 lci( sabhacgrrige "[)a to the preventiln lf blar:l(1~arketn'(; nld "apltenp,"re cf supplies lf essential c\"'~ ldities pill 1980 (to !?~tl\_s_i~1f~9!-1~2_ in_ 1-_<?!2at'ha) 1 page 4, in the marginal heading to clause 8,-for "t:::ders" ef§9 "0 rde r" 2 page 5, in the marcinal heading to clause 11,-read "prlcedure" fur "prvcedure z" ne~i delhi; january 22 1980 f""agna- 2~-1~1\saka}  the prevention of blackmarketing and maintenance of supplies of essential commodities bill, 1980 a billto provide for detention in certain cases for the purpose of prevention of blackmarketing and maintenance of suppliea of commodities essential to the community and for matters con~d therewith be it enacted by parliament in the thirtieth year of the republic of india as follows:-:1 (1) this act may be called the prevention of blackmarketing short and maintenance of supplies of essential commodities act, 1980 title, extent $ (2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammll ~ci = xashmir minotmen', (i> it ahall be deemed to have come into toroe em the dtb dq of october, 1878 2 in thia ad, linless the:! c~ntext oth~rwise requites,-beflni; tion; to (a) "appropriate government" means, as respects a dc!taluort order made by the central government or by an officer of the central government or a person detained under such order, the central government, and as respects a detention order made by a stat! i government or by an officer of a state government or as respecta a person detained under such order, the state government; (b) "detention order" means an order made under section 3; (c) "state government", in relation to a union territory, means the administrator thereof s power to  enter  ", najd ••• adi 3 (1) the central government or a state government or any officer of the central government, not below the rank of a joint secretary to that government specially empowered for the purposes of this section by that government, or any officer of a state government, not below the rank of a secretary to that government specially empowered for the 10 purposes of this section by that government, may, if satisfied, with respect to any person that with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies of commodities essential to the community it is necessary lio to do, make an order directing that such person be detained is explanation-fol' the purposes of this sub-section, the expresltion "acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of liupplieli of commodities essential to the comm'unity" mean&-(a) committing or instigating any person to commit any offence punishable under the essential commodities act, 1955, or under 20 loot 1956 any other law for the time being in force relating to the control of the production, supply or distribution of, or trade and commerce in, any commodity essential to the community; or (b) dealing in any commodity-(i) which is an essential commodity as defined in the essen- 25 tial commoditieli act, 1955, or 10 of ihi (ii) with respect to which provisions have been made in any such other law as iii referred to in clause (a), with a view to making gain in any manner whieh may directly or irutirectly defeat or tend to defeat the provilion of t~t act or other 30 law atoreeaid - (i) -'»1 of the followini officer, namely:-(a) diatrict magiatratej; (b) commijsionen of police, whe~ver they have been appointed may also, if satisfied as provided in sub-section (1) j exercise the 3$ power conferred by the said sub-tection <,> wh8ll any order u made under thf  etion by an omcer men-u_ad in 81lb-acti0il (~), he shall forthwith report the fact to the state government to which he is s'ubordinate together with the grounds on which the order has been made and such other particulars as in his 40 opinion have a bearing on the matter, and no such order shall "main in force for more than twelve days after the making thereof unlen in the mmme it hai been approved by the state government; provided that where under section a the grounds of detention are ~ommanicatsd by the authority making the order after five day but 4s not later than ten days from the date of detention, this sub-sectiod shall apply subject to the modification uu:t for the words "twelve days", the words "fifteen· d~ys" shall be substituted (4) when any order is made or approved by the state government s 'under this section or when any order is made under thi· section by an officer of the state government not below the rank of seeretary to that government specially empowered under sub-section (1), the state government shall, within seven days, report the fact to the central government together with the grounds on which the order has been made and 10 such other particulars as, in the opinion of the state government, have a bearing on the necessity for the order 4 a detention order may be executed at any place in india in the manner provided !or the execution of warrants of arrest under the code of criminal procedure, 1973 j of 1974 j 5 5 every person in respect of whom a detention order has been made shall be liable-power to ftiulate place in« conditions of detentiaa (a) to be detained in irich place and under iluch condltioal, •• cluding conditions as to maintenance, discipline add pubis""t for breaches of discipline, as the appropriate governmeat may by 20 ,eneral or apeeiaj order, specify; and (b) to be removed from one place of detention to another place of detention, whether within the same state or in anotber state, by order of the appropriate government: provided that no order shall be made by a state government under - 2s clause (b) for the removal of a person from one state to another state except with the consent of the government of that other state 6 no detention order shall be invalid or inoperative merely by reaaon-(4) that the person to be detained thereunder is outalde the 30 limits of the territorial jurisdiction of the government or officer making the order, or (b) that the place of detention of such person is outside the said limits 7 (1) if appropriate government has reason to believe that a penjon 3s in respect of whom a detention order has been made has absconded or is concealing himself so that the order cannot be executed, that go,· ernment may-detentioa order8 dot to be invalid er in-'operative on eertain ll'oundl powen i relatten te abecond iiitr person • (a) make a report in writing of the fact to a metropolitan magiltrate or a judicial magiatrate of the first class having jurisdiction 40 in the place where the said person ordinarily resides; and thereupon the provisions of sections 82, 83, 84 and 85 of the code of criminal 2 of 1974 procedure, 1973, shall apply in respect of the said person and hb property as if the order directing that he be detained were a warrant iswed by the magistrate; 45 (b) by order notified in the oftlcial