Cognizance of offences

"23.

1. (1) No Court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the first class shall try an offence punishable under this Act.
2. (2) No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this Act except upon complaint made by the Registrar or any other person authorisd in Mting by him, in this behalf.". 1. Short title and commencement
3. (1) This Act may be called the Societies Registration (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 1965.
4. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Oficial Gazette, appoint. 2. Amendment of title of Act XXI of 1860 In the long title of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, in its application to the State of Gujarat (hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act"), after the words "Literary, Scientific and Charitable societies" the words "and societies established for such other purposes" shall be inserted. 3. Amendment of preamble of Act XXI of 1860 In the preamble of the priucipal Act, for the words "literature, soience" the words, " literature, science, sports" shall he ~ubstituted. 4. Amendment of section 2 of Act XXI of 1860
5. (1) Section 2 of the principal Act shall be ro-numbered aa sub-scotion
   • (l) of that section, and
   • (l) ip, sub-seotion
6. (1) as so renumbcrcd, after and below the worda <'tho name of the aocioty;" the following shall be inserted, namely:- "th6 place of situation of the rewred office of the society; the addresses and occupations of the persons who have sub~~ribed their names to the mcmorandwn of association under scotion 1;";
7. (2) after sub-section
   • (I) as so renumbered, the following sub-sectiom shall be ingrkd, namely:- "(2) A society my, by a special resolution passed by n majority of not less than tb-fifths of the totnl membership of the wciety, alter its memomndum of association.
8. (3) The nltcration of thc memorandum of assooiation shall not take effect until, and except in far as, it i~ wctioned by the Regigtrar who ghall, bcfore gmi,ing such sanction, satisfy himself that tho dtera- tion is rlot mch as would have the effect of mking the society inebble for registration under this Act.". 5. Amendment of section 3 of Act XXI of 1860 In section 3 of the principal Act, for the words. "the Registrar shall certify" the words, figure and letter "the Registrar shall, subject to the provisions of section 3A, certify" shall be substituted. 6. Insertion of new section 3A in Act XXI of 1860 After section 3 of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely :- "3A. No Society shall be registered by a name which, in the opinion of the Registrar, is undesirable, being a name which is identical with, or which in the opinion of the Registrar, so nearly resembles the name by which any other existing society has been previously registered, as to be likely to deceive the public or members of either society or which, without the previous permission of the Government concerned, suggests or is calculated to suggest the patronage of that Government or connection with any body constituted by that Government or any local authority, or which may, subject to any rules made in this behalf, be deemed to be undesirable by the Registrar.". 3A. Prohibition of registration of societies with undesirable names "3A. No Society shall be registered by a name which, in the opinion of the Registrar, is undesirable, being a name which is identical with, or which in the opinion of the Registrar, so nearly resembles the name by which any other existing society has been previously registered, as to be likely to deceive the public or members of either society or which, without the previous permission of the Government concerned, suggests or is calculated to suggest the patronage of that Government or connection with any body constituted by that Government or any local authority, or which may, subject to any rules made in this behalf, be deemed to be undesirable by the Registrar.". 7. Insertion of new section 4B in Act XXI of 1860 After section 4A of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:- 4B. Power of Registrar to call for information or returns relating to affairs of society "4B.
9. (1) The Registrar may serve, or cause to be served, on the authorised officer or any society registered under this Act, a notice requiring him to furnish in such manner as may be prescribed by rules, information or returns relating to persons employed by the society, their conditions of employment (including their emoluments, any contributions, concessions or other benefits and amenities provided for employees) and matters relating thereto, as may be prescribed by such rules and the authorised officer of the society on whom such notice is served, shall be bound to comply with the requirement stated therein.
10. (2) The form in which such information or returns shall be furnished, the particulars which they shall contain and the intervals (if any) at which such information or returns shall be furnished shall be such as may be prescribed by rules.
11. (3) The notice referred to in sub-section
12. (1) may be served by post.
13. (4) No information or return collected for the purposes of this section shall, without the previous consent in writing of the society in relation to which the information or return was given or made, be published in such manner as would enable any particulars to be identified as referring to a particular society.
14. (5) Except for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under section 11A or under the Indian Penal Code, no person other than the Registrar or any person duly authorised by him in this behalf, shall be permitted to see or to have access to any information or return furnished as aforesaid.
