39. Where any documentâ
(i) is produced or furnished by any person or has
been seized from the custody or control of any person, in either case,
under this Act or under any other law; or
(ii) has been received from any place outside India
(duly authenticated by such authority or person and in such manner as
may be prescribed) in the course of investigation of any contravention
under this Act alleged to have been committed by any person, and such
document is tendered in any proceeding under this Act in evidence
against him, or against him and any other person who is proceeded
against jointly with him, the court or the Adjudicating Authority, as
the case may be, shallâ
(a) presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the
signature and every other part of such document which purports to be
in the handwriting of any particular person or which the court may
reasonably assume to have been signed by, or to be in the handwriting
of, any particular person, is in that personâs handwriting, and
in the case of a document executed or attested, that it was executed
or attested by the person by whom it purports to have been so executed
or attested;
(b) admit the document in evidence notwithstanding
that it is not duly stamped, if such document is otherwise admissible
in evidence;
(c) in a case falling under clause (i), also
presume, unless the contrary is proved, the truth of the contents of
such document.
Suspension of operation of this Act.
40. (1) If the Central Government is satisfied that
circumstances have arisen rendering it necessary that any permission
granted or restriction imposed by this Act should cease to be granted
or imposed, or if it considers necessary or expedient so to do in
public interest, the Central Government may, by notification, suspend
or relax to such extent either indefinitely or for such period as may
be notified, the operation of all or any of the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Where the operation of any provision of this Act
has under sub-section (1) been suspended or relaxed indefinitely, such
suspension or relaxation may, at any time while this Act remains in
force, be removed by the Central Government by notification.
(3) Every notification issued under this section
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is issued, before each House
of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty
days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session
immediately following the session or the successive sessions
aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the
notification or both Houses agree that the notification should not be
issued, the notification shall thereafter have effect only in such
modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however,
that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to
the validity of anything previously done under that notification.
Power of Central Government to give directions.
41. For the purposes of this Act, the Central
Government may, from time to time, give to the Reserve Bank such
general or special directions as it thinks fit, and the Reserve Bank
shall, in the discharge of its functions under this Act, comply with
any such directions.
Contravention by companies.
42. (1) Where a person committing a contravention of
any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order
made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the
contravention 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 contravention and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly :
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section
shall render any such person liable to punishment if he proves that
the contravention took place without his knowledge or that he
exercised due diligence to prevent such contravention.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in
sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the provisions of
this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder has been
committed by a company and it is proved that the contravention has
taken place with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to
any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other
officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other
officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.âFor the purposes
of this sectionâ
(i) "company" means any body corporate and
includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(ii) "director", in relation to a firm,
means a partner in the firm.
Death or insolvency in certain cases.
43. Any right, obligation, liability, proceeding or
appeal arising in relation to the provisions of section 13 shall not
abate by reason of death or insolvency of the person liable under that
section and upon such death or insolvency such rights and obligations
shall devolve on the legal representative of such person or the
official receiver or the official assignee, as the case may be :
Provided that a legal representative of the deceased
shall be liable only to the extent of the inheritance or estate of the
deceased.
Bar of legal proceedings.
44. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding
shall lie against the Central Government or the Reserve Bank or any
officer of that Government or of the Reserve Bank or any other person
exercising any power or discharging any functions or performing any
duties under this Act, for anything in good faith done or intended to
be done under this Act or any rule, regulation, notification,
direction or order made thereunder.
Removal of difficulties.
45. (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to
the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order, do
anything not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act for the
purpose of removing the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made under this
section after the expiry of two years from the commencement of this
Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be
laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of
Parliament.
Power to make rules.
