 b!u no ~6 of '96s the seamen's provident fund bill, 1965  , a billto provide fot  the institution of a provident fund fot seamen be it enacted by parliament in the sixteenth year of the republic of india as follaws:-1 (1) this act may be called the seamen's provident fund act, short title 1965 and appli cation 5 (2) 'qnlcss otherwise expr~ly provided, the provisions of this act shall apply to every seaman and to the employer of such seaman 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,-deftnjtlodl (a) "agreement with the crew" means the agreement referred to in section 100 or, as the case may be, section 114 f the merchant shipping act; 10 (b) uboard" means the board of trustees of the seamen', provident fund constituted under section 5; ,'7(b)ls-i (c) "continuous discharge certificate" means the certificate referred to in section 99 of the merchant shipping act; ----cd) "contribution" means a contribution payable in respect of a member under the scheme; (e) "employer", in relation to a seaman, means the owner 5 of the ship on which the seaman is employed or engaged, or the agent of such owner or the master of the ship; (/) "fund" means the seamen's provident fund established under the scheme; (g) "government" means the cenlral government; jo (h) "master" and "ship" have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the merchant shipping act; (i> "member" means a seaman who is in possession of a continuous discharge certificate and who is admitted as a member of the fund; (j) "merchant shipping act" means the merchant shipping act, 1958; (k) "scheme" means the seamen's p,'ovident fund scheme framed under sub-section (1) of section 3; (l) "seaman" means a person employed or engaged as a 20 member of the crew of a ship under the merchant shipping act but does not include a master, navigating or engineering officer, radio officer, medical officer, welfare officer, purser, electrician, nurse, musician, pilot, apprentice or deck barber; (m) "service" malns the period of employment of a seaman 25 under the agreement with the crew and includes any period in respect of which wages are paid or are pay:lble to him; (n) "wages" means the basic wages for the time being payable to a seaman under the agreement with the crew and includes--30 (i) any remuneration to which he is entitled in respect of holidays ,qr; any leave period; (ii) any increase of such wages in accordance with such agreement or any other agreement between the parties; but doe;; not include the overtime allowance 35 seamen' provident hnd seheme 3 (1) the government may, by notification in the official gazette, frame a scheme to be called the seamen's provident fund scheme for the establishment of a provident fund for seamen· and there shall be established, as soon as may be after the framing of the scheme, a fund in accordance with the provisions of this act 40 and tpe scheme  (2) subject to the provisions of this act, the scheme may provide for all or any of the m~tters spt'cifted in the schedule to this ____ ,act (3) the scheme may provide that auy of its provisions hall 5 take effect either prospeclively or retrospectively on such date as may be specified in this behalf in the scheme (4) the scheme shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the tirlle being in force other than this act or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other then this 10· act (5) the government may by notification in the official gazette add to, amend vary or rescind the scheme 4 (1) the fund referred to in sub-section (1) of section 3 shall vun, of vest in, and be administered by, the board constituted under section fund, etc i s ~ r' ---(2) the moneys in the fund shall be applied for-(a) meeting the pay and· allowances of the employees of the board and other administrative expenses of the board; (b) cat:ryirtg out the purposes of this act 20 (3) all moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the state bank of india or be invested in such securiti€"s as may be apprnved by th~ , government 5 (1) the government shall by notification in the oftlcial constitu-gazette constitute, wuh effect from such date ~s may be specified =at 25 therein, a board to be known as t he board of trustees of the sea- trustees men's provident fund which shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and may by that name sue and be sued (2) the head office of the b0ard shall be in bombay or at such 30 nther place as the government may by notification in the offtcfal gazette, specify (3) the board shall consist of-(a) a chairman to be appointed by the government; (b) not more toon three persons appointed by the go~ern­ment from amongst its officia1s; 35 (c) three persons representing employers, to be appointed by the government after consultation with such organisation or organisations of employ~~_as may be recognised by the government in this behalf;  (d) three persons representing seamen, to be appointed by 5 the government after consultation with such organisation or org'lnisations of seamen as may be recognised by the government in this behalf (4) the terms and