Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981

commencement and duration.- 1. This Act may be called the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981. 2. It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different States. 3. It shall cease to have effect on the expiry of fifteen years from the date of commencement of this Act except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such cesser of operation of this Act, and section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897), shall apply upon such cesser of operation of this Act as if it had then been repealed by a Central Act. 4. References in this Act to the commencement of this Act and to the continuance in force of this Act shall be construed in relation to each State as references, respectively, to the coming into force of this Act in that State and to the continuance in force of this Act in the date on which the Act shall come into force in all the States and Union territories except the Union territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Mizoram.

have effect subject to certain special provisions for a temporary period.- During the continuance in force of this Act, the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act) shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in sections 3 to 11: Provided that the amendments specified in sections 7 to 11 shall not apply to, or in relation to, any offence under the principal Act committed before the commencement of this Act and the provisions of the principal Act shall apply to, and in relation to, such offence as if those amendments had not been made.

section 2.- In section 2 of the principal Act,-- 1. clause (ia) shall be re-numbered as clause (iia), and before clause (iia) as so re-numbered, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-- `(ia) "Code" means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);'; and 2. after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-- "(f) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Code shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code.".

In section 6A of the principal Act, for the proviso to sub-section (2), the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-- "Provided that in the case of any such essential commodity the retail sale price whereof has been fixed by the Central Government or a State Government under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force, the Collector may, for its equitable distribution and availability at fair prices, order the same to be sold through fair price shops at the price so fixed."

section 6C.- In section 6C of the principal Act,-- a. in sub-section (1), for the words "any judicial authority appointed by the State Government concerned and the judicial authority", the words "the State Government concerned and the State Government" shall be substituted; b. in sub-section (2), for the words "such judicial authority", the words "the State Government" shall be substituted.

section 6E.- In section 6E of the principal Act,-- a. for the words, figure and letter "the judicial authority appointed under section 6C", the words, figure and letter "the State Government concerned under section 6C" shall be substituted; b. for the words "any other court, tribunal or authority", the words "any court, tribunal or other authority" shall be substituted.

section 7.- In section 7 of the principal Act,-- a. in sub-section (1), the proviso to sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) shall be omitted; b. the proviso to sub-section (2) shall be omitted; (c) the proviso to sub-section (2A) shall be omitted; (d) sub-section (2B) shall be omitted.

section 8.- To section 8 of the principal Act, the following proviso shall be added, namely:-- "Provided that where a person has abetted the contravention of any order for the purpose of procuring any essential commodity of the nature mentioned in sub-clause (iva) or sub-clause (v) of clause (a) of section 2 for his own use or for the use of any member of his family or for the use of any person dependent on him, and not for the purpose of carrying on any business or trade in such essential commodity, the court may, notwithstanding anything contained in section 7 and for reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of fine only."

section 10A.- In section 10A of the principal Act, after the word "cognizable", the words " and non-bailable" shall be inserted.

section 12.- Section 12 of the principal Act shall be omitted.

new sections for section 12A.- For section 12A of the principal Act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:--