Penalties of Air Act 1981
Failure to comply with the provisions of
section 21 or section 22 or with the directions issued under section 31A.—(1)
whoever fails to comply with the provisions of section 21 or section 22 or
directions issued under section 31A, shall, in respect of each such failure, be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year
and six months but which may extend to six years and with fine, and in case the
failure continues, with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees
for every day during which such failure continues after the conviction for the
first such failure. (2) If the failure referred to in sub-section (1) continues
beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years
but which may extend to seven years and with fine.Penalties for certain acts.
(a)
destroys, pulls down, removes, injures or defaces any pillar, post or stake
fixed in the ground or any notice or other matter put up, inscribed or placed,
by or under the authority of the Board, or
(b) obstructs any person acting under the
orders or directions of the Board from exercising his powers and performing his
functions under this Act, or
(c) damages any works or property belonging to
the Board, or
(d) fails
to furnish to the Board or any officer or other employee of the Board any
information required by the Board or such officer or other employee for the
purpose of this Act, or
(e) fails to intimate the occurrence of the
emission of air pollutants into the atmosphere in excess of the standards laid
down by the State Board or the apprehension of such occurrence, to the State
Board and other prescribed authorities or agencies as required under sub-section
(1) of section 23, or
(f) in
giving any information which, he is required to give under this Act, makes a
statement which is false in any material particular, or
(g) for the purpose of obtaining any consent
under section 21, makes a statement which is false in any material particular,
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three
months or with fine which may extend to
2.ten
thousand rupees] or with both.
3. Penalty
for contravention of certain provisions of the Act.
Whoever
contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or any order or direction issued
thereunder, for which no penalty has been elsewhere provided in this Act, shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or
with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both, and in the case
of continuing contravention, with an additional fine which may extend to five
thousand rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after
conviction for the first such contravention. Offences by companies. —
(1) Where
an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at
the time the offence was committed, was directly 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 offence 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
provided in this Act, 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 this Act 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 purpose 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.
41.
Offences by Government Departments.—(1) Where an offence under this Act has
been committed by any Department of Government, the Head of the Department
shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this
section shall render such Head of the Department 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
this Act has been committed by a Department of Government 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 officer, other than the Head of
the Department, such officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence
and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
42.
Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosecution or other legal
proceeding shall lie against the Government or any officer of the Government or
any member or any officer or other employee of the Board in respect of anything
which is done or intended to be done in good faith in pursuance of this Act or
the rules made thereunder.
[43.
Cognizance of offences.—(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence under
this Act except on a complaint made by— (a) a Board or any officer authorised
in this behalf by it; or (b) any person who has given notice of not less than
sixty days, in the manner prescribed, of the alleged offence and of his
intention to make a complaint to the Board or officer authorised as
aforesaid, and no court inferior to that
of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall
try any offence punishable under this Act. (2) Where a complaint has been made
under clause (b) of sub-section (1), the Board shall, on demand by such person,
make available the relevant reports in its possession to that person: Provided
that the Board may refuse to make any such report available to such person if
the same is, in its opinion, against the public interest.]
44.
Members, officers and employees of Board to be public servants.—All the members
and all officers and other employees of a Board when acting or purporting to
act in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made
thereunder shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section
21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
45. Reports
and returns.—The Central Board shall, in relation to its functions under this
Act, furnish to the Central Government, and a State Board shall, in relation to
its functions under this Act, furnish to the State Government and to the
Central Board such reports, returns, statistics, accounts and other information
as that Government, or, as the case may be, the Central Board may, from time to
time, require.
46. Bar of
jurisdiction. —No civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or
proceeding in respect of any matter which an Appellate Authority constituted
under this Act is empowered by or under this Act to determine, and no
injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority.
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