(1) This Act may be called the Collection of Statistics Act, 1953.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
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1. Came into force on 10-11-1956, vide Gazette of India, Extra., Pt. I, Sec. 1, p. 1027, dated 10th November, 1956.
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In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “appropriate Government” means—
(i) the Central Government, in relation to the collection of statistics under a direction issued by it under section 3, and
(ii) the State Government, in relation to the collection of statistics under a direction issued by it under that section;
(b) “commercial concern” means a public limited company or a co-operative society or a firm or any other person or body of persons engaged in trade or commerce, and includes—
(i) a concern engaged in banking or insurance;
(ii) a financial corporation;
(iii) a concern engaged in shipping and navigation;
(iv) a concern engaged in the business of brokers dealing in shares, stocks and securities and commodities;
(v) a concern engaged in the business of advertising consultants;
(vi) a light railway;
(vii) a concern engaged in road transport service;
(viii) a concern engaged in air transport service;
(ix) a rubber, tea, coffee or cinchona plantation;
(x) a concern engaged in the business of forwarding and clearing agents;
(xi) any other concern which, in the opinion of the Central Government, is a commercial concern and is declared to be such by that Government by notification in the Official Gazette, but does not include an industrial concern;
(c) “factory” means a factory as defined in clause (m) of section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948 (LXIII of 1948);
(d) “industrial concern” means a public limited company or a co-operative society or a firm or any other person or body of persons engaged in the manufacture, assembling, packing, preservation or processing of goods or in mining or in the generation or distribution of electricity or any other form of power;
(e) “owner”, in relation to a commercial or an industrial concern, means the person who, or the authority which has the ultimate control over the affairs of the concern, and where the said affairs are entrusted to a manager, managing director or managing agent, such manager, managing director or managing agent shall be deemed to be the owner of the concern;
(f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act or in any form laid down by such rules.
The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that statistics shall be collected relating to any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) any matter relating to any industry or class of industries;
(b) any matter relating to any commercial or industrial concern or class of commercial or industrial concerns, and in particular, any matter relating to factories;
(c) any of the following matters so far as they relate to welfare of labour and conditions of labour, namely:—
(i) price of commodities;
(ii) attendance;
(iii) living conditions including housing, water-supply and sanitation;
(iv) indebtedness;
(v) rents of dwelling-houses;
(vi) wages and other earnings;
(vii) provident and other funds provided for labour;
(viii) benefits and amenities provided for labour;
(ix) hours of work;
(x) employment and unemployment;
(xi) industrial and labour disputes;
(xii) labour turnover;
(xiii) trade unions;
and thereupon the provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to those statistics:
Provided that—
(a) nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to authorise a State Government to issue any direction under this Act with respect to the collection of statistics relating to any matter falling under any of the entries specified in List I in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution; or
(b) where the Central Government has issued any direction under this section for the collection of statistics relating to any matter, no State Government shall, except with the previous approval of the Central Government, issue any similar direction for so long as the collection of statistics by the Central Government remains to be completed; or
(c) where a State Government has issued a direction under this section for the collection of statistics relating to any matter, the Central Government shall not issue any similar direction for so long as the collection of the statistics by the State Government remains to be completed, except in cases where statistics have to be collected with reference to two or more States.
(1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf, there shall be established for the purposes of this Act a Board to be called the Coir Board.
(2) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall, by the said name, sue and be sued.
(3) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and such number of other members not exceeding forty as the Central Government may think expedient, to be appointed by that Government by notification in the Official Gazette from among persons who are in its opinion capable of representing—
(a) growers of coconuts and producers of husks and coir yarn;
(b) persons engaged in the production of husks, coir and coir yarn and in the manufacturer of coir products;
(c) manufacturers of coir products;
(d) dealers in coir, coir yarn and coir products, including both exporters and internal traders;
(e) Parliament;
(f) the Governments of the principal coconut growing States;
(g) such other persons or class of persons who, in the opinion of the Central Government, ought to be represented on the Board.
(4) The number of persons to be appointed as members from each of the categories specified in sub-section (3), the term of office of, the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their function by, and the manner of filling vacancies among, the members of the Board shall be such as may be prescribed.
(5) Any officer of the Central Government when deputed by that Government in this behalf shall have the right to attend meetings of the Board and take part in the proceedings thereof but shall not be entitled to vote.
(1) The statistics authority may serve or cause to be served on the owner of an industrial or commercial concern or on any other person a notice requiring him to furnish such information or returns as may be prescribed relating to any matter in respect of which statistics are to be collected.
(2) The form in which, and the person to whom, or the authorities to which, such information or returns should be furnished, the particulars which they should contain and the intervals within which such information or returns should be furnished shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3) The notice referred to in sub-section (1) may be served by post.