conditions subject to which a mem·ber of the board may be appointed and the time, place and procedure of the 10 meetings of the board, including the quorum, shall be such as may be provided for in the scheme (5) the board shan administer the fund vested in it in such manner as may be specified in the scheme (6) the board shall perform such other functions as it may be is required to perform by or under any provision of the scheme commit  tees 6 (1) the board may, from time to time, constitute one or more committee or committees for exercising any power or discharging any duty of the board or for inquiring into, or reporting and advi  ing od, any matter which the board may refer to such committee or 20 committees (2) a committee may include persons who are not members of the board but their number shall not exceed one-half of tts strength appoiatmento(  bmploye  of board 7 (1) the government shall appoint a seamen's provident hnd commissioner who shall be the chief execu live offtcer of the board 2, and shall be subject to the general control and luperintend(:nee of the board (2) the government may ruso appoint as many deputy seamen's provident fund commissioners and other omcers whose maximum monthly salary is dot less than six hundred rupees, as jt dl'ly con- 30 sider necessary, to assist the seamen's provident fund commissioner in the discharge of his duties (3) the board may appoint such other officers and employees u it may consider necessary for the efficient administration of the scheme 35 the seaman the employe~'s contribution by deductinn from his wa~es and not otherwise (3) every employer shall also pay such sums of money as may be specified in the scheme towards the cost of administering the fund (4) where the r-mount of any contribution under sub-section (1) s or any sum payable under sub-section (1) contains r part of a rupee, then if ~uch part is fifty paise or more it shan be increased to onp complete rupee and if such part is less than fifty paise it shall be ignored determination of moneys due from employers 9 (1) the seamen's providc'nt' fund commissioner or any 10 deputy seamen's provident fund commissioner may, by order, determine the amount due from any employer under any provision (if this act or of the scheme and for this purpose may conduct such inquiry as he may deem necessary  (2) the officer conducting' the inquiry under sub-section (1) is shall for the purposes of such inquiry have the srme powers as are vested in a court unde!' the code of civil procedure 1908, for trying sot 1908 a suit in re~pect of the following matte'rs namely:-(4) enforcing the attendance of any person or examining him on oath; 20 (b) requiring the discovery and production of documents; (c) receiving evidence on affidavit; (d) issuing commission for the examination of witnesses; and any such inquiry shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 288 and for the purpose of 25 45 of 1860 section 196, of the indian penal code (3) no order shall be made under this section unless the employer h 15 been given a reasonable opportunity of representing his case   ,; (4) an order made under this section shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court of law 30 | mode      ||-----------|| recovery  || of moneys || due       || (rom      || employen |10 any amount due from an employer in respect of any contribution payable to the fund, or damages recoverable under section 18 or any charges payable by him under elny other provi~ion of this act or under any provision of the scheme, may, if the amount is in arrear, be recovered by the government in the same manner as an 35 arrear of land revenue  u for the purposes of the income-tax act, 1961, the fund shall fund be deemed to be a recognised provident fund wilhin the meaning of ueebmed to e tha t act recognised provident fund under act 43 of 1961 12 (1) the amount standing to the credit of any member in the protection 5 fund shall not in any way be capable of being assigned or charged against atand shall not be liable to attachment under any decree or order of tachment any court in respect of any debt or liability incurred by the member, and neither'the official as~ignee appointed under the pl'esidency towns insolvency act, 1909, nor any receiver appointed under the 10 provincial insolvency act, 1920, shall be entitled to, or have any claim on, any such amount (2) any amount standing to the credit of any member in ·the fund at the time of his death and payable under the scheme to his nominee shall, subject to any deduction aulhorised by the sch~lue, 15 ve:it in the nominee and shall be free from any debt or other liability incurred by the deceased or the nomin~e before the death of the member 13 where any employer is adjudicated insolvent, or, being a priority ol company, an order for winding up is made, the amount due irom payment 20 the employer in respect of any contribution payable to the fund, ~f c~ntri­damages recoverable under section 18 or any· charg~s payable by o~!