46. (1) The Central Government may, by notification,
make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may provide for,â
(a) the imposition of reasonable restrictions on
current account transactions under section 5;
(b) the manner in which the contravention may be
compounded under sub-section (1) of section 15;
(c) the manner of holding an inquiry by the
Adjudicating Authority under sub-section (1) of section 16;
(d) the form of appeal and fee for filing such
appeal under sections 17 and 19;
(e) the salary and allowances payable to and the
other terms and conditions of service of the Chairperson and other
Members of the Appellate Tribunal and the Special Director (Appeals)
under section 23;
(f) the salaries and allowances and other conditions
of service of the officers and employees of the Appellate Tribunal and
the office of the Special Director (Appeals) under sub-section (3) of
section 27;
(g) the additional matters in respect of which the
Appellate Tribunal and the Special Director (Appeals) may exercise the
powers of civil court under clause (i) of sub-section (2) of
section 28;
(h) the authority or person and the manner in which
any document may be authenticated under clause (ii) of section
39; and
(i) any other matter which is required to be, or may
be, prescribed.
Power to make regulations.
47. (1) The Reserve Bank may, by notification, make
regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act and the rules made
thereunder.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such regulations may provide for,â
(a) the permissible classes of capital account
transactions, the limits of admissibility of foreign exchange for such
transactions, and the prohibition, restriction or regulation of
certain capital account transactions under section 6;
(b) the manner and the form in which the declaration
is to be furnished under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of
section 7;
(c) the period within which and the manner of
repatriation of foreign exchange under section 8;
(d) the limit up to which any person may possess
foreign currency or foreign coins under clause (a) of section
9;
(e) the class of persons and the limit up to which
foreign currency account may be held or operated under clause (b)
of section 9;
(f) the limit up to which foreign exchange acquired
may be exempted under clause (d) of section 9;
(g) the limit up to which foreign exchange acquired
may be retained under clause (e) of section 9;
(h) any other matter which is required to be, or may
be, specified.
Rules and regulations to be laid before
Parliament.
48. Every rule and regulation made under this Act
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House
of Parliament, while it is in session for a total period of thirty
days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session
immediately following the session or the successive sessions
aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or
regulation, or both Houses agree that the rule or regulation should
not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only
in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so,
however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule
or regulation.
Repeal and saving.
49. (1) The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973
(46 of 1973) is hereby repealed and the Appellate Board constituted
under sub-section (1) of section 52 of the said Act (hereinafter
referred to as the repealed Act) shall stand dissolved.
(2) On the dissolution of the said Appellate Board,
the person appointed as Chairman of the Appellate Board and every
other person appointed as Member and holding office as such
immediately before such date shall vacate their respective offices and
no such Chairman or other person shall be entitled to claim any
compensation for the premature termination of the term of his office
or of any contract of service.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
law for the time being in force, no court shall take cognizance of an
offence under the repealed Act and no adjudicating officer shall take
notice of any contravention under section 51 of the repealed Act after
the expiry of a period of two years from the date of the commencement
of this Act.
(4) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) all
offences committed under the repealed Act shall continue to be
governed by the provisions of the repealed Act as if that Act had not
been repealed.
(5) Notwithstanding such repeal,â
(a) anything done or any action taken or purported
to have been done or taken including any rule, notification,
inspection, order or notice made or issued or any appointment,
confirmation or declaration made or any licence, permission,
authorization or exemption granted or any document or instrument
executed or any direction given under the Act hereby repealed shall,
in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding
provisions of this Act;
(b) any appeal preferred to the Appellate Board
under sub-section (2) of section 52 of the repealed Act but not
disposed of before the commencement of this Act shall stand
transferred to and shall be disposed of by the Appellate Tribunal
constituted under this Act;
(c) every appeal from any decision or order of the
Appellate Board under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 52
of the repealed Act shall, if not filed before the commencement of
this Act, be filed before the High Court within a period of sixty days
of such commencement :
Provided that the High Court may entertain such
appeal after the expiry of the said period of sixty days if it is
satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from
filing the appeal within the said period.
(6) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (3),
the mention of particular matters in sub-sections (2), (4) and (5)
shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of
section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897) with regard to
the effect of repeal.