BOMBAY LABOUR WELFARE FUND (GUJARAT EXTENSION AND AMENDMENT) ACT, 1961
GUJARAT ACT No. XLVII OF 1961
(First published, after having received the assent of the President in the “Gujarat Government Gazette” on the 6th December 1961).
An Act to amend the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 for extending it to and bringing it into force in the rest of the State of Gujarat and for certain other purposes.
It is hereby enacted in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
Short title and commencement.
1. (1) This Act may be called the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund (Gujarat Extension and Amendment) Act, 1961.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
Amendment of long title and preamble of Bom. XL of 1953.
2. In the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 (hereinafter referred as “the principal Act”) in the long title and preamble,-
(a) for the word “Bombay” the word “Gujarat” and
(b) for the words “and for conducting such activities” the words “for conducting such activities and for certain other purposes”, shall be substituted.
Amendment of section I of Bom. XL of 1953.
3. In section I of the principal Act, for sub-section (2), the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat.”.
Amendment of section 2 of Bom. XL of 1953.
4. In section 2 of the principal Act,-
(a) in clause (1), for the words “any of the Labour Welfare Boards” the words “the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board” shall be substituted;
(b) clause (1a) shall be deleted;
(c) in clause (4),for the words “but does not include an establishment” the words and brackets “but does not include an establishment (not being a factory)” shall be substituted;
(d) in clause (6), for the words “any of the Labour Welfare Funds” the words “Labour Welfare Fund” shall be substituted;
(e) clauses (8a) and (8b) shall be deleted;
XIX of 1952.
(f) in clause (10), after the words “legally payable” the words and figures “but not including the amount of contribution, if any, paid by an employer to a provident fund established under the Employees’ Provident Funds Act, 1952” shall be inserted.
Deletion of section 2A of Bom. XL of 1953.
5. Section 2A of the principal Act shall be deleted.
Amendment of section 3 of Bom. XL of 1953.
6. In section 3 of the principal Act,-
(a) for sub-section (1) the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(1) The State Government shall constitute a fund called the Labour Welfare Fund and notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the sums specified in sub-section (2) shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (4) and section 6A be paid into the Fund.”;
(b) after sub-section (3) the following sub-section shall be added, namely:-
“(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force or any contract or instrument, all unpaid accumulation shall be collected by such agencies and in such manner as may be prescribed and be paid in the first instance to the Board which shall keep a separate account therefor until claims thereto have been decided in the manner provided in section 6A.”;
Amendment of section 4 of Bom. XL of 1953.
7. In section 4 of the principal Act,-
(a) in sub-section (1), for the portion beginning with the word “The State Government of Bombay” and ending with the words “ the Karantak area respectively” the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“The State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a Board for the State of Gujarat for the purpose of administering the Fund, and to perform other functions assigned to the Board by or under this Act.”;
(b) in sub-section (5) for the portion beginning with the words “The Board shall be known” and ending with the words “a body corporate”, the words “The Bombay shall be a body corporate by the name of the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board” shall be substituted;
(c) for sub-section (6) and (7), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-
Guj. XLVII of 1961.
“(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, until the Board for the State of Gujarat is duly constituted in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1), the existing Board functioning and operating immediately before the commencement of the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund (Gujarat Extension and Amendment) Act, 1961, in any area of the State, shall continue to function and operate in that area and shall be the Board for the purposes of this Act for that area; and on the constitution of the Board for the State of Gujarat under Sub-section (1),-
(a) such existing Board shall stand dissolved, and the members thereof shall vacate office;
(b) all properties, funds and dues which are vested in or realisable by the existing Board shall vest in, and be realisable by, Board so constituted;
(c) all rights and liabilities which are enforceable by or against the existing Board, shall be enforceable by or against the Board so constituted, and where in any proceedings in any Court or Tribunal the existing Board is a party thereto, the Board so constituted shall be deemed to be substituted as a party to those proceedings; and
(d) the Welfare Commissioner and the other officers and servants of the existing Board shall continue to be the Welfare Commissioner and officers and servants of the Boards so constituted; but the terms and conditions of service of the Welfare Commissioner and other officers and servants shall not, until duty altered by a competent authority, be less favourable under the Board so constituted than those admissible to them while in service of the existing Board.”.
Deletion of section 4A of Bom. XL of 1953.
8. Section 4A of the principal Act, shall be deleted.
Insertion of new section 6A in Bom. XL of 1953.
9. After section 6 of the principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-
Unpaid accumulations and claims thereto.
“6A. (1) All unpaid accumulations shall be deemed to be abandoned property.
