 the manipur (courts) bill, 1955(as introduced in lok sabha)  the manipur (courts) bill, 1955 (as introduc,ed inlqk sablia) a billto provide for the establishment of a ju;dicaz commissioners court and other courts in manipur be it enacted by parliament in the sixth year of the republic of india as follows:- chapter i p~inary 1 (1) this act may be called the manipur (courts) act, 1955 5 (2) it extends to the whole €if the state of m4!,nip'\lx short title extent rdd commencemeat (3) it shall come into force on such date as the chief commissioner may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint definitiodb z in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,-10 (i) "chief commissioner" means the chief com,missioner - is of manipurj - (ii) "civil suit" includes every suit of a civil nature not expressly or impliedly classed otherwise by any law for the time being in force; (iii) "hill areas" mean such area& in the hill tracts of the state of manipur as the "chief commissioner may, by notification in the ofticial gazette, declare to be hill ~eas; (iv) "district court" means the court of the district judge and includes the court of the additional district judgej  (v) "small cause suit" means a suit of the nature cognizable by a court of small causes under the provincial small cause courts act, 1887; (vi) "value" in relation to a suit means the amount or value of the subject-matter of the suit s  chapter it court of the judicial commissionerbstablish-3 there shall be established for the state of manipur a court to ~:to~ft~he be known as the court of the judicial commissioner for manipur judicial which shall consist of the judicial commissioner and the additional 10 j:is-judicial commissioner, if any !fru~~ft 4 (1) the judicial commissioner and the additional judicial co~c;a commissioner, if any, shall be appointed by, and shall hold ofllee ~~::-i~ during the pleasure of, the president judicial 'commissioner (2) a person shall not be appointed as judicial commissioner or 15 additional judicial commissioner unless he is qualified to be appointed as a judge of a high court under clause (2) of article 217 of the constitution or unless he was, immediately before the commencement of this act, the judicial commissioner of manipur casual vacancy in the office of the judicial rommia sillner  5 on the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of the judicial20 commissioner, the additional judicial commissioner, if any, or if there is no additional judicial commissioner, the senl-most dis, trict judge shall, pending the appointment of the judicial commissioner, act as the judicial commissioner rank, pre-6 the judicial commissioner shall have rank and precedence 25 cedence and reaponaibili- before the additional judicial commissioner and shall be responty of jusible for the administration of, and generally for the distribution of dicial com- b'  h c rt f th j d' , 1 c , missioner  usmess m, t e ou 0 e u icla ommlssloner exercise of jurisdiction by judicial commissioner and additional 7 subject to such orders as the judicial commissioner may make as regards the distribution of business between himself and the 30 additional judicial commissioner, the jurisdiction of the court of the judicial commissioner may"e exercised by the judicial commissioner or by the additional judici,al commissioner j~cial commissioner civil and 8 save as otherwise provided by this act or any other law for rw,r:'on the time being m forced the court of - the judicial commissioner 35 of the ~ shall with reference to any civil or criminal proceeding under any :t= law for the time being in force ill the state of manipur, be the sloner highest co~ti of appeal, revisio:p or r,ferenc~ -  ,  ,   t (1) the judicial commissioner may appoint a 1tegistrar and rct1ttat such other ministerial officers as may be necessary for the admini:oo ~~ tratlon of justice by the court of the judicial commissioner and for of the court the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties eon- ~:~:i-5 ferred or imposed on the court by or under this act or any other mjnioncr law for the time being in force (2) the judicial commissioner may make rules for delegating to the registrar such powers and duties of a judicial, quasi-judicial or non-judicial nature as he thinks fit; and the ministerial officers shall 10 exercise such powers and perform such duties of a quasi-judicial or non-judicial nature as the judicial commissioner may direct 10 (1) the general superintendence and control of all courts in superintenthe state of manipur shall vest in, and all such courts shall be b'ub- :n~ f} ordinate to, the court of the judicial commissioner lut:or~u!'te courts is (2) in exercise of the powers of general superintendence and control vested in it but without prejudice to the generality of such powers, the court of the judicial commissioner may,-(a) call for returns from such courts; (lb) direct the transfer of any suit, proceeding, case or 20 appeal from any subordinate court to any other court of equal or superior jurisdiction; (c) make rules and issue general directions and prescribe forms for regulating practice and procedure of subordinate courts; 25 - (d) prescribe forms in which books, entries and accounts shall be kept by the officers of any such courts 11 (1) the court of the judicial commissioner shall keep such regi8ters registers, books and accounts as may be necessary for the transaction bojbts, 8c-d coud an of the business of the court and shall forward to the chief com- statements co 30 missioner such of these registers, books