Rajasthan Requisitioning of Goods Vehicles Act, 1969
No: 18 Dated: Sep, 18 1969
Rajasthan Requisitioning of Goods Vehicles Act, 1969
(Act No. 18 of 1969)
An Act to provide for requisitioning of goods vehicles for purposes of relief in areas affected with [scarcity, famine, flood, earthquake or any natural calamity].
Be it enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature in the Twentieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Rajasthan Requisitioning of Goods Vehicles Act, 1969.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Rajasthan.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Interpretation. - In this Act unless there is anything contrary in the subject or context:-
(a) "Affected area" means any area affected with famine or scarcity in respect of which a declaration has been made under section 3 of the Rajasthan Affected Areas (Suspension of Proceedings) Act, 1952 (Rajasthan Act 21 of 1952) and is subsisting [or with flood or earthquake or any natural calamity];
(b) "Essential Commodity" has the same meaning as in clause (a) of section 2 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (Central Act 10 of 1955);
(c) "Good vehicle" has the same meaning as in clause (8) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (Central Act 4 of 1939);
(d) "Government" means the Government of the State of Rajasthan.
3. Requisitioning of goods vehicles for purposes of transport of [essential commodities and drinking water, other goods, animals and persons]. - (1) If it appears to the Government that any goods vehicle in any part of Rajasthan is needed or is likely to be needed for the purposes of transport of any [essential commodities, drinking water, any other goods, animals or persons,] to, from or within the affected areas the Government may, by order in writing, requisition any such vehicle and may make such further orders as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient in connection with the requisitioning.
(2) The requisition under sub-section (1) shall be affected by an order in writing addressed to the person deemed by the Government to be the owner or person in possession of the goods vehicle and such order shall be served in the manner provided in sub-section (3) on the person to whom it is addressed.
(3) An order of requisition under sub-section (1) shall be served-
(a) where the person to whom such order is addressed is a corporation or firm, in the manner provided for the service of summons in rule 2 of order XXIX or rule 3 of Order XXX, as the case may be, in the First Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908); and
(b) Where the person to whom such order is addressed is an individual-
(i) personally by delivering or tendering the order, or
(ii) by registered post, or
(iii) if the person cannot be found, by leaving an authentic copy of the order with any adult member of his family or by affixing such copy to some conspicuous part of the premises in which he is known to have last resided or carried on business or personally worked for gain.
4. Accessories not to be removed. - No owner of any goods vehicle or any person in possession of it shall after service of an order under section 3, remove or allow to be removed any part, tyre, tube or any other accessory from the vehicle so as to hamper the use of such vehicle.
5. Duration of requisition. - Whenever, any vehicle is requisitioned under sub-section (1) of section 3, the period of such requisitioning shall not extend beyond the period for which such vehicle is required for any of the purposes mentioned in that sub-section.
6. Payment of compensation. - Whenever in pursuance of section 3, the Government requisitions any goods vehicle, there shall be paid to the owner thereof compensation the amount of which shall be determined by the Government on the basis of the rates prevailing in the locality for the hire of such vehicle:
Provided that the owner of such vehicle, if aggrieved by the amount of compensation so determined, may, within fourteen days from the date of determination of the amount of such compensation or where the amount of such compensation has been determined in the absence of the owner, within fourteen days from the date on which intimation of such determination is sent to the owner, make an application to the Government for referring the matter to an arbitrator, and in the case the amount of compensation to be paid shall be such as the arbitrator appointed in this behalf by the Government may determine:
Provided further that where immediately before the requisitioning, such vehicle was by virtue of a hire-purchase agreement in the possession of the person other than the owner, the amount determined under this sub-section as the total compensation payable in respect of the requisition shall be appointed between that person and the owner in such manner as they may agree upon, and in default of agreement in such manner as the arbitrator appointed by the Government in this behalf may decide.
7. Power to obtain information. - The Government may with a view to requisitioning any goods vehicle or determining the compensation payable under section 6, by order, require any person to furnish to such authority as may be specified in the order such information in his possession relating to such vehicle as may be so specified.
8. Powers of entry into and inspection of premises and seizure of vehicle. - Any person authorised in this behalf by the Government may enter into any premises and inspect any vehicle therein for the purpose of determining whether and if so in what manner an order under section 3 should be made in relation to such vehicle or with a view to securing compliance with any order made under that section, and may seize any vehicle requisitioned under section 3 from any person who may for the time being be in possession thereof.
9. Delegation of functions of the Government with regard to requisitioning. - The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette direct that any powers conferred or any duty imposed on the Government by any of the provisions of this Act shall, under such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the direction, be exercised or discharged by such officer or class of officers as may be so specified.
10. Penalties. - If any person contravenes any order made, under section 3 or section 7 or contravenes any provision of section 4 he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
11. Power to arrest without Warrant. - Any Police Officer of or above the rank of a Sub-Inspector may arrest without warrant any person who is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence punishable under this Act.