gazette direct the said per ion to appear before such officer, at such place and within such period as may be specified in the order; and if the said person fails to comply with such eirection he shall, unless he proves that it was not possihle for him to comply therewith and that lie had, within 50 the period specified in the order, informed the omcer mentioned in the order of the reason which rendered compliance therewith impossible and of his whereabouts, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both (2) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, every offence under clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall 5 "of 19'16- be cognizable 8 (1) when a person is detained in pursuance of a ~letention order, the authority making the order shall, as soon as may be, but ordinarily not later than five days and in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing, not later than ten days from the date of de ten- 10 tion, communicate to him the grounds on which the order has been made and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order to the appropriate government ckoundj of order of detentioa to be disclosed to person atrected by the orderi  j (2) nothing in sub-section (l) shall require the authority to disclose facts which it considers to be against the public interest to disclole is 9 (1) the central government and each state government shau, whenever necessary, constitute one or more advisory boards for the purposes of this act coiliiututioa 01 adviaory boardj (2) the constitution of every such board shall be in accordance with the recommendations of the chief justice of the appropriate high co"1rt 20 (3) every such board shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other members, and the chairman shall be a serving judge of the appropriate high court and the other members shall be serving or retired judges of any high court explanation-in this section "appropriate high court" means-25 (a) in the case of the detention of a person in pursuance of an order of detention made by the central government or an officer of the central government or the administrator of the union territory of delhi or an officer subordinate to such administrator, the high court for the union territory of delhi; 30 (b) in the case of the detention of a per,son in pursuance of an order of detention made by any state government (other than the administrator of a union territory) or an officer of such state government, the high court for that state; and (c) in the case of the detention of a person in pursuance of an 35 order of detention made by the administrator ot a union territory (other than the union territory of delhi) or an officer subordinate to such administrator, such high court as the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, specify with respect to such union territory 40 reference to advi-~ boardl 10 save as otherwise expressly provided in this act, in every case where a detention order has been made under this act, the appropriate government shall, within three weeks from the date of detention of a person under the order, place before the advisory board constituted by it under section 9, the grounds on which the order has been made and 45 the representation, if any, made by the person affected by the order, and in case where the order has been made uy an officer referred to in sub-section (2) of section 3, also the report by such officer under sub~ retion (3) of that section, boarct 11 (1) the advisory board shall, after considering the materials placed before it and, after calling for such further information as it may deem necessary from the appropriate government or from any person called for the purpose through the appropriate government or from the 5 person concerned, and if, in any particular case, it considers it essential so to do or if the person concerned desires to be heard, after hearing him in person, submit its report to the appropriate government within seven weeks from the date of detention of the person concerned 10 (z) the report of the advisory board shall specify in a separate part thereof the opinion of the advisory board as to whether or not there is wfticient cause for the detention of the person concerned (3) when there is a difference of opinion among the members form ing the advisory board, the opinion of the majority of such members shall be deemed to be the opinion of the board is (4) nothing in this section shall entitle ally persell agaiftst w •• m a detention order has been made to appear by any legal practitioner in any matter connected with the reference to the advisory board, and the proceedings of the advisory board, and its report, excepting that part of the report in which the opinion of the advisory board is specified, 20 shall be confidential  12 (1) in any case where the advisory boara has reported that there is in its opinion sufficient cause for the detention of e person, the appropriate government may confirm the detention order and continue the detention of the person concerned for such period as it thinks ftt action upoil tile report of ad"ri-i!icti'y - board 25 (z) in any case where the advisory board has reported that there is in its opinion no sufficient cause for the detention of the person concerned, the appropriate government shall revoke the detention order ana cause the person to be released forthwith 13 the maximum period for which any person may be detained in 30 pursuance of any detention order which has been confirmed under section 12, shall be six months from the date of detention: maximum period of detentiojl provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the power of the appropriate government to revoke or modify the detention order at any earlier time 35 10 of 1897 14 (1) witho'ut prejudice to the provisions of section !1 f tlte general clauses act, 1897, a detention 'order may, at any time, be revoked or modified-kevocation of detea- -den (a) notwithstandin~ t  llt the rder has beea made hy all mcer of a state government, by that state government or by the central government; (b) notwithstanding that the order has been made by an om~f''' of the central government or by a state government, by the central government ' i  (2) the revocation or expiry of a detention order shall not bar the 45 making of a fresh detention order under section 3 against the same pet-son in any case where fresh facts have arisen after the date of revocation or expiry on which the central government or a state government or "an officer, as the case may be, is satisfied that 8uch an order should be made 15 (1) the appropriate government may, at any time, direct that any person detained in pursuance of a detention order may be reieoed for an~ specifted period either without conditions or upon such conditions s specified