The Chairman shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such conditions of service in respect of leave, pension, provident fund and other matters as may from time to time be fixed by the Central Government.
(1) No information, no individual return and no part of an individual return with respect to any particular industrial or commercial concern, given for the purposes of this Act, shall, without the previous consent in writing of the owner for the time being of the industrial or commercial concern in relation to which the information or return was given or made or his authorised agent, be published in such manner as would enable any particulars to be identified as referring to a particular concern.
(2) Except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act or under the Indian Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), no person who is not engaged in the collection of statistics under this Act shall be permitted to see any information or individual return referred to in sub-section (1).
If any person—
(a) required to furnish any information or return—
(i) wilfully refuses or without lawful excuse neglects to furnish such information or return as may be required under this Act; or
(ii) wilfully furnishes or causes to be furnished any information or return which he knows to be false; or
(iii) refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining any information required to be furnished under this Act; or
(b) impedes the right of access to relevant records or documents or the right of entry conferred by section 6,
he shall for each such offence be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine which may extend to two hundred rupees for each day after the first during which the offence continues.
(1) The Central Government shall, after consulting the Board, appoint a Secretary to the Board who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Board or the Chairman.
(2) Subject to such control and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Board may appoint such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of its functions and pay them such salaries and allowances as it may determine from time to time.
(3) The Chairman, Secretary and other officers and employees of the Board shall not undertake any work unconnected with their duties under this Act except with the permission of the Central Government.
If any person engaged in connection with the collection of statistics under this Act wilfully discloses any information or the contents of any return given or made under this Act otherwise than in the execution of his duties under this Act or for the purposes of the prosecution of an offence under this Act or under the Indian Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), he shall be punishable for such offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
(1) The Central Government may, if the Board does any act exceeding the powers conferred upon it or acts in a manner contrary to the rules or prejudicial to the interests of the industry or acts 1[***] contrary to the directions given by the Central Government, call upon the Board to show cause why the Board should not be dissolved and if no explanation is offered or if the Central Government is dissatisfied with the explanation given it may suspend or dissolve the Board from such date and for such period as may be specified in the notification.
(2) When the Board is dissolved under the provisions of sub-section (1)—
(a) all members shall, from the date of dissolution, vacate their offices as such members;
(b) all powers and duties of the Board shall, during the period of dissolution, be exercised and performed by such person or persons as the Central Government may appoint in this behalf;
(c) all funds and other property vested in the Board shall, during the period of dissolution, vest in the Central Government; and
(d) as soon as the period of dissolution expires, the Board shall be reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
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1. The words “or fails to act” omitted by Act 36 of 1957, sec. 3 and Sch. II (w.e.f. 17-9-1957).
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No coir fibre, coir yarn or coir products shall be exported otherwise than under a licence issued by or on behalf of the Board in the prescribed manner, and the provisions of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 (VIII of 1878) shall have effect as if the provisions made by this section had been made by notification issued under section 19 of that Act:
Provided that nothing therein contained shall apply to any coir product dispatched out of the territories to which this Act extends by post or carried in a passenger’s luggage for his personal use:
Provided further that the Central Government may exempt from the operation of this section either absolutely or subject to specified conditions, the export of any coir fibre, coir yarn or coir product to any foreign settlement bounded by India.
(1) With effect from such date as may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, there shall be levied and collected as a cess for the purposes of this Act a duty of customs on all coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products which are exported, 1[at such rate not exceeding two rupees per quinal] as the Central Government may, by the same or a like notification from time to time, fix.
(2) The cess levied under sub-section (1), shall be in addition to any other duty leviable under the Indian Tariff Act, 1934 (XXXII of 1934) or any other law for the time being in force and shall be collected by such agencies and in such manner as may be prescribed.
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1. Subs. by Act 40 of 1960, sec. 9, for “at such rate not exceeding one rupee per hundred weight” (w.e.f. 1-10-1960).
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The proceeds of the cess levied under sub-section (1) of section 13 shall first be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India and the Central Government may thereafter from time to time pay to the Board from and out of such proceeds such sums of money as it may think fit after deducting the expenses of collection.
The Central Government may, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the Board by way of grants, such sums of money as the Central Government may consider necessary.]
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1. Ins. by Act 25 of 1964, sec. 4 (w.e.f. 16-6-1964).
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[Rep. by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1957 (36 of 1957), sec. 2 and Sch. I (w.e.f. 17-9-1957).]
Subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, the Board shall have power to borrow on the security of the Fund or any other asset for any purposes for which the Fund may be applied.