~ons him under any other provision of this act 01' under any provision other of the scheme shall, where the liability therefor has accrued before debt!! the order of adjudication or winding up is made, be deemed to be 25 included among the debts which under section 49 of the presidency towns insolvency act, 1909, or under section 61 of the provincial insolvency act, 1920, or under section 530 of the companies act 1956, are to be paid in priority to all other debts in the distribution of the property of the insolvent or the asse'ts of the company being wound 30 up, as the case may be 14 no emplcyer shall, by reason only of hi" !;ability for the pay- employer m','nt of any contribution to the fund or any charges under this act lot to or the scheme reduce, whether rlirectly or indirectly, the wages \)f reduce any seaman to whom the scheme applies or the total quantum of wages 35 benefits in the nature of oj~ age pen:;ion, gratuity or p~ovident fund to which the seaman is entitled under the agreement wlth the crew or any other agreement between the parties 15~ (1) the government may, by notification in the official inspec-gazette, appoint such employees of the board, as the government tori thinks fit, to be inspectors for the purposes of this act and the scaeme, and may detine their jurlsdlcbon (2) ,t;very lnspec&or appoulted under suo-section (1) may,-for the purpose of inqwring into the conectne:is of any information luraish ed ld connectlon wlth this act or the scheme or tor the purpose 01 , ascel·tai~g whether any of the provisions of this act or of the scheme have been complied with-(a) require an employer to furnish such information u he may consider necessary in relatlon to the scheme; (b) at any reasonable time and with such assistance, if any, 10 ashe may thmk tit, enter any office or board any srup, searcil the same and require anyone found in charge thereof to proquce before him for examination any accounts, books, reglsters and other documents in relabon to the employment of seamen or the payment of wages to seamen; i, (c) examine, with respect to any matter relevant to any of the purposes aforesaid, the employer, his agent or servant or any other person found in charge of the office or the ship or whom the inspector has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been, an employee in the office or on the ship; 20 (d) make copies of, or take extracts from, any book, register:rar other document maintained in coiulectlon with the fund and, where he has reason to believe that any offence under this act has been committed by an employer, seize with such assistance as he may think fit such book, register or other document 2, or portions thereof as he may consider relevant in respect of that offence; (e) exercise such other powers as the scheme may provide (3) the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1898 shall, 5 of 1898 as far as may be, apply to any search or seizure under sub-section 30 (2) as they apply to any search or seizure made under the authority of a warrant issued under section 98 of the said code (4) every inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within 45 of 1860 the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code penalties 16 (1) whoever, for the purpose of avoiding any payment to be 35 made by himself under this act or under the scheme or of enabling any other person to avoid such payment, knowingly makes or causes to be made any false statement or false representation shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or 40 with both (2) the scheme may provide that any person who contraveiu!s, or makes default in complying with, any of the provisions thereof shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six nwnths, or with fine which may extend to one thousand 5 rupees, or with both (3) whoever contravenes or makes default in complying with any provision of this act shall, if no other penalty is elsewhere provided by or under this act for such contravention or non-compliance, be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three months, 10 or with fine which may extend to one thousand! rupees, or with both (4) no court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this act or under the scheme except on a report in writing of the facts constituting such offence made by the seamen's provident is fund commissioner or by an inspector appointed under sub-section (1) of section 15, with the previous sanction of such authority as may be specified in this behalf by the government 17 (1) if th'e person committing an offence under this act or the ~= scheme is a company, every person who at the time the offence was p!m • 20 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 2s any such person liable to any punishment,' if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised due diligence to prevent th'e commission of such offence (2) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) wh'ere an offence under this act or the scheme has been committed 30 bv a company, and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of or is attrrbutable to anv neglect on the ,-:,,:, nart of, any director, manager, secretary or other officpr of the