West Bengal Evacuees ( Administration Of Property ) Act, 1949
No: 18 Dated: Apr, 21 1949
THE WEST BENGAL EVACUEES (ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY) ACT, 1949
West Bengal Act XVIII of 1949
An Act to provide for the administration of properties of evacuees in West Bengal.
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the administration of propertieS of evacuees in West Bengal;
1. Short title, extent and commencemeat:- (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Evacuees (Administration of Property) Act, 1949.
(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.
(3) 'It shall come into force on such date as the Provincial Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions:- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
(a) "Board" means an Evacuee Property Management Board constituted under section 3;
(b) "evacuee" means a person ordinarily resident and owning property or carrying on business in West Bengal, who, on account of communal disturbances or for fear of such disturbances,—
(i) leaves or has on or after the 1st day of June, 1947, left West Bengal to a place outside the Province; and
(ii) makes a declaration that he intends to return to West Bengal within six months from the date on which a proclamation in the Official Gazette is made by the Provincial Government that normal conditions have been restored in the Province;
(c) "evacuee property" includes all property lying in West Bengal in which an evacuee has any right or interest but does not include any moveable property in his immediate physical possession;
(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the Provincial Government under this Act ; and
(e) "property" includes any right or interest in moveable or immoveable property or in any shop or business establishment or any factory or workshop or undertaking or in any debt or actionable claim other than a mere right to sue but does not include money in a Bank whether held in current account or otherwise.
3. Constitution and dissolution of Boards:- (1) The Provincial Government may, if it deems just and expedient, by notification in the Official Gazette, onstitute an Evacuee Property Management Board for any district or districts or part or parts thereof
(2) A Board shall consist of a Chairman and two or four other members, as the Provincial Government may think fit.
(3) The Chairman and other members of a Board shall be appointed by the Provincial Government from among the members of the minority community.
(4) In deciding whether it is expedient that a Board should be constituted for any district or districts or part or parts thereof and in selecting the Chairman and other members of such Board, the Provincial Government shall consider the views of evacuees owning property or carrying on business in such district or districts or part or parts thereof, in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5) Every Board shall be a body corporate by the name of "the Evacuee Property Management Board of (name of the area)" and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
(6) The Provincial Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, dissolve a Board if—
(a) in its opinion the management by the Board of the property vested in it under sub-section (5) of section 8 is financially unsound or otherwise unsatisfactory; or
(b) no suitable person is available for filling a vacancy in the office of a member or of the Chairman.
(7) The Provincial Government may, if it so thinks fit, by notification in the Oficial Gazette, dissolve a Board at any time after one year from the date on which the Board was constituted.
(8) Where a Board is dissolved under sub-section (6) or sub-section (7) the Provincial Government shall appoint a liquidator.
(9) A liquidator appointed under sub-section (8) shall have powers to institute or defend any suit or prosecution or other legal proceedings, civil or criminal, in the name or on behalf of the evacuee whose property had vested in the Board and to carry on the business of such evacuee se far as may be necessary for the winding up of the same and to perform such other functions as the Provincial Government may direct.