i"~ - :""'1 '~ ~  -j' , ••• "6' "  bill no 68 of 1871  the gold (control) amendment: bill, l'yii ' r a billfurthet to amend the gold (conttol) ' act, 1968 be it enacted by parliament in the twenty-second' year of the' republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the gold (control) amendment ,act, 1971 shorttitll and commence-s (2) it shall be deemed to have come into forae on the 20th day of may, ment 1971 1968 z in section 71 of the gold (control) act, 1968 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act),-amend ment of li8c-tion 71 (i) for 8ub-section (1), the follwing sub-section shall be; and 10 shall be deemed always to have been, substituted, namely:-"(1) any gold in respect of which any provision of this aet or any rule or order made thereunder has been, or is beinlj, or is attempted to be, contravened, to~~,· with any package;' covering or receptacle in which such gol \'ij found, shall be liable to confiscation: provided that where it is established to the satisfaction of the oftlcer adjudging the confiscation that such gold or other thing belongs to a person other than the person who has, by any act or omission, rendered it liable to conftscatlon, and such act or omission was without the knowledge or connivance of the person to whom it belongs, it shall not be ordered to be confhlcated but such other action, as is authorised by this act, may be tae against the person who has, by such act or omission, rendered it liable to confiscation"; (ii) for sub-sections (2), (3) and (4), the fallowing sub-sections shall be substituted, namely: -s "(2) where any package, covering or receptacle referred to in sub-section (1) contains any other goods, such contents shall also be liable to confiscation (3) where any gold is liable to confiscation under sub-section (1), it shall be so liable notwithstanding any change in its form, 10 and where such gold is mixed with other goods in such manner that it cannot be separated from those other goods, the whole of such goods, including the gold, shall be liable to confiscation (4) on and from the commencement of the gold (control) amendment act, 1971, the proviso to sub-section (1) shall also is apply to any gold or other thing which is liable to confiscation under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) " 3 in section 73 of the principal act, the word "twice" shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, omitted amendment of __ tion 73 re-openlng of past conftsca uont  (4) (1) where any order ma~, before the eommencement of this 20 ad,lor" theeonfiscation of any gold or other thing or giving option to pay he in lieu· therenf if! sueh that it eould not have been made if the principal act, as amended by this act, were in force on the date on which the said order was made, the ofqeer eompetent under section 78 to adjudge sueh eonfiscatlon shall, on an applieation made to him by the 25 person aggrieved by such order, let :aside the order of eodseation or as the case may be, the ol'der giving option to pay fine fine in lieu of confiscation, and also any order imposing penalty in addition to eonfiscation or giving option to pay fine in lieu thereof, and make a fresh adjudication in aceordance with the pro'visiods of the prineipal act, as amended "y 30 this act (2) the power referred to in sub-section (1) shall be exercised by the oftlcer specified therein in relation to the final order of adjudication of confiscation or giving option to pay fine in lieu thereof or imposing any penalty, whether or not such flnal order was made in appeal under sec- 3s tion 80 or in revision under section 81 or section 82 (3) every application referred to in sub-section (1) shall be made within ninety days from the commencement of this act or within such further time, not exceeding ninety days, as the officer specified in that sub-6ection may on suftlcient cause being shown, allow 40 (4) where, and ill 50 far a,dy order for the codfiacatlod of any "old or other thing, or w olitionkiven 'to pay ftne in lieu of conflseation~ or imposing any penalty is modified or reversed, the omeer specified in bitb-sectlon (1) shall make an order for sueh refund or restitution as thtl l'!ircumstances of the case may require: 45 _---provided that where the restitution of any gold or other thing is not practicablte, the said authority shall make an order for the payment to the person to whom such restitution is to be made the market value of such gold or other thing, as on the date on which the fresh adjudication is made ~ (5) nothing in this section shan apply to any confiscation made, option given to pay tine in heu of confiscation, or penalty imposed under part , xii-a of the defence of india rules, 1962 validation 5 notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court, any confiscation made, penalty imposed or fine levi<>d under the gold (con-45 of 1968 trol) act, 1968, before the commencement of this act shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be deemed to have 10 been made, imposed or levied in accordance with the provisions of the gold (control) act, 1968, as amended 'by this act a of 1971 8 (1) the gold ~ontrol) amendment ordinance, 1971 is hereby repealed repeal and savin, • is (2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done, any action taken or any order made under the said ordinance shall be deemed to have been done, taken or