REGISTERED NO . D. 221
रजिस्ट्री सं ० डी० 221
s भारत का राजपत्र The Gazette of India
2.5
असाधारण
EXTRAORDINARY
भाग II-खण्ड 2
PART II Section 2
प्राधिकार से प्रकाशित
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
नई दिल्ली, वहस्पतिवार, मार्च 8, 1973/ फाल्गन 17 , 1894
सं ० ४ ] No. 8] NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, MARCH 8 , 1973 / PHALGUNA 17, 1894
इस भाग में भिन्न पृष्ठ संख्या दी जाती है जिसते कि यह अलग संकलन के रूप में रखा जा सके ।
Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.
LOK SABHA
The following Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on the 8th March 1973 :-
BILL NO . 3 OF 1973
A Bill further to amend the Indian Railways Act , 1890 .
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty - fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-
Short title .
1. This Act may be called the Indian Railways (Amendment ) Act , 1973.
9 of 1890.
2. (1 ) In section 47 of the Indian Railways Act , 1890 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act) ,-
Amend- ment of section 47.
(a ) in sub -section ( 1 ) , after clause ( b ) , the following clause shall be inserted , namely : -
" (bb ) for the cancellation of tickets ( whether with reser- vation of accommodation or not ) , the circumstances under which , and the time - limit within which , such cancellation may be allowed and the charges payable therefor ; " ;
(b) in sub -section ( 2 ) , for the words " fifty rupees" , the words "one hundred and fifty rupees " shall be substituted.
(2) All charges levied and collected , or purported to have been levied and collected under the principal Act for cancellation of tickets (whether with reservation of accommodation or not) at any time before the com- mencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been validly levied and collected in accordance with law and accordingly no suit or other pro- ceeding shall be maintained in any court for the refund of any such charges.
(119) 120
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3. In section 82C of the principal Act ,-
Amend- ment of section 82C .
(a) in sub - section ( 1 ) , for the words " may be made" , the words "may be made to the Claims Commissioner " shall be substituted;
(b) after sub -section ( 2 ) , the following sub - section shall be inserted , namely: --
" (2A) If an applicant desires to be paid interim relief under section 82HH , he may send to the railway administration a copy of the application made under sub - section (1 ) with a request for payment of such interim relief ." ;
(c) in the Explanation , after the words " In this section " , the words , figures and letters " and section 82HH " shall be inserted .
4. In section 82E of the principal Act , in the proviso to sub - section (1 ) ,-
Amend- ment of section 82E .
(a) in clause ( ii ) , the word " and" shall be omitted;
(b) for clause ( iii ) , the following clauses shall be substituted , namely:-
" ( iii ) the payment by way of interim relief , if any , madeto the applicant by the railway administration under section 82HH is not adequate ; and
(iv ) the amount of compensation directed to be paid under this section together with the payment by way of interim relief , if any , made under section 82HH is not likely to exceed the actual amount of compensation that may ultimately become payable." .
5. After section 82H of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted , namely:-
Insertion of new section 82HH.
Interim reliefby railway adminis- tration,
" 82HH . ( 1 ) Where on receipt of an application under sub- section (2A) of section 82C and after making such enquiry as it may deem fit, the railway administration is satisfied that circumstances exist which require relief to be afforded to an applicant for compensation immediately , it may , pending determination of the actual amount of compensation payable under section 82A, pay to any person who has sustained injury or suffered any loss , or where death has resulted from the accident , to any dependant of the deceased, such sum as it considers reasonable for affording such relief, so, however , that the sum paid shall not exceed the amount of compensation payable at the rates prescribed under the rules made under section 82J.
(2) The railway administration shall , as soon as may be , after making an order regarding payment of interim relief under sub- section ( 1 ) , send a copy thereof to the Claims Commissioner.
(3 ) Any sum paid by the railway administration under sub- section (1 ) shall be taken into account by the Claims Commissioner while determining the amounts of compensation payable." .
Amend- ment of 821.
6. In section 821 of the principal Act , for the figures and letter " 82H", the figures and letters " 82HH" shall be substituted .
SEC . 2 ]
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7. In section 108 of the principal Act , the following proviso shall be inserted at the end , namely: -
Amend- ment of section 108 .
"Provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court , where a passenger , without reasonable and sufficient cause , makes use of the alarm chain provided by a railway administration, he shall be published--
(a) in the case of conviction for the first offence , with fine which shall not be less than twenty - five rupees ; and
(b) in the case of conviction for the second or subsequent offence , with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one month ." .
8. In section 118 of the principal Act,-
Amend- ment of section 118 .
(a) in sub -section ( 1 ) , for the words " with fine which may extend to twenty rupecs " , the words " with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month , or with fine which may extend to fifty rupees , or with both " shall be substituted;
(b) in sub - section (2 ) , for the words " with fine which may ex- tend to fifty rupees" , the words " with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months , or with fine which may extend to one hundred and fifty rupees , or with both " shall be substituted.
9.In section 120A of the principal Act,
(a) in sub -section ( 1 ) , the following proviso shall be inserted at the end, namely : -
Amend- ment of section 120A .
"Provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court, such fine shall be not less than fifty rupees . " ;
(b) after sub - section ( 1 ) , the following sub - section shall be inserted , namely :-
" (1A) If any person convicted of an offence under sub - sec- tion (1 ) commits a like offence afterwards, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months , or with fine which may extend to two hundred and fifty rupees , or with both ." ;
(c) in sub-section ( 2) , after the word , brackets and figure " sub- section ( 1 ) " , the words , brackets , figure and letter " or sub -section (1A) " shall be inserted .
10. In section 122 of the principal Act,-
Amend- ment of section 122 .
(a) in sub - section ( 1 ) , for the words " with fine which may extend to twenty rupees " , the words " with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to fifty rupees , or with both " shall be substituted ;
(b ) in sub -section (2 ) , for the words " with fine which may ex- tend to fifty rupees " , the words "with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months , or with fine which may extend to one hundred and fifty rupees , or with both " shall be substituted.
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11. Section 126 of the principal Act shall be re - numbered as sub- section ( 1 ) thereof, and-
Amend- ment of section 126 .
(a) in sub - section ( 1) as so re- numbered , for the words " If a person unlawfully-" , the words , brackets and figure " Subject to the provisions of sub -section ( 2 ) , if a person unlawfully- " shall be substituted;
( b) after sub - section ( 1) as so re - numbered, the following sub- section shall be inserted , namely : ---
" (2) If a person unlawfully does any act or thing referred to in clause ( a) or clause ( b ) or clause ( c) or clause ( d) or clause ( e) of sub - section ( 1 ) ,
(i) with intent to cause the death of any person and the doing of such act or thing causes the death of any person ; or (ii) with knowledge that such act or thing is so immi- nently dangerous that it must in all probability cause the death of any person or such bodily injury to any person as is likely to cause the death of such person , he shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life. " .
12. After section 126 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted , namely: -
Insertion of new section 126A, Damage to, or destruc- tion of , certain railway properties .
" 126A . ( 1 ) Whoever , with intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause damage or destruction to any of the properties of a railway referred to in sub-section ( 2) causes by fire , explosive sub- stance or otherwise , damage to such property to the amount of one hundred rupees or upwards , or destruction of such property , shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years .
(2) The properties of a railway referred to in sub- section (1 ) are railway track , bridges , station buildings and installations , car- riages or wagons , locomotives , signalling , telecommunication, electric traction and block equipments and such other properties as the Central Government , being of opinion that damage thereto or destruc- tion thereof is likely to endanger the operation of a railway, may, by notification in the Official Gazette , specify .
(3) Every notification issued under sub - section (2) shall be laid before each House of Parliament immediately after it is made if it is in session and on the first day of the commencement of the next session of the House if it is not in session , and shall cease to operate at the expiration of forty days from the date of its being so laid or from the re- assembly of Parliament , as the case may be, unless before the expiration of that period a resolution approving the issue of the notification is passed by both Houses of Parliament .
Explanation . Where the Houses of Parliament are summoned to re- assemble on different dates , the period of forty days shall be reckoned from the later of those dates . " .
13. In section 131 of the principal Act , in sub- section (1) , after the figures " 126," , the figures and letter " 126A, " shall be inserted .
Amend- ment of section 131.
