Updated: Saturday September 21, 2013/AsSabt
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Bhadra 30, 1935, at 08:59:33 PM
[1][1]The
Punjab Mineral Development Corporation Act, 1975
(Pb Act XXXIII of 1975)
[
An
Act to establish a Corporation for the purpose of promoting mineral development
in the Province of the Punjab
Preamble.— WHEREAS it is expedient to establish a
Corporation for the purpose of promoting mineral development in the Province of
the
It
is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Punjab
Mineral Development Corporation Act, 1975.
(2) It extends to the whole of the Province
of the
(3) It shall come into force at once.
(4) It shall apply to all minerals, except
mineral oil, natural gas and mineral resources necessary for the generation of
nuclear energy.
CHAPTER
I
PRELIMINARY
2. Definitions.— In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant
in the subject or context,---
(a) “Board”
means the Board of Directors of the Corporation;
(b) “Chairman”
means the Chairman of the Corporation:
(c) “Corporation”
means the Punjab Mineral Development Corporation established under this Act:
(d) “Director”
means a Director of the Corporation;
(e) “Government”
means Government of the
(f) “prescribed”
means prescribed by rules;
(g) “regulations”
means regulations made under this Act;
(h) “rules”
means rules made under this Act; and
(i) “specified”
means specified by regulations.
CHAPTER
II
ESTABLISHMENT,
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE CORPORATION
3. Establishment
and incorporation.— (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this
Act, Government shall establish a Corporation to be called the Punjab Mineral
Development Corporation.
(2) The Corporation shall be a body
corporate having prepetural succession and a common seal with power, subject to
the provisions of this Act, to acquire and hold property, both movable and
immovable and shall sue and be sued by the said name.
(3) The head office of the Corporation shall
be at
4. Management and administration.— (1) The general direction and administration
of the Corporation and its affairs shall vest in the Board which may exercise
all powers and do all acts which may be exercised or done by the Corporation.
(2) The Board in discharging its functions
shall act on commercial and national considerations and shall follow such
directions as Government may give from time to time.
(3) If the
Board fails to obey any directions mentioned in sub-section (2) or if the
Board, the Managing Director or any Director contravenes the provisions of this
Act or of the rules or regulations made under it or if the Managing Director or
any Director is found guilty of misconduct, Government may remove all or any of
the Directors or the Managing Director, as the case may be, and notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained in sections 5 and 6, appoint temporarily
other persons in their place to be the Directors or the Managing Director, as
the case may be, until new Directors are appointed in accordance with the
provisions of section 5 or a new Managing Director is appointed in accordance
with the provisions of section 6; provided that only the provisions of clauses
(a), (b) and (e) of sub-section (2) of section 6 shall apply to the person
appointed temporarily under this sub-section to be the Management Director.
(4) Government may suspend the execution of
any such resolution or order of the Board as in the opinion of Government
contravenes the provisions of this Act, the rules, the regulations framed under
this Act, or, the directions mentioned in sub-section (2), or prohibit the doing
of any act which is to be done or is being done in pursuance of such resolution
or order, or, if the act has been accomplished order its rectification in such
manner as may be directed.
5. Board.— (1) The Board shall consist of a Chairman, a
Managing Director and the following Directors:-
(i) The Chairman, Planning and Development Board
of Government;
(ii) Secretary
to the Government, Industries Department, or his nominee not below the rank of
a Deputy Secretary; and
(iii) Secretary
to the Government, Finance Department, or his nominee not below the rank of a
Deputy Secretary.
(2) The Chairman shall be appointed by
Government.
(3) Government
may, by notification in the official Gazette, alter the membership of the Board
or increase or decrease the number of Directors.
6. Managing Director.— (1) The managing Director shall be appointed
by Government.
(2) The Managing Director shall,---
(a) be
a whole-time officer of the Corporation;
(b) perform
such duties as may be specified or as may be assigned to him;
(c) hold
office as Managing Director for a term of three years and shall remain in
office as Managing Director thereafter for three months or until a successor in
that office is appointed, whichever is earlier;
(d) receive
such salary and allowances as Government may determine;
(e) divest
himself of any directorship of, or other interest held by him in, any other
corporation, company or concern; and
(f) not
become a director of, or acquire any share or other interest in any other
corporation, company or concern during his term of office:---
Provided that nothing in this clause shall
prevent the Managing Director from holding shares in any public company
acquired by him before his appointment but he shall declare such shares to
Government at the time of his appointment:---
Provided further that
Government may, in exceptional circumstances, where it considers necessary to
do so in the public interest, exempt by a special order any person who has been
appointed or is about to be appointed as Managing Director from the application
of this clause.
(3) Nothing in this section shall preclude
Government from extending the term of office of a Managing Director for such
period as Government may determine.
7. Disqualification of Managing Director.— No person shall be appointed as Managing
Director or Director or, as the case may be, shall continue to be a Managing
Director or Director who,---
(a) is,
or at any time has been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude;
(b) is,
or at any time has been disqualified for appointment in, or dismissed from,
government service;
(c) is,
or at any time has been adjudged insolvent;
(d) is
found a lunatic or becomes of unsound mind:
(e) is
not a citizen of
(f) is
less than twenty-five years of age.
