6. Inspectors.
6. Inspectors.—(1) The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act at such ports as may be specified in the notification.
(2) Every Inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
(3) An Inspector may, at any port for which he is appointed,—
(a) enter, with such assistance (if any), as he thinks fit, any premises or vessel where dock workers are employed;
(b) require any authority or person to produce any register, muster-roll or other document relating to the employment of dock workers, and examine such document;
(c) take on the spot or otherwise the evidence of any person for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of any scheme made for the port are, or have been, complied with.
(4) The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, prescribe the manner in which and the persons by whom complaints regarding contravention of any provision of a scheme may be made to an Inspector and the duties of the Inspector in relation to such complaints.
| Other Contents of Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948 |
|---|
| Sections 1 to 5-E |
| Sections 6 to 9 |
6-A. Power to order enquiry.
[i][6-A. Power to order enquiry.—(1) The Government may, at any time, appoint any person to investigate or inquire into the working of a Board and submit a report to the Government.
(2) The Board shall give to the person so appointed all facilities for the proper conduct of the investigation or inquiry and furnish to him such documents, accounts or information in the possession of the Board as he may require.
6-B. Power to supersede a Board.
6-B. Power to supersede a Board.—(1) If, on consideration of the report under Section 6-A or otherwise, the Government is of opinion—
(a) that, on account of a grave emergency, a Board is unable to perform its functions, or
(b) that a Board has persistently made default in the discharge of its functions or has exceeded or abused its powers,
the Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, supersede the Board for such period as may be specified in the notification:
Provided that, before issuing a notification under this sub-section on any of the grounds mentioned in clause (b), the Government shall give a reasonable opportunity to the Board to show cause why it should not be superseded and shall consider the explanations and objections, if any, of the Board.
(2) Upon the publication of a notification under sub-section (1),—
(a) all the members of the Board shall, as from the date of such publication, vacate their offices as such members;
(b) all the powers and functions which may be exercised or performed by the Board shall, during the period of supersession, be exercised or performed by such person as may be specified in the notification;
(c) all funds and other property vested in the Board shall, during the period of supersession, vest in the Government.
(3) On the expiration of the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1), the Government may—
(a) extend the period of supersession for such further period as it may consider necessary; or
(b) re-establish the Board in the manner provided in Section 5-A.
6-C. Acts or proceedings of Board and Advisory Committee not to be invalidated.
6-C. Acts or proceedings of Board and Advisory Committee not to be invalidated.—No act or proceeding of a Board or the Advisory Committee shall be invalid merely by reason of—
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Board or the Advisory Committee; or
(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a member of the Board or the Advisory Committee; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Board or the Advisory Committee not affecting the merits of the case.]
7. Cognizance of offences.
7. Cognizance of offences.—(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence made punishable by a scheme or of any abetment thereof, except on a report in writing of the facts constituting such offence or abetment made by an Inspector or by a person specially authorised in this behalf by the Government.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, an offence made punishable by a scheme or an abetment thereof shall be triable only by a Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class.
7-A. Offences by companies.
[ii][7-A. Offences by companies.—(1) If the person committing an offence made punishable by a scheme or any abetment thereof is a company, every person who, at the time the offence or abetment 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 or abetment 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 or abetment was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence or abetment.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence made punishable by a scheme or any abetment thereof has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence or abetment 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 or abetment 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 and other association of individuals; and
(b) ‘director’, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.]
8. Power to make rules.
[iii][8. Power to make rules.—(1) The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette make rules to give effect to the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for—
(a) the composition of the Advisory Committee and Boards and the manner in which members of the Advisory Committee and the Boards shall be chosen;
(b) the term of office of and the manner of filling casual vacancies among the members of a Board or the Advisory Committee;
(c) the meetings of a Board and the Advisory Committee, the quorum for such meetings and the conduct of business thereat;
(d) the conditions subject to which, and the mode in which, contracts may be entered into by or on behalf of a Board;
(e) the allowances, if any, payable to the members of a Board or the Advisory Committee;
(f) the disqualifications for membership of a Board;
(g) the form in which a Board shall prepare its annual statement of accounts and the balance-sheet.
(3) [iv][* * *]
8-A. Schemes and rules to be laid before Parliament.
[v][8-A. Schemes and rules to be laid before Parliament.—Every scheme and every rule made under this Act by the Central Government 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 scheme or rule or both Houses agree that the scheme or rule should not be made, the scheme or 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 scheme or rule.]
9. Saving.
9. Saving.—Every Dock Labour Board established for a port or a group of ports before the commencement of the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Amendment Act, 1962 (8 of 1962), under a scheme made under Section 4, and functioning as such immediately before such commencement shall be deemed to be a Board established under Section 5-A and, accordingly, all the provisions of this Act shall apply to every such Board.]