in the direction as that person accepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release ral)y releue of person detained (z) in directing the release of any person under sub  section (1), the appropriate government may require him to enter into a bond with or wlthotit 8'ilreties for the due observance of the conditions specified in the 10 direction (3) any person released under sub-section (1) shall surrender himself at the time and place, and to t'he authority, specified in the order directing hia release or cancelling his release, as the cue may be (4) if any penon fails without sufficient cause to surrender himself is in the manner specified in sub-section (3), he shall be punishable with imprisonment' for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, ar with both i - - (5) if any person released under sub-section (1) fai1e to fulftl any of the conditions imposed upon him under the said sub-section or in the 20 bond entered into by him, the bond shall be declared to be forfeited and any person bound thereby shall be liable to pay the penalty thereof 1 no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the central government or a state government, and no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person, for anything in good faith 25 done or intended to be done in pursuance of this act proteo tion of actiol\ taken 1a jood t-itil , it (1) the prevention of blaekmarketing and maintenanee of supplies of essential commodities ordinance, 1979, is hereby repealed 10 of \979 aiid law ' ; t (z) notwithstanding such repeal anything done or any aetion taken under the oi'tiinance so repealed shall be deemed to have been done or 30 taken under the corresponding provisions of this act  statement of objects and reasons~rhe prevention of blackmarketing and maintenance of supplies of essential conlinodities ordinance, 1979 was promulgated, on the 5th october, 1979 to deal effectively with malpractices like bl1ckmarketing, hoarding, profiteering, and to arrest the unjustified rise in prices of essential conunodities by providing for the preventive detention of persons likely to indulge in such practices although the essential commodities act, 1955 made comprehensive provisiona for the regulation of production, suw1y, distribution, prices and trade and commerce in commodities declared essential 1d1der the act and although the penal provisions in the act were made more stringent jn accordance with the recommendations of the law commission in their forty-ieventh report, it waa found not adequate to deal with the situation 2 the ordinance rccogni3ed preventive detention as a necessary evil and accordingly &ought to provide tor various safeguards to avoid c:cope for possible abuse of powers thereunder the ground on which a person could be detained under the ordinance was defined specifically it provided that an order directing the detention of a !;)e1'1ion could be made thereunder only with a view to preventing sueh person from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies of commoditiellil essential to the community and it also defined the expression "acting in any jll8ilder prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies of commodiues essential to the community" the ordinance made provisions to ensure that the composition of the advisory boards thereunder was in accordance with the amendments proposed to article 22 o£ the constitution by section 3 of the constitution (forty-fourth amendment) act, 1978 it also made the necessary ","ovisiona for ensming, in accordance with the said amendments, that a pei'5on is not detained for a period longer than two months without the approval of an advisory board unlike the earlier laws as to preventive detention, the ordinance limited the maximum period of detention to six montha i the proviliona of the ordinance are useful u a deterrent measure to- combat malpractlc88 like blackmarketing, hoardilli, and proflteer:tna 4 the bill  b to replace the aid oi'dinanoe new dl:lhij pranab mukherjee the 18th janu41'j/, 1980 trnder clause 5(a) of the bill, the central government has power td regulate the conditions of detention of persons detained in pursuance of an order of the central government or an officer of the central government clause 9(1) of the bill provides intet alia for the constitution of advisory boards by the central ~vernment 2 an administrative cell consisting of a joint secretary and necessary complement of staff has already been created in the department of· civil supplies for processing all matters connected with the implementation of the prevention of blackmarketing and maintenance of supplies of essential commodities ordinance some expenditure of a recurring nature from out of the consolidated fund of india will be involved with respect to the facilities which will have to be provided in accordance with the conditions of detention envisaged by clause 5(a) of the bill to persons detained in union territories which do not have their own consolidated funds but the quantum of this ex~nditure cannot be estimated as that will depend upon the number of persons who may be so detained from time to time some expenditure of a recurring nature will have to be incurred in connection with the advisory boards also and it is not possible at this stage to make an accurate estimate of the expenditure which may be involved it is, however, estimated that the recurring expenditure on the administrative cell, the provision of facilities aforementioned and in connection with the advisory boards is not likely to exceed rs 250 lakhs per year the non-recurring expenditure on account of office equipment of the administrative cell referred to above is not likely to exceed ra 050 lakhs 3 the provisio!l's o~ the bill do not involve any other expenditure of a recurring or non-recurring nature clause 5() of the bill provides that every person in respect of whoa a detention order has been made shall be liable to be detained in such plaee and under such conditions, including conditions as to maintenanee, diseipline and punishment for breaches of discipline, as the appropriate government may, by general or special order, speeify the matters to be specified in such orders are matters of detail and it t not practicable to provide for them in the bill the dalpti fill l,wative power is therefore of a normal barutao  i' - _,                               - i'· ~                                                                            ~ r' ,'                                                                                   9  billto provide for detention in eertain eases for the purpose ot prevention of blaekmarkf'ting and maintenance at supplies of commodities -ntial to the community and for matters connected therewith , '~'" (shri pnmb mukhe"';ee, minu-te1' of commet'ce) 