to have the security transferred to the Official Trustees appointed for the State in which such Court is situated, pending the disposal of the proceedings before the Court.
20. Cancellation by Bank of vesting proceedings.
20. Cancellation by Bank of vesting proceedings.—Where the Bank contemplates making an order under this Act vesting a Government security in any person, the Bank may, at any time before the order is made, cancel any proceedings already taken for that purpose and may, on such cancellation, proceed anew to the making of such order.
21. Discharge in respect of interest on Government securities.
21. Discharge in respect of interest on Government securities.—Save as otherwise expressly provided in the terms of a Government security, no person shall be entitled to claim interest on such security in respect of any period which has elapsed after the earliest date on which demand could have been made for the payment of the amount due on such security.
22. Discharge in respect of bearer bonds.
22. Discharge in respect of bearer bonds.—The Government shall be discharged from all liability on a bearer bond or on any interest coupon of such a bond on payment to the holder of such bond or coupon on presentation on or after the date when it becomes due of the amount expressed therein, unless before such payment, an order of a Court in India has been served on the Government restraining it from making payment.
23. Period of limitation of Government’s liability in respect of interest.
23. Period of limitation of Government’s liability in respect of interest.—(1) Where no shorter period of limitation is fixed by any law for the time being in force, the liability of the Government in respect of any interest payment due on a Government security shall terminate on the expiry of six years from the date on which the amount due by way of interest became payable:
Provided that the Government may allow a bona fide claim for payment of interest after the expiry of the period of six years in those cases where the holders of securities could not prefer their claims within the said period of six years.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Bank may specify the securities in respect of which, the circumstances under which, and the terms and conditions subject to which, interest may be paid even after the expiry of the period specified in the said sub-section.
24. Inspection of documents.
24. Inspection of documents.—No person shall be entitled to inspect or to receive information derived from any Government security in the possession or custody of the Government or from any book, register or other document kept or maintained by or on behalf of the Government in relation to Government securities or any Government security, save in such circumstances and manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
25. Micro films, facsimile copies of documents, magnetic tapes and compute print outs as documents of evidence.
25. Micro films, facsimile copies of documents, magnetic tapes and compute print outs as documents of evidence.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,—
(a) a micro film of a document or the reproduction of the image or images embodied in such micro film (whether enlarge or not); or
(b) a facsimile copy of a document; or
(c) a statement contained in a document and included in a printed material produced by a computer, magnetic tape or any other form of mechanical or electronic data retrieval mechanism (hereinafter referred to as computer print out), if the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) and the other provisions contained in this section are satisfied in relation to the statement and the computer in question,
shall be deemed to be also a document for the purposes of this Act and the regulations made thereunder and shall be admissible in any proceedings thereunder, without further proof of production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible.
(2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer print out shall be the following, namely:—
(a) the computer print out containing the statement was produced by the computer during the period over which the computer was used regularly to store or process information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of the computer;
(b) during the said period, there was regularly supplied to the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities, information of the kind contained in the statement or of the kind from which the information so contained is derived;
(c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer was operating properly or, if not, then any respect in which it was not operating properly or was out of operation during that part of that period was not such as to affect the production of the document or the accuracy of the contents; and
(d) the information contained in the statement reproduced or is derived from information supplied to the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities.
(3) Where over any period, the function of storing or processing information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) was regularly performed by computers, whether—
(a) by a combination of computers operating over that period; or
(b) by different computers operating in succession over that period; or
(c) by different combinations of computers operating in succession over that period; or
(d) in any other manner involving the successive operation over that period, in whatever order, of one or more computers and one or more combinations of computers,
all the computers used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this section as constituting a single computer; and references in this section to a computer shall be construed accordingly.
(4) In any proceeding under this Act and the regulations made thereunder where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate doing any of the following things, that is to say,—
(a) identify the document containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced;
(b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that document as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the document was produced by a computer;
(c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) relate, and purporting to be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in the Bank in relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities (whichever is appropriate),
shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it.