and accounts and such state- ~: ~p~~ ments of the work done in the court as may, from time to time, be c!m!urequired by the chief commissioner  lioner (2) the court of the judicial commissioner shall also comply with such requisitions as may be made by the central government 35 or the chief commissioner for certified copies of, or extracts from, the records of the court of the judicial commissioner or any court subordinate thereto v of 1908 v,,f 18p8 12 notwithstanding anything contained in the code of civil pfo:dure procedure, 1908, or the code of criminal procedure, 1898, the court ~f ~ ~ 40 of the judicial commissioner shall record evidence and judgments ~ comia-iloner bl such manner and prescribe such forms to be used in proceedings before it, as it may direct by rules made by it with the sanction of the chief commissioner aa'!rtmol\ ai '1:1 (1) the court of the judicial commissioner may subject to ~f ad~=et, such rules as it may with the sanction of the chief commissioner s vru~ aud make, admit proper persons to be advocates, valdis and pleaders in p ca era any court in the state of manipur and may remove or suspend from practice on teasonable cause any person so admitted and may authorise such advocates, valdis and pleaders to plead or to act or to plead and act for parties and accused persons 10 (2) no person other than an advocate, vakil or pleader shall be allowed to plead or to act for parties and accused persons except that any party may appear, plead or act on his own behalf or on behalf of another party if so authorised 14 the court of the judidal commissioner shall be a court of is record and shall have all powers of such court including the power to punish for contempt of itself court of the judicial commislioder to be a court of record place of 15 the court of the judicial commissioner shall sit at implw :~: or ar at such' other place or places, if any, as the judicial commisthe c j~cial sioner may, with the approval of the chief commissioner, from time 20 onumato tim  t ioller e, appom  -  chapter m subordinate courtsclasses of subordinate ,civil 1iotut8 ix of 1887 16 in addition to the court of the judicial commissioner and the courts of small causes established under the provincial small 2s cause courts act, 1887, and the courts established under any other 1'91 for the time being in force, there shall be the following classes of civil courts in the state of manipur, namely:-(i) the district court; 30 (ii) the court of a subordinate judge; <iii> the court of a munsift: provided that the court of a subordinate judge shall be established only with effect from such date as the chief commissioner may, by notification in the omcial gazette, specify civil eli  triotl and district judses· 17 (1) for the purposes of this chapter, the chief commis- 3s sloner may, by notification in the official gamette, divide the state of manipur into civil districts and sub-divisions, alter the limits or the num'ber of these districts and sub-divisions and determine the headquarters of each district and sub-division 12 in section 14 of the principal act, for the words "any declara- amendment ' tion" the words "any declaration or other statement" shall be subs- ofsection 14· utuu!d , 13 after section 15 of the principal act, the following section insertion of s h 11 b  new section s a e mserted, namely:-1,5a "15a if any person who has ceased to be a printer or publisher penalty for of any newspaper fails or neglects to make a declaration in =re d to compliance with section 8, he shall, on conviction before a larat~o~ ~~­magistrate, bf punishable by fine not exceeding two hun- der section 8 10 dred rupees" 14 after section 16a of the principal act, the following section insertion of shall be inserted, namely: _ ~; section "16b if any publisher of any newspaper published in india p~lty for neglects to deliver copies of the same in compliance with ~~ cop~~ i s section ub, he shall, on the complaint of the press registrar e8 of newsbe punishable, on conviction by a magistrate having jur~ fhrrs pre: diction in the place where the newspaper was printed, by registrar fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every default" 15 in section 18 of the principal act in item (12) of the partl- amen~ent 20cultlrs, for the words "or lithographed", the words "cyclostyled or ofsectlon 18, lithographed" shall be substituted 16 after part v of the principal act, the following part shall be insertion of inserted, namely: -rye;, part  "part va registration of newspapers19a the central government may appoint a' registrar of news- appointlnent papers f()f india and such other officers under the general of preal"re-30 superint~den-ce and control of the press rea-istrar as may :h~fii:~ be necessary for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to them by or under this act and may, by general or special order, pro\'ide for tile distribution or allocation of function~ to be performed by them under this act uib (1) the press registrar shall maintain in the prescribed reaister of manner a register of newspapers newapapera  3s (2) the register shall, as far as may be practicable, contain the following particulars about every newspaper published in india, namely:-(a)' the title of the newspaper; (b) the language in which the newspaper is published; (c) periodicity of the publication of the newspaper; (d) the name of the editor printer and publisher of the newspaper; (e) the place of printing and publication; (f) the average number of pages per week; (9) the number of days of publication in the