No. 364]

CHENNAI, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Aavani 19, Saarvari, Thiruvalluvar Aandu–2051

TAMIL NADU

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

[Regd. No. TN/CCN/467/2012-14.

GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU

[R. Dis. No. 197/2009.

2020

[Price: Rs. 3.20 Paise.

Part IV—Section 2

Tamil Nadu Acts and Ordinances

Ex-IV-2—364

[123]

TAMIL NADU ORDINANCE No. 10 OF 2020

An Ordinance further to amend the Tamil Nadu Public

Health Act,1939.

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly of the State is not in

session and the Governor of Tamil Nadu is satisﬁ ed that

circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take

immediate action for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by

clause (1) of Article 213 of the Constitution, the Governor hereby

promulgates the following Ordinance:—

1. (1) This Ordinance may be called the Tamil Nadu Public

Health (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Short title and

commencement.

(2) It shall come into force at once.

Tamil Nadu Act

III of 1939.

2. In section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939

(hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),—

Amendment of

section 3.

(1) clause (1) shall be renumbered as clause (1-A), and before

clause (1-A) as so renumbered, the following clause shall be

inserted, namely:—

“(1) “act of violence” includes any of the following acts

committed by any person against any personnel, including police

personnel, involved in the prevention, treatment and control of

infectious diseases, which causes or may cause—

(a) harassment impacting the living or working conditions

of such personnel and preventing them from discharging their

duties;

The following Ordinance which was promulgated by the Governor

on the 4th September 2020 is hereby published for general

information:-

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

(b) harm, injury, hurt, intimidation or danger to the life of

such personnel;

discharge of their duties;

(d) loss or damage to any property or documents in the

custody of, or in relation to, such personnel;”;

(2) after clause (17), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—

“(17-A) “isolation” means complete separation of a person

suﬀ ering from an infectious disease from others and detention in a

place designated therefor, for a period not exceeding the maximum

known period of communicability of that disease or until the person

is cured of that disease, so as to prevent or limit the direct or indirect

transmission of the infectious disease;”;

(3) after clause (30), the following clause shall be inserted,

namely:—

“(30-A) “Police Oﬃ cer” means an oﬃ cer not below the rank

of Sub-Inspector of Police;”;

(4) after clause (32), the following clause shall be inserted,

namely:—

“(32-A) “quarantine” means the limitation or restriction of

freedom of movement of a person reasonably believed to have

been exposed to an infectious disease, though asymptomatic, for a

period not exceeding the maximum known incubation period of that

disease, so as to prevent the possibility of spread of that disease to

others;”;

(5) after clause (33), the following clause shall be inserted,

namely:—

“(33-A) “social-distancing” means and includes any

measure taken to increase the physical space or distance between

people outside their home, in order to slow down the rate of

transmission of the disease in the community;”.

Amendment of

section 65.

3. In section 65 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the

expression “The Health Oﬃ cer or any person authorized by him

in this behalf”, the expression “The Health Oﬃ cer or any person

authorized by him in this behalf or a Police Oﬃ cer” shall be

substituted.

Amendment of

section 76.

4. In section 76 of the principal Act, for sub-section (2), the

following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

“(2) When a declaration under clause (a) or clause (b) of

sub-section (1) comes into operation and until it is withdrawn, the

Collector of the district or any person duly authorized by him by

general or special order, or if empowered in this behalf by rules

made under this Act, the Health Oﬃ cer or any other oﬃ cer of the

local authority concerned or any Police Oﬃ cer or any oﬃ cer of the

Government other than the Collector of the district may, subject

to such exceptions, restrictions, limitations and conditions and to

such control as may be prescribed, either generally or in the case

of the notiﬁ ed disease to which the declaration relates, exercise the

following powers, namely:—

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(a) to order the evacuation of infected houses and houses

adjoining them or in their neighbourhood, or generally of all houses

in an infected locality;

(b) to make vaccination and preventive inoculations

compulsory subject to the provisions of sub-section (3);

(i) that persons arriving from places outside the local

area, or residing in any building adjacent to, or in the neighbourhood

of, an infected building, shall be examined by a medical oﬃ cer;

