Chapter II ACQUISITION OF SHARES OF THE COMPANY

1. (1) On the appointed day, all the shares of the Company, except those held by the financial institutions like the State Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra State Financial Corporation, the State Bank of India or the Life Insurance Corporation of India shall, by virtue of this Act, stand transferred to, and vest in, the State Government.
2. (2) The State Government shall be deemed, on and from the appointed day, to have been registered in the register of members of the Company as the holder of each share which stands transferred to, and vested in it, by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (1).
3. (3) All the shares which have vested in the State Government under sub-section (1), shall, by force of such vesting, be freed and discharged of all trusts, liabilities, obligations, mortgages, charges, liens and other encumbrances affecting them, and any attachment, injunction or any decree or order of the Court, tribunal or other authority restricting the use of such shares in any manner, shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.
4. (4) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not be deemed to affect-
   • (a) any right of the Company subsisting, immediately before the appointed day, against any shareholder to recover from such shareholder any sum of money on the ground that the shareholder has not paid or credited to the Company the whole or any part of the value of the shares held by him, or on any other ground whatsoever, or
   • (b) any right of the shareholder subsisting, immediately before the appointed day, against the Company to receive any dividend or other payment due from the Company.

1. (1) For the transfer to, and vesting in, the State Government, under section 3, of the shares of the Company, there shall be given by the State Government to the shareholders of the Company, in cash and in the manner specified in section 6, an amount of rupees four per share.
2. (2) The amount referred to in sub-section (1) shall carry simple interest at the rate of four per cent per annum for the period commencing on the appointed day and ending on the date on which payment of such amount is made by the State Government to the Commissioner.

1. (1) The State Government shall, for the purpose of disbursing the amounts payable to the shareholders of the Company under section 4, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a Commissioner of Payments.
2. (2) The State Government may appoint such other persons as it may think fit to assist the Commissioner and thereupon the Commissioner may authorise one or more of such persons also to exercise all or any of the powers exercisable by him under this Act, and different persons may be authorised to exercise different powers.
3. (3) Any person authorised by the Commissioner to exercise any of the powers exercisable by the Commissioner may exercise these powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they have been conferred on that person directly by this Act, and not by way of authorisation.
4. (4) The salaries and allowances of the Commissioner and other persons appointed under this section shall be defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of the State.

1. (1) The State Government shall, within thirty days from the specified date, pay, in cash, to the Commissioner, for payment to the shareholders of the Company-
   • (a) an amount equal to the amount specified in sub-section (1) of section 4, and
   • (b) an amount equal to the amount determined under sub-section (2) of section 4.
2. (2) A deposit account shall be opened by the State Government in favour of the Commissioner, in the Public Account of the State, and every amount paid under this Act to the Commissioner shall be deposited by him to the credit of the said deposit account and the said deposit account shall be operated by the Commissioner.
3. (3) The interest accruing on the amount standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in sub-section (2), shall ensure to the benefit of the shareholders of the Company.

Every shareholder, having a claim in relation to any share acquired by this Act, shall prefer such claim before the Commissioner within thirty days from the specified date : Provided that if the Commissioner is satisfied that the claimant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the claim within the period of thirty days, he may entertain the claim within a further period of thirty days and not thereafter.

On receipt of the claims made under section 7, the Commissioner shall examine the claims in relation to each share.

1. (1) After examining the claims, the Commissioner shall fix a certain date on or before which every claimant shall file the proof of his claim.
2. (2) Not less than fourteen days' notice of the date so fixed shall be given by advertisement in one issue of such daily newspaper in the English language, in one issue of such daily newspaper in the Marathi language and in one issue of such daily newspaper in any other regional language as the Commissioner may consider suitable, and every such notice shall call upon every claimant to file the proof of his claim with the Commissioner within the time specified in the advertisement.
3. (3) Every claimant, who fails to file the proof of his claims within the time specified by the Commissioner, shall be excluded from the disbursements made by the Commissioner.
4. (4) The Commissioner shall, after such investigation as may, in his opinion, be necessary and after giving the Company an opportunity of refuting the claim and after giving the claimant a reasonable opportunity of being heard, in writing, admit or reject the claim in whole or in part.
5. (5) The Commissioner shall also decide any dispute as to the person or persons who are entitled to the amount and any dispute as to who are the legal representatives of any deceased claimant.
6. (6) The Commissioner shall have the power to regulate his own procedure in all matters arising out of the discharge of his functions, including the place or places at which he will hold his sittings and shall, for the purpose of making an investigation under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908), while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely :-
   • (a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
   • (b) the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as evidence ;
   • (c) the reception of evidence on affidavits ;
   • (d) the issuing of any commission for the examination of witnesses.
7. (7) Any investigation before the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860), and the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purposes of section 345 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (II of 1974).
8. (8) A claimant, who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioner, may prefer an appeal against the decision to the Bombay City Civil Court, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the registered office of the Company is situated.

1. (1) After admitting a claim under this Act the amount due in respect of each share acquired by virtue of this Act shall be paid by the Commissioner at the rate of rupees four per share to the person or persons to whom such sums are due, and on such payment, the liability of the State Government in respect of the share so acquired shall stand discharged.
2. (2) The Commissioner shall also apportion amongst the shareholders, the amount paid to him by way of interest under sub-section (3) of section 6, and such apportionment shall be made on the basis of the amount due to each shareholder.

Any money paid to the Commissioner which remains undisbursed or unclaimed on the date immediately preceding the date on which the office of the Commissioner is finally wound up, shall be transferred by the Commissioner, before his office is finally wound up, to the general revenue account of the State Government; but a claim to any money so transferred may be preferred to the State Government by the person entitled to such payment and shall be dealt with as if such transfer had not been made, the order, if any, for payment of the claim being treated as an order for the refund of revenue.

For the purposes of ascertaining whether any person claiming payment under this Act is entitled thereto, the Commissioner shall have the right to-

1. (a) require any person, having the possession, custody or of control of any register or record of the Company, to produce such register or record before the Commissioner ;
2. (b) require any person to make any statement or furnish any information which may be required by the Commissioner.

Where there is any dispute as to the person or persons who are entitled to any amount payable under this Act (including any dispute as to who are the legal representatives of any deceased claimant to the amount), the Commissioner may, after making such inquiry as he may deem fit, make the payment to such persons as appears to him to be best entitled to receive the amount: Provided that if the Commissioner is unable to determine as to who is the person entitled to the amount and considers that the matter could more appropriately be dealt with by a Civil Court, he may refer such dispute to the Bombay City Civil Court, whose decision thereon shall be final: Provided further that nothing contained herein shall affect the liability of any person, who may receive the whole or any part of the amount allowed under this Act, to pay the same to the person lawfully entitled thereto.

Where any dispute has been referred under section 13 by the Commissioner to the Bombay City Civil Court, he shall deposit the amount in that court.