Preamble

Penalties 57. Penalties Penalties.-(1) Whoever does, or abets the doing of, any act in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or any rule or general or special order, notice, order or licence issued thereunder, or any person lawfully acting in pursuance of this Act, shall, on conviction before a [Judicial Magistrate], be punished for each such offence with a fine which may extend to Rs. 50 and should the offence or breach be a continuing one with a further fine which may extend to Rs. 5 for every subsequent day till it continues. (2) In addition to such fine the offender may be required to remedy the mischief so far as may be possible or it may be remedied by the Committee at his cost. (3) No compensation except as otherwise expressed in this Act shall be claimable for any loss or expenditure to which any person may be put in consequence of complying with or being compelled to comply with any order of the Committee. (4) The punishment provided for above shall not bar any legal proceedings which may be taken or which might have been taken under this Act. 58. Power of Government to delegate powers [58. Power of Government to delegate powers.-The Government may, by notification in the Government Gazette, delegate any of its powers under this Act, except the powers under section 52, to any officer or authority on its behalf.] 59. Delegation of powers by the Committee Delegation of powers by the Committee.—(1) The Committee may, with the approval of the [Government], and if so required by the [Government] delegate to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman or other officers any of its powers under this Act. (2) The delegation by the Committee of its powers under sub-section (1) may be made subject to the condition that any action taken in pursuance of such delegation shall be subject to review by it within thirty days. 60. Acquisition of land Acquisition of land.—When any land within the limit of a town area is required for the purposes of this Act, the Government may, at the request of the Town Area Committee, proceed to acquire it under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, and the Committee shall pay the compensation and other charges incurred in acquiring the land. 61. Corruption of officials Corruption of officials. 62. Authority for prosecution Authority for prosecution.—No Court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act or any rule made thereunder except on the complaint of the Town Area Committee or of some person authorised specially by name or office by the Committee in this behalf. 63. Jurisdiction of Courts to try offences Jurisdiction of Courts to try offences.—Offences under this Act shall be triable by any [Judicial Magistrate] within whose jurisdiction any such offence may have been committed: Provided that any [Judicial Magistrate] who is the Chairman of the Town Area Committee shall not himself try any case under this Act. 64. Payment of compensation Payment of compensation.—(1) The Committee may make compensation out of the Town Area Fund to any person sustaining any damage by reason of the exercise of any of the powers vested in the Committee, its officers or servants under this Act, and shall make such compensation where the damage was caused by the negligence of the Committee, its officers or servants; and the person sustaining the damage was not himself in default in the matter in respect of which the power was exercised: Provided that if the amount of compensation in any case exceeds Rs. 300 the sanction of the officer authorised in this behalf by the Government and in case it exceeds Rs. 500 the sanction of the Minister, and if it exceeds Rs. 1,000 the sanction of the Government shall be required. (2) Should any dispute arise touching the amount of any compensation which the Committee is required by this Act to pay for damage to any building or land, it shall be settled in such manner as the parties may agree on; in case of disagreement, the case will be referred to the [Government] whose decision will be final and binding on the parties. 65. Appeal from order of Committee Appeal from order of Committee.—Subject to the provisions of section 54, any person aggrieved by any notice, order or prohibition of the Committee may, within sixty days from the date of such order appeal to the [Government] whose decision on the appeal shall be final. 67. Powers to revise orders Powers to revise orders.—Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government may call for the record of any case which is pending before or has been decided by any officer or authority under this Act, and if such officer or authority appears— (a) to have exercised a jurisdiction not vested in him; (b) to have failed to exercise a jurisdiction so vested, or (c) to have acted in the exercise of his jurisdiction with material irregularity, it may make such order in the case as it thinks fit. 68. Power to call for record Power to call for record.—The Government may require the Town Area Committee— (a) to produce any record, correspondence, plan or other documents; (b) to supply any return, plan, estimate, statistics; and (c) to furnish or obtain any report. 69. Power to cause inspection to be made Power to cause inspection to be made.—(1) The Government may empower any officer by a general or special order to inspect or examine any Town Area Committee, office, service, work or thing and to report thereon and any officer so empowered may for the purpose of such inspection or examination, exercise all the powers conferred by the preceding section. (2) Any officer so empowered shall be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Ranbir Penal Code. 70. Power to direct the taking of action Power to direct the taking of action.—If on receipt of any information or report the Government is of the opinion— (a) that any duty imposed on any Town Area Committee has not been performed or has been performed in an imperfect, inefficient or unsuitable manner; (b) that adequate financial provision has not been made for the performance of any such duty; the Government may, by written order, direct the Town Area Committee within the period to be specified in the order to make arrangements to the satisfaction of the Government for the performance of the duties referred to in clause (a) or to make financial provision to its satisfaction for the performance of any duty, as the case may be. 71. Procedure when Town Area Authority fails to take action -1 71. Procedure when Town Area Authority fails to take action.- (1) If, within the period fixed by any order issued under the preceding section any action directed thereunder has not been duly taken, the Government may, by order-- (a) appoint some person to take action so directed ; (b) fix the remuneration to be paid to him ; and (c) direct that such remuneration and the cost of taking such action shall be defrayed out of the Town Fund and, if necessary, that any one or more of the taxes authorised by Chapter V shall be levied or increased. (2) The person appointed under sub-section (1) may, for the purpose of taking the action directed as aforesaid, exercise any of the powers conferred on any Town Area Committee by or under this Act which are specified in that behalf in the order issued under sub-section (1) including the power to draw cheques on the account of the Town Fund. (3) Any Bank or State Treasury having the custody of any account referred to in sub-section (2) shall honour the cheques drawn as aforesaid on that account to the extent of the balance standing to the credit of the Town Fund.]