(2) Any unpaid accumulations paid to the Board in accordance with the provisions of section 3 shall, on such payment, discharge an employer of the liability to make payment to an employee in respect thereof, but to the extent only of the amount paid to the Board; and the liability to make payment to the employee to the extent aforesaid shall, subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, be deemed to be transferred to the Board.
(3) As soon as possible after any unpaid accumulation is paid to the Board under sub-section (4) of section 3 the Board shall by a public notice call upon interested employee to submit to the Board their claims for any payment due to them.
(4) Such public notice shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed and it shall be-
(a) affixed on the notice board, or in its absence on a conspicuous part of the premises, of each establishment in which the unpaid accumulation were earned,
(b) published in the Official Gazette, and
(c) published in any two newspapers in the language commonly understood in the area in which such establishment is situated and circulating therein or in such other manner as may be prescribed, regard being had to the amount of claim.
(5) After the notice is first affixed and published under sub-section (4) it shall be again affixed and published from time to time for a period of three years from the date on which it was first affixed and published, in the manner provided in that sub-section in the months of June and December each year.
(6) A certificate of the Board to the effect that the provisions of sub-sections (4) and (5) were complied with shall be conclusive evidence thereof.
IV of 1936.
(7) Any claim received, whether in answer to the notice or otherwise, within a period of four years from the date of the first publication of the notice in respect of such claim, shall be transferred by the Board to the Authority appointed under section 15 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, having jurisdiction in the area in which the factory or establishment is situated, and the Authority shall proceed to adjudicate upon, and decide, such claim. In hearing such claim, the Authority shall have the powers conferred by, and shall follow the procedure (in so far as it is applicable) followed in giving effect to the provisions of, that Act.
(8) If in deciding any claim under sub-section (7), the Authority allows the whole or part of such claim, it shall declare that the unpaid accumulation in relation to which the claim is made shall, to the extent to which the claim is allowed, cease to be abandoned property and shall order the Board to pay to the claimant the amount of the claim as allowed by it; and the Board shall make payment accordingly:
Provided that, the Board shall not be liable to pay any sum in excess of that paid under sub-section (4) of section 3 to the Board as unpaid accumulations, in respect of the claim.
(9) An appeal shall lie in the City of Ahmedabad to the Court of Small Causes and elsewhere to the District Court against a decision under sub-section (7) rejecting any claim or part thereof , if made within a period of sixty days from the date of such decision.
(10) The Board shall comply with any order made in appeal.
(11) The Decision of the Authority, subject to an appeal as aforesaid and the decision in appeal of the Court of Small Causes, or as the case may be, the District Court, shall be final and conclusive as to the right to receive payment, the liability of the Board to pay and also as to the amount, if any.
(12) if no claim is made within the time specified in sub-section (7) or a claim or part thereof has been rejected under the foregoing provision then the unpaid accumulations in respect of such claim shall accrue to and vest in the State as bona vacantia and shall thereafter without further assurance be deemed to be transferred to, and form part of, the Fund.”.
Amendment of section 11 of Bom. XL of 1953.
10. In section 11 of the principal Act, sub-section (2) shall be deleted.
Amendment of section 13 of Bom. XL of 1953.
11. In section 13 of the principal Act,-
(1) in sub-section (1), for the words beginning with the words “The Board shall take over” and ending with the words “the rules made thereunder” the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“Any staff under the control of the Commissioner of Labour, Bombay, which was-
(i) taken over by a Labour Welfare Board constituted under this Act and existing on the date of such taking over, and
(ii) allocated to the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board established under the Bombay Welfare Board (Reorganisation Order), 1960,
shall be subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.”;
(2) after sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-
Guj. XLVII of 1961.
“(2) On the coming into force of this Act in any area to which it is extended by the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund (Gujarat Extension and Amendment) Act, 1961, the Board shall take over and employ such of the existing staff under the control of the Commissioner of Labour, Ahmedabad as the State Government may direct, and every such person so taken over and employed shall be subject to like terms and conditions and to the same provisions as in sub-section (1).”.
Amendment of section 19 of Bom. XL of 1953.
12. To section 19 of the principal Act, the following sub-sections shall be added, namely:-
“(3) All rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as may be after they are made, and shall be subject to such modifications as the State Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following.
(4) Any modifications made by the State Legislature shall be notified in the Official Gazette and shall, thereupon take effect.”.
Amendment made by sections 2(b), 6 and 9 to have restrospective effect.
13. The amendments made in the principal Act by section 2(b), 6 and 9 of this Act, shall be deemed always to have been made in the principal Act. |