(5) For the purposes of this section,—
(a) information shall be taken to be supplied to a computer if it is supplied thereto in any appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment;
(b) whether in the course of activities carried on by any official, information is supplied with a view to its being stored or processed for the purposes of those activities by a computer operated otherwise than in the course of those activities, that information, if duly supplied to that computer, shall be taken to be supplied to it in the course of those activities;
(c) a document shall be taken to have been produced by a computer whether it was produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—
(a) “computer” means any electronic, magnetic, optical or other high-speed data processing service device or system which performs logical, arithmetical and memory functions by manipulation of electronic, magnetic or optical impulses and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network;
(b) “computer print out” shall include ledgers, day-books, account books and other records, maintained in the ordinary course of business of the Bank or of the agent, printed on paper from the information stored in the computer or derived from such information; and
(c) any reference to information being derived from other information shall be a reference to its being derived therefrom by calculation, comparison or any other process.
26. Bank and its officers to be public officers.
26. Bank and its officers to be public officers.—For the purposes of Section 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), the provisions of Part IV of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) relating to suits by or against public officers in their official capacity, and the provisions of Rule 27 of Order V, and Rule 52 of Order XXI of the said Code, the Bank and any officer of the Bank acting in his capacity as such shall be deemed to be a public officer.
27. Misuse of subsidiary general ledger account facility.
27. Misuse of subsidiary general ledger account facility.—Where a subsidiary general ledger account is opened by the Bank in favour of any holder of a Government security in terms of Section 4 and,—
(a) it comes to the notice of the Bank that the said account is being operated contrary to the terms and conditions subject to which the account was opened; or
(b) the subsidiary general ledger account transfer form has bounced due to insufficiency of Government security or funds; or
(c) the Bank is of opinion that the account is being operated contrary to the banking practice or in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the holders of Government securities in general; or
(d) the subsidiary general ledger account is being misused in any manner,
the Bank may, by order in writing, after giving an opportunity of being heard, debar the holder of such account from trading with the subsidiary general ledger account facility temporarily or permanently as it deems fit.
28. Pledge, hypothecation or lien.
28. Pledge, hypothecation or lien.—(1) Subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed, the holder of a Government security may create a pledge or hypothecation or lien respect of such security.
(2) On receipt of notice of pledge or hypothecation or lien from the holder of the Government security, the Bank or any agent maintaining the account in respect of such security shall make necessary entry in its record and such entry shall be evidence of the pledge, hypothecation or lien thereof, as the case may be.
29. Power to call for information, cause inspection and issue directions.
29. Power to call for information, cause inspection and issue directions.—(1) The Bank may at any time, for the purposes of this Act, call for such information as it deems necessary in relation to a Government security from any agent, or holder of subsidiary general ledger account including constituents’ subsidiary general ledger account and cause an inspection or scrutiny to be made by one or more of its officers or other persons, of any agent or holder of a subsidiary general ledger account including constituents’ subsidiary general ledger account.
(2) The Bank may, if it considers necessary so to do, issue such directions as it thinks fit, in relation to a Government security,—
(i) to the holders of the subsidiary general ledger accounts including constituents’ subsidiary general ledger account;
(ii) to the agents maintaining bond ledger account; and
(iii) to any other person dealing with the Government securities,
for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
30. Contravention and penalties.
30. Contravention and penalties.—(1) If any person, for the purpose of obtaining for himself or for any other person any title to a Government security, makes to any authority in any application made under this Act or in the course of any inquiry undertaken in pursuance of this Act any statement which is false and which he either knows to be false or does not believe to be true, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.
(2) No Court shall take cognizance of any offence under sub-section (1) except on the complaint of the Bank.
