Chapter XIII PENALTIES

70. Penalties.-(1) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 4 or sub-section (1) of section 5 shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Rs. 5,000 or with both; (2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 6 shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to Rs. 1,00,000 or with both. (3) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 7 shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to Rs. 25,000 or with both. (4) Whoever contravenes the provisions of clause (b) or clause (c) of section 9, section 38, sub-section (2) of section 40, section 41, sub-section (1) of section 42 or section 44 or any regulation or prohibition under section 43 shall on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Rs. 1,000, or with both. (5) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 42 shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000 or with both. (6) Whoever, without proper authority,- (a) injures, alters, enlarges or obstructs any irrigation work; or (b) interferes with, increases or diminishes supply of water from any irrigation work; (c) interferes with or alters the flow of water in any irrigation work so as to endanger, injure or render less useful, any such work; or (d) being entitled to the use of water from an irrigation work, causes or occasions waste of water in such irrigation work or interferes with the authorised distribution of water therefrom or uses water in any unauthorised manner; or (e) intentionally corrupts or fouls water of any irrigation work so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used; or (f) destroys, defaces, removes or alters any level marked or water gauge or any other mark or sign fixed in an irrigation work shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extent to one year or with fine which may extend to Rs. 5,000, or with both.

71. Punishment for continuing offences.- Where any offence under this Act is a continuing offence, the offender shall, on conviction, be punished with fine not exceeding Rs. 100 for every day during which the offence continues.

72. Enhanced punishment for second or subsequent offences.-Whoever, having been convicted by a Court, of an offence punishable under this Act, again commits the same offence, shall be punishable for every such subsequent offence,- (a) in respect of any offence referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (4) of section 70 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, but which shall not be less than six months, and with fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000; (b) in respect of any offence referred to in sub-section (2) of section 70 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, but it shall not be less than one year with fine which may extend to Rs. 1,50,000; (c) in respect of any offence referred to in sub-section (3) of section 70 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, but it shall not be less than six months, and with fine which may extends to Rs. 35,000; (d) in respect of any offence referred to in sub-section (4) of section 70 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, but which shall not be less than six months, and with fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000; (e) in respect of any offence referred to in sub-section (5) of section 70 with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to one year, but it shall not be less than six months with fine which may extend to Rs. 15,000.

73. Cost of carrying out work to be recovered from convicted persons.-Where any person is convicted of an offence under section 70 or section 71 or section 72, the cost of removing the obstruction or interference, or repairing the damage, alteration or injury to irrigation work or of replacing or repairing the level mark or any other mark of sign, if any, incurred by the irrigation officer shall be recoverable from such person in such manner as may be prescribed.

74. Cognizance of offences.- (1) All offences punishable under this Act, except the offences under section 4 and sub-section (1) of section 42, shall be cognizable. (2) No court shall take cognizance of any offence under section 4 or sub-section (1) of section 42 except on a complaint in writing of the facts constituting such offence filed by the Irrigation Officer. (3) For the purpose of sub-section (2) Irrigation Officer shall be deemed to be an officer-in-charge of a police station.

75. Confiscation in certain cases.- Where any person quarries sand in violation of the provisions of section 7, the Irrigation Officer may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, cause to initiate action under the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 (18 of 2001), for confiscation of the vehicle used for transport of such land.

76. Power to remove persons causing obstructions or damage to irrigation work.- Any officer not below the rank of an Assistant Engineer who is in charge of any irrigation work may,- (a) remove from the lands or buildings comprised therein; or (b) take into custody without a warrant, and without unnecessary delay, make over to a police officer, or in the absence of a police officer, take or cause to be taken in custody to the nearest police station: any person who, in his view- (i) wilfully damages, alters, enlarges or obstructs any irrigation work; or (ii) without proper authority interferes with the supply of flow of water, from or in any irrigation work.

77. Offences by companies.- (1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in-charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary, or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation.- For the purposes of this section,- (a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of persons or a co-operative society; (b) "director" in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.