(ii) that persons in isolation or in quarantine shall be

examined or required to undergo necessary tests by a medical

oﬃ cer;

(iii) that the clothing, bedding or other articles

belonging to such persons shall be disinfected, if there is reason to

suspect that they have been exposed to infection;

(iv) that any such person shall give his address and

present himself daily for medical examination at a speciﬁ ed time

and place, for a period not exceeding fourteen days;

(d) to take such measures as may be necessary—

(i) in respect of, or in relation to, persons exposed to

infection from any notiﬁ ed disease, or likely to infect other persons

with any such disease; and

(ii) in respect of, or in relation to, articles exposed to

infection from any notiﬁ ed disease, or likely to infect persons with

any such disease,

including in the case of (i), the placing of restrictions on the

movement of such persons, isolation or quarantine of such persons,

as the case may be, and in the case of (ii), the destruction of such

articles and the placing of restrictions on their export from, import

into, or transport within, the local area;

(e) to direct that at any place within or outside the local

area, any consignment of grain exported from, or imported into, such

area by rail, road or otherwise, shall be examined and, if necessary,

unloaded and disinfected in any speciﬁ ed manner;

(f) to close all or any existing market, and to appoint special

places, where markets may be held;

(g) to impose restrictions on the operation of public and

private transport;

(h) to ensure prohibition of spitting in public places,

observance of social distancing norms, wearing of masks and such

other instructions that may be issued, from time to time, by the

Government, in the interest of public health and safety;

(i) to issue standard operating procedures to be followed in

salon and spa, gymnasium and such other public places;

(j) to ensure adherence of the guidelines issued by the

Government to be followed in containment zones.

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Explanation.— For the purpose of this clause, “containment

zone” means the area demarcated as such, based on the cluster

of infected cases reported therein, by the Collector of the district or

the Commissioner of the City Municipal Corporation, as the case

may be;

(k) to restrict or prohibit congregation of persons in public

places, religious institutions and places of worship;

(l) to ensure the functioning of oﬃ ces, both the Government

and private, and educational institutions as per the directions of the

Government or the Collector of the district;

(m) to ensure prohibition or restriction on the functioning of

shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, godown,

etc., as per the directions of the Government or the Collector of the

district;

(n) to ensure duration of services in essential or emergency

services such as banks, media, healthcare, food supply, electricity,

water supply, fuel, etc., as per the directions of the Government or

the Collector of the district;

(o) to provide for inspection and, if required, detention

of any vehicle, vessel, or any other form of transport, departing,

arriving at or passing-through the local area;

(p) to direct any clinical establishment to admit, isolate

and manage cases arising out of public health emergencies and to

furnish report or return in such form and in such manner as may be

prescribed and to provide such services as directed.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this clause, “clinical

establishment” means a clinical establishment as deﬁ ned in

clause (a) of section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments

(Regulation) Act, 1997 (Tamil Nadu Act 4 of 1997);

(q) to prohibit any such activity that may be inimical to the

public health;

(r) to ensure dissemination of information pertaining to the

notiﬁ ed diseases, disease control and preventive measures, etc.,

to the public and to check dissemination of false information on the

subject in the mass media; and

(s) to carry out such other activity or measures for the

regulation, control and prevention of the notiﬁ ed diseases, as may

be directed by the Government or the Collector of the district.”.

Insertion of new

section 77-A.

5. After section 77 of the principal Act, the following section

shall be inserted, namely:—

“77-A.Prohibition of act of violence.— (1) No person

shall indulge in any act of violence against a personnel involved in

the prevention, treatment and control of infectious diseases.

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(2) Whoever commits or abets the commission of any

oﬀ ence under this section shall be punishable with imprisonment

for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may

extend to two years and shall be liable to ﬁ ne which shall not be less

than ten thousand rupees, but which may extend to ﬁ fty thousand

rupees.”.

6. In section 128 of the principal Act, the following sub-sections

shall be added, namely:-

Amendment of

section 128.

“(3) (a) All rules made under this Act shall be published in

the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette and, unless they are expressed

to come into force on a particular date, shall come into force on the

date on which they are so published;

(b) All notiﬁ cations issued under this Act, shall, unless

they are expressed to come into force on a particular date, come

into force on the date on which they are so published.