com-drnv, such director, manager secretarv or other officer ph'all be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceed-35 ed against and punished accordingly (3) where any offence under this act or the scheme is committed by a comnany not registered in india and such' a company hrs an ajlent in india which agent is also a company, then the provisions of this section shall apply to such' agent as if the offence 40 wa~ committed by that agent 557 (b) u~-2 ezplamtion-for the purposes of this section-(a) "company" ~eans 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 s power to recover damages 18 where any employer makes default in the payment of any contribution to the fund or in the payment of any charges payable under any other provision of this act or under ·the· scheme, the government may recover from the employer such damages, not exceeding twenty-five per cent of the amount of arrears, as it may 10 think fit transfer of account 19 where 'a seaman leaves the seafaring profession with no present intention of resuming that profession and obtains employment in any establishment to which the employees' provident funds act, 1952, applies, the amount standing to the credit of such seaman in is 19 of 1952 the fund shall be transferred, within such time as may be specified by the board in this behalf, to the credit of his account in the provident fund of that establishment, if ,the seaman 80 desires and the rules in relation to that provident fund 'permit such ·transfer power to 11 exempt zoo (1) the board may, by order ir writing, texempt any seaman jo to whom this act applies and his employer from ole operation of all or any of the provisions of this act if, m the opiluon of the board the seaman is in enjoyment of benefits in the nature of provident fund or pension -and such beneftts, separately or joillfly '8te on  the whole dot less favourable to the seaman than the benefits provided 2s obyor under this act  ' (2) where an 'exemption has been granted under sub-section (1), the employ~r shall not at any time after the grant tjf the exemption, without the leave of the board, reduce the total quantum of benefits in the nature of provident fund, pension or gratuity 30 to which the seaman was entitled at the time of  grant of such ~;~l exemption   (3) any exemption granted under this section may be cancelled qy the board, by order in writing, if the employer fails to"comply with the requirements of sub-section' (2) : 35 provided that no such order shall be made unless the employer has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed cancellation 21 no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie' against the government or the ·board or any officer or 'employee thereof in, ~t:spect 40 aoodfaith of anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act or under the scheme zz (1) the government may, by order, direct that any power or dele,lduty which by this act or by the scheme is conferred or imposed tion 5 upon the government (other than the power to frame a scheme under section 3) shall, in such circumstances and under such eonditions, if any, as may be specified in the direction, be exercised i or discharged also 'by such officer or authority as may be so specified (2) the board may, with the prior approval of the government, 10 delegate to its chairman or to any of its employees, subject to such conditions and limitations if any, as it may specify, such of its functions under this act as it may deem necessary for the efficient administration of the scheme 23 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this power to 15 act, the government may make such order or give such direction, remove not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as 'appears to it to ~i1bcul­be necessary or expedient for the removal of the difficulty, and any ties such order shali be final 24 any scheme framed under this act shall be laid, as soon as scheme 20 may be after it is framed, before each house of parliament while it to be laid is in session for a total period of thirty days which ma~ be com, before prised in one session or in two successive sessions, and, if before the :o~es of expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediate- m~~t­ly following, both houses agree in making any modification' in, any 25 provision of the scheme or both houses 'agree that any provision in the scheme should not be made, that provision of the scheme 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 shaft be without prejudice to the validity of anything 30 previously done under that provision [see section 3 (2) ] \ matters fcyl' which provision may be made in the scheme 1 seamen who shall join the fund 2 the time and manner in which contributions shall be made to s the fund by employers and by, or on behalf of,seamen 3 the payment by the employer of such sums of money as may be necessary to meet the cost of administering the fund and the rate at which and the manner in which the payment shall be made 10 4 other functions of the board  5 the constitution of any committee for assisting the board 6 the opening