(1) The Board shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts, including the profit and loss account and the balance-sheet in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
(2) The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at such intervals as may be prescribed by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Board shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General has in connection with the audit of Government accounts, and in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the Board.
(4) The accounts of the Board as certified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the Central Government and that Government shall cause the same to be laid before each House of Parliament.]
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1. Subs. by Act 25 of 1964, sec. 6, for section 17 (w.e.f. 16-6-1964).
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1[(1) The Board shall submit to the Central Government and such other authority, as may be prescribed, an annual report on its activities and the working of this Act for the preceding year; and a copy of every such report shall, as soon as may be after it is received by the Central Government, be laid before each House of Parliament.]
(2) The Board shall prepare and submit such other returns relating to the coir industry as may be required by that Government from time to time.
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1. Subs. by Act 41 of 1994, sec. 2, for sub-section (1) (w.e.f. 8-7-1994).
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(1) If any person contravenes the provisions of section 12, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.
(2) Any person who attempts to contravene or abets the contravention of the provisions of section 12 shall be deemed to have contravened those provisions.
(1) If the person committing an offence under section 12 is a company, every person who at the time the contravention was committed was incharge 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 any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where an offence under section 12 has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence 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 officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section—
(a) ‘company’ means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b) ‘director’ in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.
No prosecution for any offence punishable under this Act shall be instituted except with the previous approval of the Central Government.
The Central Government may, by order notified in the Official Gazette, direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act may also be exercised in such cases and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order by such officer or authority as may be specified therein.
The Central Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the constitution of the Board, the number of persons to be appointed as members from each of the categories specified in sub-section (3) of section 4, the term of office and the other conditions of service of, the procedure to be followed by, and the manner of filling vacancies among, the members of the Board;
(b) the circumstances in which, and the authority by which, members may be removed;
(c) the holding of a minimum number of meetings every year;
(d) the pay and allowances and other conditions of service of the Secretary;
(e) the maintenance of records of all business transacted at meetings of the Board and the submission of copies of such records to the Central Government;
(f) the preparation of budget estimate of the receipts and expenditure of the Board and the authority by which such estimates should be sanctioned;
(g) the conditions subject to which, and the mode in which, contracts may be made by or on behalf of the Board;
(h) the powers of the Board and the Executive Committee and the Chairman, in regard to the incurring of expenditure; and the reappropriation of estimated savings in any budget head to another such head;
(i) the conditions subject to which the Board may borrow;
(j) the form and the manner in which accounts should be kept by the Board;
(k) the registration of coir spindles and looms for the manufacture of coir products as also the registration of manufacturers of coir products and the conditions for such registration; the grant or issue of licences under this Act; the fees to be levied in respect of such registration and licences; and the suspension and cancellation of such registration and licences;
(l) the form of applications for registration and licences under this Act and the fee, if any, to be paid in respect of any such applications;
(m) the collection of any information or statistics in respect of the coir industry;
(n) any other matter which is to be or may be prescribed.
1[(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this section 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 thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if 2[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 of both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule 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.]
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1. Subs. by Act 25 of 1964, sec. 7, for sub-section (3) (w.e.f. 16-6-1964).
2. Subs. by Act 4 of 1986, sec. 2 and Sch., for certain words (w.e.f. 15-5-1986).
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(1) The Board may make by-laws consistent with this Act and the rules made thereunder, to provide for—
(a) the dates, times and places of its meetings and of the meetings of the Executive and other Committees and the quorum for such meetings, and the procedure thereat;
(b) the delegation of powers and duties to the Executive or any other Committee, or to its Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary or any other of its officers;
(c) the travelling allowances of members and of members of Committees;
(d) the appointment, promotion and dismissal of its officers and other employees other than the Secretary and the creation and abolition of their posts;
(e) the conditions of service of its officers and other employees other than the Secretary including their pay, leave, leave allowances, pensions, gratuities, compassionate allowances and travelling allowances and the establishment and maintenance of a provident fund for them;
(f) the maintenance of its accounts;
(g) the persons by whom, and the manner in which payments, deposits and investments may be made on its behalf;
(h) the custody of moneys required for its current expenditure and the investment of moneys not so required;
(i) the preparation of statements showing the sums allotted to department of the Central and State Governments and other institutions.
(2) No by-law shall take effect until it has been confirmed by the Central Government and published in the Official Gazette; and the Central Government in confirming a by-law may make any change therein which appears to it to be necessary.
(3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, cancel any by-law which it has confirmed and thereupon the by-law shall cease to have effect.
1[(4) Every by-law made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each Houses 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 by-law or both Houses agree that the by-law should not be made, the by-law shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case any be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that by-law.]
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1. Ins. by Act 4 of 1986, sec. 2 and Sch. (w.e.f. 15-5-1986).
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