made under the corresponding provisions of the gold 45 of 1968 (control) act, 1968, as ame,nded by this act by two writ petitions and two civil appeals, the legislative competence of parliament to enact the gold (control) act, 1968, was challenged before the supreme court in addition, the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the act, namely, (i) section 8(1) which imposes a ban on the possession of primary gold, and (ii) sections 6, 16, 58, 71, 74 and 86 which respectively provide for submission of returns by pawd-brokers, filing of declarations, search, confiscation, imposition of penalty and prosecution for non-declaration of gold, was also challenged the supreme court by a judgment, delivered on the 30th march, 1971, upheld the vires of the gold (control) act, 1968 and also upheld the constitutional validity of all the sections, except that of section 71, which were impugned before that court 2 th~ invalidation of section 71, which provides for the confiscation (if gold in relation to which any provision of the act has been contravened, would have prevented the government from achieving the central object of too law, namely, prevention of the circulation of the smuggled" gold, by the administration of the gold (control) act, 1968 the gold (control) amendment ordinance, 1971, was, therefore, promulgated by the pre:::ident by that ordinance, it has been provided that where in relation to any gold any provision of the act is contravened, the gold, if belonging to the offender, would be liable to be confiscated, but where such gold belongs to an innocent person and not to the offender, such gold shall not be ordered to be confiscated but such punitive action, as is provided in the act, may be taken against the offender for the contravention of the law 3 in view of the observations made by the supreme court, the maximum fine which could be imposed in lieu of confiscation, under section 73, has also been reduced to a sum not exceeding the value of the gold 4 since the amendment of section 71 has been made retrospective, provisions have been made in the ordinance for the reopening of past adjudications of conft-cation and for fresh adjudication in the light of the provisions of the act, as amended by the said ordinance provisions for restitution or refund, where necessary, have also been made in the ordinance 5 the bill seeks to replace the said ordinance new dam; the 23rd mati, 1971 k r ganesh  presidents recommendation under article 117 of the constitution of india[copy of letter no f144\10\71-gcii, dated the 26th may, 1971 from shrt k r ganesb, minister of state in the ministry of finance (vitta mantralaya men rajya mantri) to the secretary, lot sabha] the president having been infornled of the subject matter of the gold control (amendment) bill, 1971, has recommended, under clauses (1) and (3) of article 117 of the constitutidll, the introduction and consioeration of the bill by the lok sabha  - -- , the bill seeks to replace the gold (control) amendment ordinance, 1971 it would not require any addition to the staff which is already in position therefore, the bill, if enacted, would not involve any recurring expenditure on the requirement of personnel and finances in addition to what is being incurred at present on the enforcement of gold control •• 2 clause 4 of the bill, however, provides for reopening of cases, as a consequence of which, in certain cases, it may become necestary either to restitute gold or other thing that may have been confiscated 1:1 the past, or where such restitution is not possible, to pay the market value of such gold or other thing it may also become necessary to refund the fine in lieu of confiscation of gold or other thing or penalty imposed in the past it is, however, not possible to anticipate accurately the net expenditure which would be involved in this process however, expenditure so involved is not likely to exceed, in any case, rupees 5 lakhs  extracts from the gold (control) act,196845 of 1968 - - - - - chapter xiii  confiscation and penaltiesconfisca tion of ,old 71 (1) any gold in respect of which any provision of this act or any rule or order made thereunder has been, or is being, or is attempted to be, contravened, shall be liable to confiscation (2) any package, covering or receptacle (including its other contents) in which any gold liable to confiscation under sub-section (1) is found shall also be liable to confiscation (3) where any gold liable to confiscation under sub-section (1) is mixed with other gq()ds in such manner that such gold cannot be separated from those other goods, the whole of such goods shall be liable to confiscation power to live option to pay fine in lieu of confilleation (4) any gold which is liable to confiscation under sub-section (1), shall be so liable notwithstanding any change in its form  - - - - - 'l3 whenever any confiscation is authorised by this act, the officer adjudging it may, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order adjudging the confiscation, give to the owner thereof an option to pay in lieu of confisc3tion such fine, not exceeding twice the value of the thing in respect of which confiscation is authorised, as the said officer thinks fit - - - - - -~ a bill further to amend the gold (control) act, 1968 \ [shri k r gqii8sh, minister of stale in the ministry of finance (vitta mantraiaya men rqjya mane")] 