15. (6) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Registrar or any person acting under the authority of the Registrar in respect of anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this section. Explanation.—In this section "authorised officer", in relation to any society, means such officer or employee of the society as may be authorised for the purposes of this section, by the rules and regulations of the society and in default of such authorisation by rules and regulations by a resolution in writing by the society, and shall include,—
    • (i) where any officer or employee so authorised is unable to perform his duties by reason of absence due to leave or any other cause, any other officer or employee of the society who is in charge of the duties of the officer or employee so authorised during his absence, and
    • (ii) where no such officer or employee has been so authorised, any member of the governing body of the society.". 8. Insertion of new 11A, 11B and 11C in Act XXI of 1860 After section 11 of the principal Act, the following new sections shall be inserted, namely :- "11A. If any authorised officer of a society who is required to furnish any information or return under sub-section
16. (1) of section 4B,
    • (i) wilfully refuses or without bad excuse neglects to furnish such information or return as may be required under section 4B; or
    • (ii) wilfully furnishes or causes to be furnished any information or return which he knows to be false; or
    • (iii) refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining any information required to be furnished under section 4B, such authorised officer shall, on conviction, be punished for each such offence with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. 11B. If the Registrar or any person duly authorised by him in connection with the collection of any information or returns under this Act wilfully discloses any information or the contents of any return given or made under this Act otherwise than in the execution of his duties under this Act or for the purposes of the prosecution for an offence under this Act or under the Indian Penal Code, he shall, on conviction, be punished for such offence with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. 11C. No prosecution for an offence under section 11A shall be instituted, except by, or with the sanction of, the Registrar, and no prosecution for an offence under section 11B shall be instituted except by, or with the consent of, the State Government.". 11A. Penalty for contravening section 4B "11A. If any authorised officer of a society who is required to furnish any information or return under sub-section
17. (1) of section 4B,
    • (i) wilfully refuses or without bad excuse neglects to furnish such information or return as may be required under section 4B; or
    • (ii) wilfully furnishes or causes to be furnished any information or return which he knows to be false; or
    • (iii) refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining any information required to be furnished under section 4B, such authorised officer shall, on conviction, be punished for each such offence with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. 11B. Penalty for improper disclosure of information or return If the Registrar or any person duly authorised by him in connection with the collection of any information or returns under this Act wilfully discloses any information or the contents of any return given or made under this Act otherwise than in the execution of his duties under this Act or for the purposes of the prosecution for an offence under this Act or under the Indian Penal Code, he shall, on conviction, be punished for such offence with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. 11C. Sanction for prosecution No prosecution for an offence under section 11A shall be instituted, except by, or with the sanction of, the Registrar, and no prosecution for an offence under section 11B shall be instituted except by, or with the consent of, the State Government. 9. Amendment of section 12B of Act XXI of 1860 In section 12B of the principal Act,-
    • (a) in sub-section (1), for the portion beginning with the words "If the proposed name" and ending with the words "or the members of either society", the words, figure and letter "If the proposed change in name is in the opinion of the Registrar undesirable for any of the reasons mentioned in section 3A" shall be substituted;
    • (b) after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be added, namely :- "(4) If, through inadvertence or otherwise, a society is registered by a name, by which it should not have been registered having regard to the provisions of section 3A, the Registrar may, after hearing the society concerned, direct the society to change the name; and the society shall change its name within a period of three months from the date of the direction or within such longer period as the Registrar may think fit to allow, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.". 10. Insertion of new sections 12D and 12E in Act XXI of 1860 After section 12C of the principal Act, the following new sections shall be inserted, namely:- 12D. Maintenance of accounts and their balancing and auditing "12D.
18. (1) Every governing body entrusted with the management of the affairs of a society registered under this Act (not being a public trust within the meaning of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950) shall keep regular accounts.
19. (2) Such accounts shall be kept in such form as may be approved by the Registrar and shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed by rules.
20. (3) The accounts shall be balanced each year on the thirty-first day of March or such other day as may be fixed by the Registrar.
21. (4) The accounts shall be audited annually in such manner as may be prescribed by rules, by a person who is a Chartered Accountant within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 or by such other person as may be authorised in this behalf by the State Government. 12E. Auditor's duty to prepare balance sheet and report irregularities etc
22. (1) It shall be the duty of every auditor auditing the accounts of a society under section 12D to prepare an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet and to forward a copy of the same to the Registrar.
23. (2) The auditor shall in his report specify in cases of irregular, illegal or improper expenditure, or failure or omission to recover moneys or other property belonging to the society, or of loss or waste of money or other property thereof; and state whether such expenditure, failure, omission, loss or waste was caused in consequence of breach of trust or misapplication of money or other property belonging to the society or any other misconduct, on the part of the governing body or any other person. 11. Amendment of section 19 of Act XXI of 1860 In section 19 of the principal Act, for the words "any person shall inspect" the words, figure and letter ", except as otherwise provided by section 4B, any person may inspect" shall be substituted. 12. Amendment of section 20 of Act XXI of 1860 In section 20 of the principal Act,-
    • (I) in sub-section
24. (1) for the words ''science, literature" the words "science, literature, sports" shall be substituted; 13. Amendment of section 23 of Act XXI of 1860 In section 23 of the principal Act, in sub-section
25. (2) after the words "punishable under this Act" the words, figures and letter ", other than an offence punishable under section 11B," shall be inserted. 14. Insertion of new section 24 in Act XXI of 1860 After section 23 of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:— "24.
26. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
27. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the fore- going provision, such rules may be made for all or any of the matters expressly required or allowed by this Act to be prescribed by rules.
28. (3) The power to make rules conferred by this section is subject to the conditions of the rules being made after previous publication.
29. (4) All rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to rescission by the State Legislature or to such modifications as the State Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following.
30. (5) Any rescission or modification so made by the State Legislature shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall thereupon take effect.".