The Chhattisgarh Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) (Amendment) Act, 2017

Short title, extent and commencement. 1.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Chhattisgarh Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) (Amendment) Act, 2017.
2. (2) It extends to the whole State of Chhattisgarh.
3. (3) It shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Amendment of section 2. 2. In the Chhattisgarh Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1961 (No. 26 of 1961), (hereinafter referred to as the Principal Act), in Section 2, -

1. (i) in sub-section (1), in clause (a), for the words "more than twenty", the words "more than thirty" shall be substituted;
2. (ii) after sub-section (2), the following shall be inserted, namely :- "(3) Nothing in this Act shall apply to an establishment or industrial entity classified as "Micro Industry" under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (No. 27 of 2006): Provided that the State Government may withdraw, partially or fully, any exemption granted to any Micro Industry or category of Micro Industries, if it is satisfied that it is so required in the interest of workers."

Amendment of Section 8. 3. In Section 8 of the Principal Act,-

1. (a) in sub-section (3), after the word "employees", for punctuation full stop "." the punctuation colon ":" shall be substituted; and
2. (b) below sub-section (3), the following shall be added, namely :- " Provided that where the Government has made any amendment in the Standard Order, the same shall be deemed to be duly incorporated in any award, agreement or settlement and in the certified amendment to the standing orders applicable to an undertaking."

Amendment of Section 17. 4. In Section 17 of the Principal Act,-

1. (i) for sub-section (1), the following shall be substituted, namely :- "(1) Any employer modifying his standing orders otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five thousand rupees but which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, and in the case of a continuing offence with a further fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to two thousand rupees, for every day after the first during which the offence continues."
2. (ii) for sub-section (2), the following shall be substituted, namely :- "(2) Any employer who does any act in contravention of standing order shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five thousand rupees but which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, and in the case of a continuing offence with a further fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to two thousand rupees, for every day after the first during which the offence continues."
3. (iii) for sub-section 3, the following shall be substituted, namely :- "(3) Whoever contravenes the provisions of this Act or of any rule made thereunder, in cases other than those falling under sub-section (2), shall be punished,-

1. (a) with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees, and in the event of such person being previously convicted of an offence under this Act, with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five thousand rupees but which may extend to fifty thousand rupees; and
2. (b) in the case of a continuing offence with further fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to two thousand rupees, for every day after the first during which the offence continues."

-1 After Section 17-A of the Principal Act, the following shall be inserted, namely :- "17-B. Compounding of offences.- Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, an officer authorized by the State Government by notification may, subject to any general or special order of the State Government in this behalf, compound any offence committed for the first time or after expiry of a period of two years from the date of commission of the previous offence (if any), either before or after the institution of the prosecution, may impose such amount, as he may thinks fit, not exceeding the maximum amount of fine but shall also not be less than half of the maximum amount of fine for the offence as compounding fee; when the offence is compounded, -

1. (i) before the institution of the prosecution, the offender shall not be prosecuted and shall, if in custody, be set at liberty;
2. (ii) after the institution of the prosecution, the composition of an offence shall have the effect of acquittal of the accused.