(3) Without prejudice to any other action which the Bank may deem fit to take, the Bank, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard, may impose on any person who contravenes any provision of this Act, or contravenes any regulation, notification or direction issued under this Act, or violates the terms and conditions for opening and maintenance of a subsidiary general ledger account, including constituents’ subsidiary general ledger account, a penalty, not exceeding five lakh rupees and where such contravention is a continuing one, further penalty which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day after first day during which the contravention continues.
31. Certain laws not to apply to Government securities.
31. Certain laws not to apply to Government securities.—(1) The Public Debt Act, 1944 (18 of 1944) shall cease to apply to the Government securities to which this Act applies and to all matters for which provisions have been made by this Act.
(2) Notwithstanding such cessation anything done or any action taken in the exercise of any power conferred by or under that Act shall be deemed to have been done or taken in the exercise of the powers conferred by or under this Act as if this Act was in force at all material times.
(3) Nothing contained in the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996) or the regulations made thereunder shall apply to Government securities covered by this Act unless an agreement is executed to the contrary by any depository under the Depositories Act, 1996 with the Government or the Bank, as the case may be.
31-A. Powers of Bank not to apply to International Financial Services Centre.
[i][31-A. Powers of Bank not to apply to International Financial Services Centre.—Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the powers exercisable by the Bank under this Act,—
(a) shall not extend to an International Financial Services Centre set up under sub-section (1) of section 18 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005);
(b) shall be exercisable by the International Financial Services Centre Authority established under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019,
in so far as regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions that are permitted in the International Financial Services Centres are concerned.]
32. Power to make regulations.
32. Power to make regulations.—(1) The Bank may, with the previous approval of the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, make regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the form in which and the terms and conditions subject to which the Government securities may be issued under Section 3;
(b) the form in which and the fee to be charged for opening and maintenance of subsidiary general ledger account including constituents’ subsidiary general ledger account and bond ledger account by the Bank under sub-section (1) of Section 4;
(c) the form and manner in which Government securities shall be transferred under sub-section (2) of Section 5 and the manner in which any document relating to any Government security or any endorsement on a promissory note may be executed on behalf of a person who is unable to write under sub-section (3) of that section;
(d) the documents to be produced for recognition of title to the Government security of a deceased sole holder or all deceased joint holders under sub-section (2) of Section 7 and the manner in which and the conditions subject to which the Bank may recognise title to a Government security under sub-section (3) of that section;
(e) the form and the manner in which a nomination may be made, varied or cancelled and the manner in which any person may be appointed in whom the Government security would be deemed to have vested in the event of death of holder or joint holders of Government security during the minority of a nominee under Section 9;
(f) the conditions governing the issue of duplicate Government securities and the fees to be paid therefor under Section 11;
(g) the manner in which the Bank may determine title to a Government security under Section 12;
(h) the form of bond under sub-section (1) of Section 15;
(i) the procedure for making vesting order referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 17;
(j) the circumstances and the manner in which and the conditions subject to which inspection of Government securities, books, registers and other documents may be allowed or information therefrom may be given under Section 24;
(k) the terms and conditions subject to which pledge or hypothecation or lien be created under sub-section (1) of Section 28.
(3) Every regulation made by the Bank 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 regulation or both Houses agree that the regulation should not be made, the regulation 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 regulation.
33. Construction of references to laws not in force in Jammu and Kashmir.
33. Construction of references to laws not in force in Jammu and Kashmir.—Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall, wherever, necessary, be constructed as including a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State.
34. Power to remove difficulties.
34. Power to remove difficulties.—(1) 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 commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.
35. Repeal and saving.
35. Repeal and saving.—(1) The Indian Securities Act, 1920 (10 of 1920) is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal anything done or any action taken in the exercise of any power conferred by or under the Act shall be deemed to have been done or taken in the exercise of the powers conferred by or under this Act as if this Act was in force on the day on which such thing was done or action was taken.
References
[i] Inserted by Act 50 of 2019, S. 33 and Sch. II.
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