year; (h) the average number of copies printed, the average number of copies sold to the public and the average number of copies distributed free to the public, the average being calculated with reference to such period as may 10 be prescribed; (i) retail selling price per copy; (j) the names and addresses of the owners of the newspaper and such other particulars relating to ownership as may be prescribed; (k) any other particulars which may be prescribed (3) on receiving information from time to time about the aforesaid particulars, the press registrar shall cause relevant entries to be made in the register and may make such necessary alterations or corrections therein as may be 20 required for keeping the register up-to-date 19c on receiving from the magistrate under sectoin 6 a copy of the declaration in respect of a newspaper, the press registrar shall cause relevant entries to be made in the register in respect of the newspaper and shall, as soon as 2s practicable thereafter, issue a certificate of registration in respect of that newspaper to the publish~r thereof  19d it shall be the duty of· the publisher of every newspaper:-(4) to furnish to the press registrar ari annual statement in respect of the newspaper at such time and containing 30 such of the particulars referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19b as may be prescribed; (b) to publish in the newspaper at such times and such of the particulars relating to the newspaper referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19b as may be specified in 3s this behalf by the press registrar 19e the publisher of every newspaper shall furnish to the returns anj press registrar such returns, statistics and other information ~~:~o~; with respect to any of the particulars referred to in sub- newspapers section (2) of section 19b as the press registrar may from time to time require 10 15 19f the press registrar or any gazetted officer authorised by right of achim in writing in this behalf shall, for the purpose of the =r~s and collection of any information relating to a newspaper'documents under this act, have access to any relevant record or document relating to the newspaper in the possession of the publisher thereof, and may enter at any reasonable time any premises where he believes such record or document to be and may inspect or take copies of the relevant records or documents or ask any question necessary for obtaining any information· required to be furnished under this act  20 19g the press registrar shall prepare, in such form and at annual cesuch time each year as may be  prescribed, an annual port report containing a summary of the information obtained by him during the previous year in respect of the newspapers in india and giving an account of the working of such :newspapers, and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the central government 2s 19h on the application of any person for the supply of the furnishing copy of any extt'act from the register and on payment of ~~~;:fr~~ such fee as may be prescribed, the press registrar shall rellister furnish such copy to the applicant in such form and manner as may be prescribed 30 191 subject to the provisions of this act and regulations delegation made thereunder, the press registrar may delegate all or of powers any of his powers under this act to any officer subordinate to him xlv of 1860 3s 19j the press registrar and all officers appointed under this press regis-act shall be deemed to be public servants within the mean- trtahr fti and - - ~ ero ~n ing of section 21 of the indian penal code' to be public f h bl' h f servan, •• 19k i t e pu is er 0 any newspaper-penalty for (a) refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of contra,,:ention  ,  of section sectlon j9d or sectlon 19e; or 19d or bee-(b) furnishes or causes to be furnished to the press regis- tion 19b, etc trar any annual statement, returns, statistics or other information which he has reason to believe to be false; or  penalty for =:0£ irif'dimationxlv of 1860 (c) publishes in the newspaper in pursuance of clause (b) of section 19d any particulars relating to the newspaper which he has reason to believe to be false, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred ruipees , 19l if any person engaged in connection with the collection of information under this act wilfully discloses any information or the contents of any return ~iven or furnished under this act otherwise than in the execution of his duties under this act or for the purposes of the 10 prosecution of an offence under this act or under the indian penal code, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both" 15 :rmenc8:ent 17 in section 20 of the principal act after the words "make ie 20 such rules", the words and figures "not inconsistent with the rules made by the central government under section 20a" shall be inserted hlacrtion  of lb after section 20 of the principal act, the following section 20 new sectlon  2oa ~hall·be inserted, namely:-power of "20a(1) the central government may, by notification in the ~t official gazette, make rulestoue (a) prescribing the particulars which a declaration made and !"ulei subscribed under section 5 mayecontain; 25 (b) prescribing the manner in which copies of any declaration attested by the official seal of a magistrate may be forwarded to the press registrar; (c) prescribing the manner in which copies of any newspaper may be sent to the press registrar under section hb; 30 (d) prescribing the manner in which a register may be maintained under section 