 bill no  xvii of  2010 the prevention of hoarding and profiteering bill, 2010 a billto provide for the prevention of hoarding and profiteering of essential commodities ofdaily use of citizens particularly of common man in the country and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1)  this act may be called the prevention of hoarding and profiteering act, 2010short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force at once52 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "dealer" means any person, partnership or firm carrying on the business of purchasing and selling any of the articles specified in the schedule to this act and includes a producer, importer, wholesaler or retailer of such article;10(b) "hoarding" means accumulating essential goods or stocks intended for sale to consumers with a view to cornering such goods so as to create their artificial scarcity and to raise their selling prices thereafter;(c) "importer" means any person who brings in any of the scheduled articles into the state where he carries on his business from any other place outside the state for sale purposes in the state;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; (e) "profiteering" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means the sale by a dealer of any scheduled article at a price or rate higher than the rates fixed under section 4 of this act;5(f) "retailer" means a person who sells any scheduled article to a consumer not being a dealer;(g) "scheduled article" means any of the articles specified in the scheduled to this act;10(h) "wholesaler" means a person, partnership or firm who sells any scheduled article to any dealer and includes a broker, commission agent or any other agent having authority to sell any scheduled article belonging to his principal 3 hoarding of and profiteering in the scheduled articles is hereby prohibitedprohibition of hoarding and profiteering of scheduled articles154 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, fix the maximum rates or prices in respect of the scheduled articles which may be charged by a dealer or retailer in respect of such articles from the consumers;provided that different prices may be fixed for different zones or states in the countrycentral government to fix maximum prices for sale of scheduled articles penalty for hoarding and profiteering5 (1) whoever profiteers in any scheduled article shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to seven years or with fine amounting to not less than two lakh rupees or with both20(2) the scheduled article or articles in respect of which the offence has been committed or any part thereof, as the court may deem fit, shall be forfeited to the government25(3) any person found deliberately hoarding any scheduled article or any other commodity generally required for daily consumption of common man, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to seven years or with fine amounting to not less than five lakh rupees or with both and the articles so hoarded by such person shall also be confiscated by the government6 (1) any dealer, retailer or wholesaler, who without reasonable excuse,—(a) refuses to sell any scheduled article; or30penalty for refusal to sell and purchase scheduled articles at fixed price(b) refuses to sell any scheduled article at the price fixed in respect thereof under section 4, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to five years or with fine amounting to not less than one lakh rupees or with both35(2) any purchaser or consumer who purchases any scheduled article at a price more than the maximum price fixed thereof under section 4 shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine amounting to not less than two lakh rupees or with both40power to search and seize of scheduled articles7 when any police officer not below the rank of assistant commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a contravention of any of the provisions of this act, such officer may, after recording in writing the grounds of his belief, at all reasonable hours, enter and search, without any warrant, any place where a dealer, retailer or wholesaler keeps, or is for the time being keeping, any scheduled article, accounts, registers or anything, such officer may deem fit and, if necessary, inspect, seize or retain all or any of them for so long as they may be required for further investigation into any offence under this act8 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, all offences punishable under this act shall be cognizablecognizance of offence and arrest without warrant5(2) any police officer not below the rank of a assistant commissioner may arrest without warrant any person against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received of his having been concerned in any of the offences punishable under this actpowers to add any other article to the schedule9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, add to the schedule any other article of daily use, and thereupon the schedule shall be deemed to have been amended accordingly and the article so added shall be deemed to be the scheduled article within the meaning of this act1010 if any order controlling the price of any essential commodity within the meaning of the essential commodities act, 1955 has been made before or after the commencement of this act and if such essential commodity is also a scheduled article within the meaning of this act, that order shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in this act, or any order made thereunder15effect of orders inconsistent with the provisions of the essential commodities act, 1955 or orders made thereunder power to make rules11 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act the  schedule[see sections 2(f) and 9]11 wheat and wheat products 12 rice and rice in the husk 13 pulses 14 spices 15 edible oils including vanaspati 16 sugar and raw sugar 17 baby food 18 paper and paper products 19 drugs and medicines 10 skimmed milk powder 11 kerosene oil 12 janata cloth 13 kerosene oil statement of objects and reasonsthese days the common man is in the grip of steep rise in the prices of essential commodities required for his daily use the prices are rising so menacingly that it has become impossible for the common man to have two time meals the worst sufferers are daily wage workers, rickshaw pullers, hawkers, domestic workers and others doing petty jobs for the ordinary households, managing monthly budget is becoming next to impossible the situation is further aggravated when the essential commodities are not available in the market despite good harvests in the country this is because some unscrupulous traders, brokers and middlemen resort to hoarding of essential commodities to create artificial scarcity and, thereafter, indulge in profiteering in these items for their own vested interests as a result hoarding and profiteering in foodgrains, medicines and several other commodities which are essential to the daily life of the citizens have become common these days which is adversely affecting the common man and the country as a whole in the absence of deterrent punishment under a specified act for these offences, these cases are increasing therefore, to curb this menace, it is felt that severe deterrent punishment should be prescribedhence, this billrc singh memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 11 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules to carry out the purposes of the bill it will relate to matters of details only the delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the prevention of hoarding and profiteering of essential commodities ofdaily use of citizens particularly of common man in the country and for mattersconnected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri rc singh, mp)gmgipmrnd—2358rs(s5)—03-05-2010