Extension and adaptation

(1) The Madras Pawnbrokers Act, 1943 (Madras Act No. 23 of 1943) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) as in force in the State of Madras immediately before the commencement of this act shall extend to and come into force in the Union territory of Puducherry subject to the following modifications and adaptations, namely :- (i) Any reference in the said Act or in any rule to the ‘State of Madras’ shall be construed as a reference to the ‘Union territory of Puducherry’; (ii) Any reference in the said Act or in any rule to the ‘state Government’ shall be construed as a reference to the ‘Administrator’ appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution; (iii) Any reference to any provision of law not in force or to any functionary not in existence in the Union territory of Puducherry shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding law in force, or to the corresponding functionary in existence, in that territory; Provided that --- (a) if any question arises as to who such corresponding functionary is, or (b) if there is no such corresponding functionary, the Administrator shall decide as to who such functionary will be and such decision shall be final; (iv) Any reference in the said Act or rules to ‘Fort St. George Gazette’ or ‘District Gazette’ shall be construed as reference to ‘Official Gazette’; (v) In section 2 of the said Act --- (a) sub-section (1) shall be omitted. (b) In sub-section (3), for the words ‘Madras Co-operative Societies Act, 1932’ the words ‘Puducherry Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 (Act No. 11 of 1965)’ shall be substituted. (c) For sub-clause (ii) of section (5), the following shall be substituted, namely : - ‘(ii) an advance made by a banking company as defined in section 5 (c) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act X of 1949) or by the State Bank of India or by any other banking institution notified under Section 51 of the said Act or a Co-operative Society’; (vi) in sub-section (1) of section 3, omit the brackets and the words ‘other than section 1’; (vii) in sub-section (1) of section 6, of the said Act, the words ‘Notwithstanding anything contained in the Decree dated 22nd September, 1935’ shall be inserted at the beginning and the word ‘naya’ shall be omitted. (viii) in clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 10-B, the words ‘in the mufassal or a Presidency Magistrate in the Presidency town’ shall be omitted. (ix) In section 12 of the said Act --- (a) at the beginning of sub-section (1), the words ‘subject to the provisions of any other law’ shall be inserted. (b) sub-section (2) shall be omitted. (x) For section 19 of the said Act, the following shall be substituted namely: - "19. Jurisdiction to try offences. – No Court inferior to that of a Magistrate of second class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.". (xi) For sub-section (4) of section 22 of the said Act, the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely : - "(4) Every rule made under this Act shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before the Assembly while it is in session for a total period of not less than fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the sessions aforesaid, the Assembly makes any modifications in the rule or decides that rule should not be made, the rule shall there after have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule. (xii) Sections 21-A, 23, 24 and 25 shall be omitted. (2) The Madras Pawnbrokers Rules, 1944 and any other rules made or issued under the said Act and similarly in force, in so far as their application is required for the purpose of effectively applying the provisions of the said act, are also hereby applied to, and shall be in force in the Union territory of Puducherry. (3-A) “Inspector” means an Inspector appointed under sub-section (1) of section 10-B; (4) “interest” does not include any sum lawfully charged in accordance with the provisions of this Act by a pawnbroker for or on account of charges, but save as aforesaid includes any amount, by whatsoever name called, in excess of the principal, paid or payable to a pawnbroker in consideration of or otherwise in respect of a loan; (5) “loan” means an advance of money or in kind at interest, and includes any transaction which the court finds in substance to amount to such an advance, but does not include --- (i) a deposit of money or other property in a Government Post Office Savings Bank or in a company or with a co-operative society; (ii) an advance made by a Banking Company as defined in section 5 (c) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act X of 1949) or by the State Bank of India or by any other banking institution notified under section 51 of the said Act or a co-operative society; (iii) an advance made by Government or by any person authorised by Government to make advances in their behalf, or by any local authority; (iv) an advance made by any person bona fide carrying on any business not having for its primary object the lending of money, if such loan is advanced in the regular course of such business; and (v) an advance made by a landlord to his tenant, by a lessor to his lessee, or by one partner in cultivation or co-sharer to another for the purpose of carrying on agriculture; (6) “pawnbroker” means a person who carries on the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn for a loan; Explanation. – Every person who keeps a shop for the purchase or sale of goods or chattels and who purchases goods or chattels and pays or advances thereon any sum of money with or under an agreement or understanding expressed or implied that the goods or chattels may be afterwards re-purchased on any terms is a pawnbroker within the meaning of this clause; (7) “pawner” means a person delivering an article for pawn to a pawnbroker; (8) “pledge” means an article pawned with a pawn broker; (9) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (10) “principal” in relation to a loan means the amount actually lent to the pawner; and (11) “year” means the financial year.