19b and the particulars which it may contain; (e) prescribing the particulars which an annual statement to be furnished by the publisher of a newspaper to the press 35 registrar may contain; <f> prescribing the form and manner in which an annual statement under clause (a) of section 19d, or any returns, statistics or other information under section 19e, m~y be furnished to the press registrar; 40 (g) preseribing the fees for furnishing copies of extracts from the register and the manner in which sl,lch copies may be furnished; (h) prescribing the manner in which a certificate of registration may be issued in respect of a newspaper; (i) prescribing the form in which, and the time within which annual reports may be prepared by the press registrar s and forwarded to the central government (2) all rules made under this section shall, as soon as practic£ble after they are made, be laid before both houses of parliament" it after section 21 of the principal act, the following section insertion of new section 10 shall be inserted, namely:-:u "22 this act extends to the whole of india except the state extent of jammu and kashmir"  statement of objects and reasonsthe press laws inquiry committee which was set up by the government to enquire into the press laws made certain recommendations in 1948 for amending the press and· registration of books act, 1867 based partly on these r~ommendations and partly on recommendations made by state governments, who had experienced practical difficulties in the working of the act, the press and registration of books (amendment) bill, 1952 was introduced in parliament the press commission, which was appointed shortly thereafter, reviewed the entire position in respect of the working of the act they substantially endorsed the provisions of the above bill and made certain further recommendations for the amendment of the act the present bill incorporates the provisions of the earlier bill and makes certain further provisions in order to give effect to the recommendations of the press commission 2 the bill makes certain provisions for practical contingencies like temporary changes in the place of printing or publication it also provides that a declaration in respect of a newspaper shall cease t~ have effect if the newspaper does not commence publication whhin a specified period or if it oeases publication for a year or more or if it publishes issues the number of which is less than half of what should have been published in accordance with the declaration made in respect thereof 3 the act was intended to apply to all papers printed (including posters, etc) and, as recommended by the press commission, this intention has been clarified by removing the doubt which judicial decisions seem to have created 4 in accordance with the recommendations of the press commission, it is proposed to set up an organisation undet a press registrar for the purpose of registration of all newspapers published in india and for the collection, maintenance and publication of information concerning them new delhi; the 15th july, 1955 b v keskar   explanatory memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 18 of the bill empowers the central government to make regulations for carrying out certain procedural requirements laid down in the bill these are purely procedural matters of a routine character and relate inter alia to prescribing particulars of declaration, the manner of sending copies of declaration to the press registrar, the delivery of copies of newspapers to the press registrar, the maintenance of a register and the issuing of certificates by the press registrar and fees for furnishing copies of the extrac~s of register maintained by the press registrar the delegated legislation is of a normal character  financial memorandumthe proposed section 19a in clause 16 of the bill contemplates the appointment of a press registrar and such other officers as may be necessary for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to them the nudear organisation, as at present envisaged, would require an initial non-recurring expenditure of about rs 20,000/-and an annual recurring expenditure of about 50,000/- the cost may increase depending upon the functions which may be assigned to this organisation and it is, therefore, not possible at this stage to form a more accurate estimate for the year 1955-56, it is expected that the following sums will be required:-non-recurring rs 20,0001- recurring rs 30,000/- no provision has been made in the budget for this purpose, but the necessary funds will be made available by re-appropriation, if possible funds in respect of subsequent years will vary from year to year, and will be provided for in the budget estimates in the normal way xv';£1950 45 the court of the judicial commissioner established under declaradoq section 3 is hereby declared to be a high court for the purposes of ~f~~f j:; articles 132, 133 and 134 of the constitution; and the provisions of missioner'1 the judicial commissioners' courts (declaration as high courts) ~~igh 5 act, 1950 shall apply to that court as they apply to a judicial com· court for missioner's court in existenee at the commencement of this act ~:!,~ea -  statement of objects ant> lleasonsthe constitution and organisation of courts in the plains area of manipur are regulated by the manipur state courts act, 1947, as amended by the manipur state courts (amendment) order, 1950, while the hill areas are governed by the manipur state hill peoples (administration) regulation, 1947 even after the amendment of the