Census Act, 1948- Sections 9 to 18

9. Occupier to permit access and affixing of numbers.

9. Occupier to permit access and affixing of numbers.—Every person occupying any house, enclosure, vessel or other place shall allow census-officers such access thereto as they may require for the purposes of the census and as, having regard to the customs of the country, may be reasonable, and shall allow them to paint on, or affix to, the place such letters, marks or numbers as may be necessary for the purposes of the census.

10. Occupier or manager to fill up schedule.

10. Occupier or manager to fill up schedule.—(1) Subject to such orders as the [i][Census Commissioner] may issue in this behalf, a census-officer may, within the local area for which he is appointed, leave or cause to be left a schedule at any dwelling-house or with the manager or any officer of any commercial or industrial establishment, for the purpose of its being filled up by the occupier of such house or of any specified part thereof or by such manager or officer with such particulars as the [ii][Census Commissioner] may direct regarding the inmates of such house or part thereof, or the persons employed under such manager or officer, as the case may be, at the time of the taking of the census.

(2) When such schedule has been so left, the said occupier, manager or officer, as the case may be, shall fill it up or cause it to be filled up to the best of his knowledge or belief so far as regards the inmates of such house or part thereof or the persons employed under him, as the case may be, at the time aforesaid, and shall sign his name thereto and, when so required, shall deliver the schedule so filled up and signed to the census-officer or to such person as the census-officer may direct.

11. Penalties.

11. Penalties.—(1) [iii][(a) any census-officer or any person lawfully required to give assistance towards the taking of census who refuses to perform any duty imposed upon him by this Act or any rule made thereunder, or any person who hinders or obstructs another person in performing any such duty, or

(aa) any census-officer or any person lawfully required to give assistance towards the taking of a census who neglects to use reasonable diligence in performing any duty imposed upon him or in obeying any order issued to him in accordance with this Act or any rule made thereunder, or any person who hinders or obstructs another person in performing any such duty or obeying any such order, or]

(b) any census-officer who intentionally puts any offensive or improper question or knowingly makes any false return or, without the previous sanction of the Central Government or the State Government, discloses any information which he has received by means of, or for the purposes of, a census return, or

(c) any sorter, compiler or other member of the census staff who removes, secretes, damages or destroys any census document or deals with any census document in a manner likely to falsify or impair the tabulations of census results, or

[iv][(ca) any local authority which fails to comply with an order made under Section 4-A, or]

(d) any person who intentionally gives a false answer to, or refuses to answer to the best of his knowledge or belief, any question asked of him by a census-officer which he is legally bound by Section 8 to answer, or

(e) any person occupying any house, enclosure, vessel or other place who refuses to allow a census-officer such reasonable access thereto as he is required by Section 9 to allow, or

(f) any person who removes, obliterates, alters, or damages any letters, marks or numbers which have been painted or affixed for the purposes of the census, or

(g) any person who, having been paid required under Section 10 to fill up a schedule, knowingly and without sufficient cause fails to comply with the provisions of that section, or makes any false return thereunder, or

(h) any person who trespasses into a census office,

shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees and in case of a conviction under part [v][(a), (b) or (c) shall also be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years].

(2) Whenever abets any offence under sub-section (1) shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.

12. Sanction required for prosecutions.

[vi][12. Sanction required for prosecutions.—Without prejudice to the provisions of Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no prosecution under this Act shall be instituted except with the previous sanction,—

(a) in the case of a person who is employed or was at the time of commission of the alleged offence employed—

(i) in a company, as defined in Section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), in which not less than fifty-one per cent of the paid-up capital is held by the Central Government or any company which is a subsidiary thereof within the meaning of that Act, or

(ii) by a corporation or a local authority established by or under a Central Act which is owned or controlled by the Central Government,

of the Central Government or of an authority authorised in this behalf by that Government; and

(b) in the case of a person other than referred to in clause (a) of the State Government.]

13. Operation of other laws not barred.

13. Operation of other laws not barred.—Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prevent any person from being prosecuted under any other law for any act or omission which constitutes an offence under this Act:

Provided that no such prosecution shall be instituted except with the previous sanction referred to in Section 12.

13-A. Certain offences to be cognizable and triable summarily.

[vii][13-A. Certain offences to be cognizable and triable summarily.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), no police officer or court shall take cognizance of any offence under part (a), (b) or (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 11, except upon information received from or on a complaint made by, as the case may be, the Director of Census Operations or any officer authorised by him in this behalf.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every offence punishable under part (a), (b) or (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 11 may be tried summarily.]

14. Jurisdiction.

14. Jurisdiction.—No Court inferior to that of a [viii][Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class], shall try, whether under this Act or under any other law, any act or omission which constitutes an offence under this Act.

15. Records of census not open to inspection nor admissible in evidence.

15. Records of census not open to inspection nor admissible in evidence.—No person shall have a right to inspect any book, register or record made by a census-officer in the discharge of his duty as such, or any schedule delivered under Section 10, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), no entry in any such book, register, record or schedule shall be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding whatsoever or in any criminal proceeding other than a prosecution under this Act or any other law for any act or omission which constitutes an offence under this Act.

15-A. Protection of service interests of members of census staff.

[ix][15-A. Protection of service interests of members of census staff.—No member of the census staff shall suffer any disability in service by reason of his being on census duty and the period spent by him on such census duty shall be deemed to be the duty under his lending employer and any duty performed under this Act shall not in any manner affect the right of promotion or other advancement in his original service.]

15-B. Protection of action taken in good faith.

[x][15-B. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Census Commissioner or any Director of Census Operations or any census-officer or any member of the census staff for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.]

16. Temporary suspension of other laws as to mode of taking census in municipalities.

16. Temporary suspension of other laws as to mode of taking census in municipalities.—Notwithstanding anything in any enactment or rule with respect to the mode in which a census is to be taken in any municipality, the municipal authority, in consultation with the Director of Census Operations or with such other authority as the State Government may authorise in this behalf, shall, at the time appointed for the taking of any census cause the census of the municipality to be taken wholly or in part by any method authorised by or under this Act.

17. Grant of statistical abstracts.

17. Grant of statistical abstracts.—[xi][Subject to the provisions of Section 15, the Census Commissioner or any Director of Census Operations] may, if he so thinks fit, at the request and cost (to be determined by him) of any local authority or person, cause abstracts to be prepared and supplied containing any such statistical information as can be derived from the census returns for India or any State, as the case may be, being information which is not contained in any published report and which in his opinion it is reasonable for that authority or person to require.

17-A. Power to extend the provisions of Act to other operations.

[xii][17-A. Power to extend the provisions of Act to other operations.—The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, extend the provisions of this Act, with such restrictions and modifications as it thinks fit, to pre-tests, pilot studies, census of houses which precede the population count and post enumeration check and evaluation studies or statistical surveys or any other operation as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of census.]

18. Power to make rules.

18. Power to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may [xiii][, by notification in the official Gazette,] make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, the Central Government may make rules providing for the appointment of census-officers and of persons to perform any of the duties of census-officers or to give assistance towards the taking of a census, and for the general instructions to be issued to such officers and persons [xiv][and providing for the manner of service of orders regarding requisitioning of premises, or vehicle; vessel or animal and the time within which the application may be made to it by any interested person aggrieved by the amount of compensation determined under Section 7-B for referring the matter to an arbitrator.]

[xv][(3) Every rule made under this section 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.]