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SEC. 2]
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STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
It has been found that the Indian Railways Act , 1890 has no provision authorising recovery of cancellation charges when reservations made for rail journeys are cancelled or tickets are otherwise returned for cancella- tion without being used . Such a provision authorising recovery of cancel- lation charges is essential , particularly to curb speculative reservations , which cause inconvenience to the general public. In fact , the recovery of such cancellation charges is already provided for in the rules framed by the Railways , but in the absence of an enabling provision in this behalf in the Act , it is doubtful whether such rules could validly be made . This lacuna is proposed to be removed by a suitable amendment of section 47 of the Act, with a further provision for validating all past recoveries of cancellation charges .
VII 2. It is also considered necessary to amend suitably Chapter of the Act to secure prompt relief in the shape of interim payment of compensation in cases of accidents to trains carrying passengers . This interim payment will , of course, be taken into consideration by the Claims Commissioners in making the final settlement of compensation .
3. Experience has shown that the penal provisions for offences covered under sections 47, 108, 118, 120A, 122 and 126, relatingto carrying inflam- mable articles in trains , unjustified pulling of the alarm chain, entraining or detraining in unauthorised places , unauthorised hawking , trespass and tampering with railway track and wilful wrecking of trains , are not sufficiently deterrent . Considering that the incidence of such offences on the railways has been increasing and causing serious concern , the relevant penal provisions are sought to be made more stringent. In the case of wrecking of trains , it is proposed to provide for imposition of the death penalty where deaths have occurred as a result of the wreck- ing of a train or where the person committing the act knows that it will be so imminently dangerous that it would , in all probability , cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to result in death .
4. As it is , there is in the Indian Railways Act no provision to cover cases of destruction of railway property except if it endangers , or is likely to endanger, the safety of any person travelling or being upon the railway. A new section 126A is proposed to be inserted to cover such offences .
5. The Bill seeks to give effect to the above objects .
L. N. MISHRA .
NEW DELHI;
The 15th February, 1973 .
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FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
Clause 5 of the Bill seeks to insert a new section 82HH providing for payment of interim relief by the Railway Administrations to the claim- ants for compensation which would be taken into consideration by the Claims Commissioners in awarding the final compensation . The provision will not, therefore , involve any additional expenditure to Government .
The expenditure involved in the payment of interim relief in a parti- cular year will depend upon the number of accidents to trains carrying passengers in that year and the number of passengers killed or those sustaining injuries . The number of such accidents and the total amount of compensation paid on Indian Railways during the three years from 1968-69 to 1970-71 was as under : -
Ycar
Total No. of accidents
Total amount Rs .
222
2,52,988
1968-69
298
11.14,641
1969-70
267
2,31,153
1970-71
787
15,98,782
Total
262
5,32.927
Average per year
As a result of the various safety measures which are being adopted by the Railways , the average annual expenditure involved in payment of interim relief to passengers in a year may not exceed the average yearly compensation paid by the Claims Commissioners during the last three years .
This Bill does not involve any non - recurring expenditure .
SEC . 2 ]
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MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION
Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend section 47 of the Indian Railways Act , 1890 , inter alia for empowering the Central Government to make rules for the cancellation of tickets (whether with reservation of accommodation or not ) , the circumstances under which and the time limit within which such cancellation may be allowed and the charges payable therefor. In fact , the recovery of such cancellation charges is already provided for in the rules framed by the Railways , but in the absence of an enabling provision in that behalf in the Act, it is doubtful whether such rules could validly be made. The amendment proposed is intended to remove any room for doubt . Moreover , the matters for which the Central Government is being empowered to make rules are matters of detail and the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character .
2. Clause12 of the Bill seeks to insert a new section 126A in the Act for the purpose of punishing persons causing damage to or destruction of certain railway properties even where it does not endanger the safety of any person travelling or being upon the railway . The description of railway properties with respect to which the new section will apply is specified in sub - section (2 ) of the said section 126A. As it is not possible to enumerate all such properties , power has been taken by the Central Government to specify , by notification in the Official Gazette , other railway properties damage to which or destruction whereof is , in the opinion of the Central Government , likely to endanger the operation of railways . Provision has been made in sub - section (3 ) of the new section 126A for laying before Parliament every such notification to be issued by the Central Government and obtaining approval of Parliament thereto. In the circumstances , the delegation of Legislative power is of a normal character ,
S. L. SHAKDHER ,
Secretary .
PRINTED BY THE MANAGER , GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS , MINTO DOAD , NEW DELHI AND PUBLISHED BY THE MANAGER OF PUBLICATIONS , DELHI , 1973