manipur state courts act, 1947, by the aforesaid order several anomalies and discrepancies were found in the act and it is considered necessary to recast the entire law the present bill seeks to regulate the constitution of courts in manipur and the limits of their jurisdiction and will replace the manipur state courts act, 1947, the manipur state courts (amendment) order, 1950, and also the manipur state hill peoples (administration) regulation, 1947, in so far as it relates to administration of justice in the hill areas the provisions contained in the measure are generally on the lin,es of similar laws in other part c states under the bill, regular courts will now be established for the first time in the hill areas of manipur the hill' people are not familiar with the complexities of the procedure relating to civil suits the bill provides for a simplified procedure for the benefit of the hill people g b pant new delhi; the 24th september, 1955 ":1' i _ the manipur (courts) bill, 1955, seeks to regulate the constitution of the courts in manipur and the limits of their jurisdiction as a result of this bill, it will be necessary to -entertain certabt additional staff the minimum additional expenditure is estimated at rs 38,600 per anlllolm recurring, worked out as follows:-| designation                      | of               ||----------------------------------|------------------|| oftic:er                         |                  || proposed                         | to               || be                               |                  || scale                            |                  || of                               |                  || appoidted                        |                  || ~                                |                  || per                              |                  || section                          |                  || of                               |                  || the                              |                  || act                              |                  || month                            |                  || averqe                           |                  || liiiduai                         |                  || colt                             |                  || ----                             |                  || figures                          |                  || in                               |                  || rupees                           |                  ||                                 |                  || stqjf                           |                  || 3                               | a               || additional                       |                  || judicial                         |                  || ctnrrmiuiorvr                    |                  || and                              |                  || hu                               |                  || 1,000                            |                  || ~12,ooo                          |                  || 1,000                            |                  || i                                |                  || additional judicial commi88ioner |                  || i                                |                  || upper                            |                  || division                         |                  || clerk                            |                  || 100-5-150                        |                  || 139                              |                  || ~1,668                           |                  || 2                                |                  || lower division                   | oem              || 144                              |                  || 1718                            |                  || 3 peons                          |                  || 79                               |                  || 94b                              |                  || deamea                           | allowance        || 4c>-2-s0-3-                      |                  || 11<>-4-100                       |                  || 22-1/2-28                        |                  ||                                |                  || totu-additional                 | judicial c0mmis- || sioner                           |                  || and                              |                  || his                              |                  || staff                           |                  ||                                |                  || 281                              |                  || -                                |                  || 3372                            |                  ||                                 |                  ||                                |                  || 19706                          |                  || 18 b                            |                  || additional district              |                  || judi'                            |                  || anti                             |                  || hu                               |                  || st4/!                           |                  || i                                |                  || additional district              |                  || judge                            |                  || 450-                             |                  || 2                                |                  || 5--850                           |                  || 692                              |                  || 8304                            |                  || 1                                |                  || upper                            |                  || division                         |                  || clerk                            |                  || 105-5-150                        |                  || 139                              |                  || 1,668                            |                  || 2                                |                  || lower                            | division clerks  || 144                              |                  || 1,718                            |                  || 4c>-2-s0-                        |                  || 3--80---4-100                   |                  || 3                                |                  || peons                            |                  || 7'j                              |                  || 948                              |                  || deame88 allowance                |                  || 2a-1/a-zs                        |                  ||                                |                  || totu-additional                 | district         || ju~                              |                  || and                              | bialta1[         || 186                              |                  || 2,232                            |                  || r                                |                  || 14>870                           |                  || 1 &                              |                  || 18                               |                  || c                               |                  || corstirwmt                       |                  || ~                                |                  ||                                |                  || totu-rec:urrid&!cloit           |                  || orrs                             | •               ||                                |                  ||                                |                  || 4,000                            |                  ||                                |                  || 38,tl6                           |                  ||                                |                  || 38,600                           |                  || per                              |                  || 1idilwd                         |                  | legislationthe object of the manipur (courts) bill is to pl'o'yitte for the constitution and organisation of the courts of manipur clauses 9(2), 10(2)(c) 12, 13(1), 19(2), 30(3) and 40 of the bill empower the chief commissioner and judicial commissioner, manipur, to make rules regulating the practice and procedure el the various courts in manipur and matters incidental thereto broadly, the rules will relate to the follov:ing matters: (a) delegation by the judicial commissioner of powers and duties of a judicial, quasi-judicial or non-judicial nature to the registrar; (b) practice and proeedure to be followed in subordinate cqurts; (c) recording of evidence 'and judgments in the _judicial commissioner's court; (d) admission and, removal of advocates, vakils and pleaders; (e) qualifications of persons to be appointed as subordinate judges and munsiffs; (f) appointment of ministerial officers of the courts; (g) supervision of all courts sudordinate to the court of the judicial commissioner and their inspection; (h) translation of any papers filed in the court of the judicial commissiorer and the preparation of paper-books for hearing of appeals and the copying, typing or printing of any such papers or translations and the recovery from the persons at whose instance or on whose behalf papers are filed, all the expenses thereby incurred; (i) fees to be charged for proce!lses issued by a civil court or by any officer of any such court and the fee payable in any suit or proceeding, in any such court by any party to such suit or proceeding in respect of the fees of the' pleader of any other party to such suit or proceeding; ,  (j) manner in which the proceedings of civii courts shall be kept and recorded, and the manner in which paper-books for the hearing shall be prepared and the granting of copies; (k) matters relating to the offtcers of the judicial commissioner's court; (1) persons to be permitted to act as petition-writers in the subordinate courts or act as pleader's clerks; (m) issue of licences to persons referre6toin clause (l) above conduct of business by them and the seale of fees to be charged by them; and - (n) determining the authority by which breaches of such rules shall be investigated and the penalty which may be 1mpoaed  2 in enactments relating to the constitution of courts, provisions regarding practice and procedure of the courts and matters incidental thereto are generally made through rules the power delegated to the chief commissioner and judicial commissioner, manipur, is therefore normal moreover, tn the peculiar circumstances in manipur with a large hill area and situated in the border, it is necessary that the chief commissioner and the judcial commissioner should have the powers proposed to be dele,ated to them  --:-=-,,  a billto orovide for the establishment of a judicial commissioner's court and other courts in manipur the president has, in pursuance of clause (3) ofartic1e 117 of the constitution of india, recommended to lok sabha the consideration of the bill mn kaul, secretary (shri goomd ballabh pant minister qf home ajjairs) 