of regional and other offices of the board 7 the manner in which 'accounts shall be kept, the investments of moneys belonging to the fund in accordance ~ith the directions issued or conditions specified by the government, the preparation of is the budget, the audit of accounts and the submission of reports to the government 8 the conditions under which withdrawals from the fund may be permitted and any deductions or forfeiture may be made and the maximum amount of such deduction or farfeiture 20 9 the fixation by the government in consulftation with the board of the rate of interest payable to members 10 the form in which a seaman shall furnish particulars about himself and his family whenever required i 11 the nomination of a person by a member to receive the 2s amount standing' to rus credit after his death and the cancellation or v'ariation of such nomination 12 the registers and records to 'be maintained with respect to seamen and the returns to be furnished by employers ia the fees to be levied far 8n~f the purposes specified in ~ schedule ii 14 the contraventions or defaults which shall be punishable under section 16 i s 15 further powers, if any, which may be exercised by inspectors 16 the conditions under which a member may be pennltted to pay premia on life insurance from the fund 17 any other matter which is to be provided for in the scheme or which may be necessary or proper for the purpose of implement 10 ing the scheme i  statement of objects ani:> reasonsthe question of providing socia'l secwity for seafarers has been under consideration of the government of india for a long time the national welfare board 'for seafarers, a statutory body, set up under the merchant shiptling act, 1958, at its meeting held at madras on 11th january, 1964, appointed a tripartite committee comprising of the representatives of the shipowners, seamen rand government this committee recommended that contributory provident fund scheme- for seamen should be introduced with eftect from 1st july, 1964, the fate 'of contr!9wion by the employee as well as the employer being 6% of the wages up to 31-3-1968 and 8% of the wages thereafter the report of the tripartite committee was placed before the national welfare board for 'seafarers at its meeting held in bombay on the 23rd december, 1964 and was unanimously approved by the board 2 the bill which generally follows the pattern of the employees' provident funds act, 1952, seeks to implement the above recommendations of the national welfare board for seafarers to begin with, the proposed provident fund scheme will benefttabout 50,000 seamen new delhi; the 4th may, 1965 nityanand kanungo  president's recommendation under articles 117 and 274 of the constitution of india[copy of letter no 14-mt (3) /64, dated the 4th may, 1965 from shri nityanand kanungo, minister of civil aviation to the secretary, lok sahha] i the president, having been informed of the subject matter of the bill to provide for the institution of a provident fund for seamen, recommends under article 117(1) and 117(3) read with article 274(1) of the constitution of india, the introduction of the said bill in the lok sabha and also recommends to the lok sabha the consideration of the bul ' i  financial memorandumthe seamen's provident fund scheme, when framed, will be administered through a board of trustees all expenses relating to the administration of the fund will be met from the administration account of the fund accordingly sub-clause (3)  of dlause 8 provides that every employer shall pay to the board such sums of money ·as may be: specified in the scheme towards the cost of administering the fund 2 pending the r~alisation of the administration charges from the employers,' all expenses in connection with the establishment of the fund will be incurred by the central government and treated as a loan, repayable, with interest, from the administration account of the fund the initial expenditure to be incurred by the gov-c!rnment by way of loan is estimated at about rs 1 lakb'  memorandum regarding delegated legislationsub-clause (1) of clause 3 of the bill provides that the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, frame a scheme to be called the seamen's provident fund scheme : for the purpose of instituting a provident fund for seamen employed under agreements with the crew the matters which may be provided for in the scheme have been specified in the schedule; they inter alia relate to the time and manner in which contributions shall be made to the fund, the manner in wlllch accounts shall be kept, the 'conditions under which withdrawais from the· fund may be permitted, the registers and recards to be maintained by employers and the fees to be levied for any of the purposes specified in the schedule these are matters of procedure and administrative detail and it is hardly practicable to provide for them in the bill itself the delegation of legislative power is, thus, of a normal character a hill to provide for the institution of a provident fund for seamen (shri nilytllllllld ktlllulllo, minuter of ciflil atmtion) 