(4) Every rule made or notiﬁ cation or order issued under

this Act, shall, as soon as possible, after it is made or issued, be

placed on the table of the Legislative Assembly and if, before the

expiry of the session, in which it is so placed or the next session,

the Legislative Assembly agrees in making any modiﬁ cation in

any such rule or notiﬁ cation or order or the Legislative Assembly

decides that the rule or notiﬁ cation or order should not be made or

issued, the rule or notiﬁ cation or order shall there after have eﬀ ect

only in such modiﬁ ed form or be of no eﬀ ect, as the case may be, so

however, that any such modiﬁ cation or annulment shall be without

prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule

or notiﬁ cation or order.”.

7. Section 130 of the principal Act shall be omitted.

Omission of

section 130.

8. In section 135 of the principal Act, for the expression “or the

Health Oﬃ cer”, in two places where it occurs, the expression “or the

Health Oﬃ cer or a Police Oﬃ cer” shall be substituted.

Amendment of

section 135.

9. After section 135 of the principal Act, the following section

shall be inserted, namely:—

Insertion of new

section 135-A.

“35-A. Oﬀ ences by companies.— (1) Where an oﬀ ence

under this Act has been committed by a company, every person

who, at the time of the oﬀ ence was committed was in charge of, and

was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of

the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty

of the oﬀ ence and shall be liable to be proceeded against them and

punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall render any

such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the oﬀ ence

was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all

due diligence to prevent the commission of such an oﬀ ence.

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(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1),

where any oﬀ ence under this Act has been committed by a

company and it is proved that the oﬀ ence 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 oﬃ cer of the

company, such director, manager, secretary or other oﬃ cer shall be

proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation.— For the purposes of this section—

(a) “company” means any body corporate and includes a

ﬁ rm or other association of individuals; and

(b) “director” in relation to a ﬁ rm, means a partner in the

ﬁ rm.”.

Amendment of

section 138.

10. In section 138 of the principal Act,—

(1) for the expression “by the police”, the expression “by a

Police Oﬃ cer” shall be substituted;

(2) in the proviso, for the expression “Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1898 (Central Act V of 1898)”, the expression “Code

of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974)” shall be

substituted.

Amendment of

section 138-A.

11. In section 138-A of the principal Act, for the expression

“The executive authority or the Health Oﬃ cer”, the expression “The

executive authority or the Health Oﬃ cer or a Police Oﬃ cer” shall be

substituted.

Amendment of

section 142.

12. In section 142 of the principal Act,—

(1) in sub-section (1), for the expression “or of the

Government”, the expression “or of the Government or Police

Oﬃ cer” shall be substituted;

(2) in sub-section (2), for the expression “or of the

Government”, the expression “or of the Government or no Police

Oﬃ cer” shall be substituted.

Amendment of

section 143.

13. In section 143 of the principal Act, for the expression “or of

the Government”, the expression “or of the Government or Police

Oﬃ cer” shall be substituted.

Amendment of

Schedule I.

14. In Schedule I to the principal Act, for the words “One

thousand rupees” in column (4) relating to section 76 in column (1),

the words, “Five thousand rupees” shall be substituted.

4th September 2020.

BANWARILAL PUROHIT,

Governor of Tamil Nadu.

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TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, lockdown and social distancing measures are taken by the

Government. Violences against the persons implementing these measures have been brought to the notice

of the Government. Such acts of Violence hinders the measures taken to control the spread COVID-19 in

the community and deters the advancement of Public Health. It is therefore considered necessary to make

the violations against lockdown and social distancing measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 as

oﬀ ences and also to prohibit the acts of violence against the persons implementing these measures.

2. Accordingly, the Government have decided to amend the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939

(Tamil Nadu Act III of 1939) suitably for the aforesaid purposes.

3. The Ordinance seeks to give eﬀ ect to the above decision.

(By order of the Governor)

C. GOPI RAVIKUMAR,

Secretary to Government,

Law Department.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY COMMISSIONER OF STATIONERY AND PRINTING, CHENNAI

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU