Chapter III Chapter III

Acquisition of Fire Fighting Property

No local authority of any area in which this Act is in force shall transfer or otherwise part with any fire fighting property without the previous sanction of the Government.

1. (1) The Director/Chief Fire Officer or any member of the Fire Force who is in charge of a fire fighting operation may, if in his opinion it is necessary so to do for the purpose of extinguishing fire in any area, – 6 – requisition and take possession of any fire fighting property in the possession of any local authority or any institution or individual.
2. (2) As soon as may be after the fire fighting operations are over, the Director/Chief Fire Officer or the member in charge of the fire fighting operation, as the case may be, shall release the property taken possession of under sub-section (1) from requisition and restore the same to the local authority, institution or individual from whose possession such property was taken.
3. (3) Where any fire fighting property is requisitioned under sub-section (1), there shall be paid to the owner of such property compensation the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with the principles hereinafter set out, that is to say—
   • (a) Where the amount of compensation can be fixed by agreement between the Director/Chief Fire Officer and the owner of the fire fighting property, it shall be paid in accordance with such agreement.
   • (b) Where no such agreement can be reached, the Director/Chief Fire Officer shall refer the matter to the Magistrate having jurisdiction over the area in which the fire fighting property was kept and the Magistrate shall after hearing the parties and such other persons as he deems necessary, fix the amount of compensation taking into consideration the rent which the fire fighting property would normally fetch if rented out for a similar purpose. The order of the Magistrate fixing the amount of compensation shall be final.

1. (1) If, after making such inquiry and investigation as it deems necessary and after giving the local authority an opportunity to make its representation, the Government is of opinion that the standard of efficiency of the fire fighting personnel and equipment maintained by the local authority is not adequate to meet the normal requirements of the area, the Government may acquire the fire fighting property of the local authority by publishing in the Official Gazette a notice to the effect that the Government has decided to acquire such property on payment of compensation, a copy of such notice shall also be served on the local authority.
2. (2) When a notice as aforesaid is published in the Official Gazette, the property specified in such notice shall on and from the beginning of the date on which the notice is so published, vest absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances.

1. (1) The Director/Chief Fire Officer or any Officer authorized by the Government shall as soon as may be after the publication of the notice under sub-section (1) of section 16 determine the amount of compensation payable in respect of the fire fighting property based on the market value of the property on the date of publication of the said notice, that is to say, the price which it would have fetched in the open market if it had been sold on that date, provided that – 7 – before determining the amount of compensation, the Director/Chief Fire Officer or the Officer, as the case may be shall give the local authority an opportunity to state what in its opinion is a fair compensation.
2. (2) The Director/Chief Fire Officer or the officer, as the case may be, shall after determining the amount of compensation payable, give notice to the local authority of the amount of compensation so determined.

If the local authority agrees to accept the amount so determined, it shall be paid in accordance with such agreement otherwise the Director/Chief Fire Officer or the Officer, as the case may be, shall refer the matter to the court having jurisdiction over the area, in which the property is situated and the court shall, after hearing the parties and such other persons as it deems necessary determine the amount of compensation, which appears to it to be just, and in fixing the amount of compensation the court shall have regard to the market value of the property on the date of issue of notice referred to in sub-section (1) of section 16.

Where the Government or a local authority is aggrieved by the decision of the court under section 18, it may within thirty days from the date of such decision prefer an appeal to the High Court.