8. Removal
of Managing Director and Directors.— Government may, by order in writing, remove the
Managing Director or a Director, as the case may be, after giving him an opportunity
of being heard if he,---
(a) refuses
or fails to discharge or becomes, in the opinion of Government incapable of
discharging his responsibilities under this Act;
(b) has,
in the opinion of Government, abused his position as Managing Director or
Director; or
(c) has
knowingly acquired or continued to hold, without the permission in writing of
Government directly or indirectly, or through a partner any share or interest
in any contract or employment with, or on behalf of the Corporation or in any
property, which he knows is likely to benefit or has benefited him as a result of
the operation of the Corporation.
9. Resignation
by or removal of Managing Director or Directors.— Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act, the Managing Director or a Director, at any
time before the expiry of his term and upon three month’s notice, resign his
office, or upon similar notice, be removed from office by Government without
assigning any reason:---
Provided
that Government may, upon payment of three month’s salary and allowances in
lieu of the notice, remove the Managing Director or a Director immediately
without assigning any reason.
10. Appointment of officers.— The Board may appoint such officers,
advisers, experts, consultants and employees, as it considers necessary for the
efficient performance of its functions on such terms and conditions as it may
deem fit, subject to such general or special directions as Government may give
from time to time in this behalf.
11. Declaration of fidelity and secrecy.— (1) Every director, adviser, officer,
expert, consultant and employee of the Corporation shall, before entering upon
his office, make such declaration of fidelity and secrecy as may be specified.
(2) Any director, adviser, officer, expert,
consultant, or other employee of the Corporation who, in the opinion of the
Government, has violated the declaration of fidelity and secrecy made by him
under sub-section (1) shall be liable, after being given a reasonable
opportunity of showing cause against the action proposed to be taken with
respect to him, to be forthwith removed from his office or post.
12. Financial,
technical and advisory committees.— The corporation may constitute such financial
technical and advisory committees as may be deemed necessary for carrying out
the purposes of this Act.
13. Immunity of the corporation and its employees.— (1) Every director, adviser, officer,
expert, consultant and employee of the Corporation shall be indemnified by the
Corporation against all losses and expenses sustained or incurred by him in the
discharge of the duties of his office save such losses and expenses as are
sustained and incurred as a result of his own willful act or default.
(2) The Managing Director shall not be
personally responsible for the acts of a director, adviser, officer, expert,
consultant or employee of the Corporation which he could not have reasonably
prevented by the due exercise of his powers and functions under this Act and
the rules and regulations made thereunder or for any loss or expense resulting
to the Corporation by reason of insufficiency or deficiency in the value or
title of any property or security acquired or taken on behalf of the
Corporation, by wrongful act of any persons under a liability to the
Corporation, or anything done by him in good faith in execution of the duties
of his office.
14. Delegation of
powers.—
The Board may, by general or special order, delegate to the Chairman, Managing
Director, directors, advisers officers, consultants or employees of the
corporation any of its powers, duties or functions under this Act and the rules
and regulations made thereunder subject to such conditions as it may deem fit
to impose.
15. Meetings of Board.— (1) The meetings of the Board shall be held
at such time and place as may be specified:---
Provided
that ninety days shall not intervene between two meetings of the Board:
Provided
further that until regulations are made in this behalf, such meetings shall be
held at such time and place as may be determined by the Chairman.
(2) The quorum required for transacting
business at a meeting of the Board shall be three.
(3) The Chairman, the Managing Director and
a Director shall each have one vote but in the event of equality of votes the
Chairman shall have a casting vote.
(4) The meetings of the Board of Directors
shall be presided over by the Chairman and in his absence by a Director elected
for the purpose by the Directors present from amongst themselves.
(5) No act or proceedings of the Board shall
be invalid merely on the ground of existence of any vacancy in the Board.
(6) The minutes of every meeting of the
Board, stating among other things, the names of the Directors present, shall be
drawn up and recorded in a book to be kept for the purpose and shall be signed
by the person presiding over the meeting and such book shall, at all reasonable
times and without payment of any fee, be open to inspection by the Directors.
16. Submission of returns, statements, etc. to
Government.— (1) Government
may require the Managing Director to furnish to it,---
(a) any
return, statement, estimate, statistics or other information regarding any
matter under the control of the Corporation;
(b) a
report on any such matter; or
(c) a
copy of any document in his charge;
and the Managing Director shall comply with
any such requisitions without any undue delay.
(2) The Managing Director shall prepare and
submit a quarterly report to the Board.
17. Power of Board to associate other persons.— (1) The Board may associate with itself, in
such manner, on such terms and for such period as it may deem fit, any person
whose assistance or advice it may desire in carrying out any of the provisions
of this Act.
(2) A person associated under sub-section
(1) for any purpose shall have the right to take part in the discussion
relating to such purpose in the meetings of the Board but shall not have the
right to vote, and shall not be deemed to be a Director for that or any other
purpose.
CHAPTER
III
FUNCTIONS
OF THE CORPORATION
18. Business which the Corporation shall
transact.— (1) The
Corporation shall draw up schemes, with objects confined to the Province of the
Punjab, for the development, surveying, prospecting, exploring, mining,
processing, industrial exploitation and purchase and sale of minerals including
their import and export and for the improvement of communications, water
supply, power and such other ancillary matters as may be conducive to the
attainment of these purposes in the areas selected by the Corporation for any
such development and submit the same to Government for approval.
(2) The
Corporation shall, as soon as may be, proceed to give effect to any scheme
approved by Government, and in particular may,---
(a) form
and establish companies to manage and run the projects as are established by
the Corporation:---
Provided that before
sponsoring any such company the Corporation shall obtain the approval of
Government to the company’s capital structure:---
(b) manage
on behalf of Government the shares purchased by Government in the issued
capital of companies established by the Corporation;
(c) subscribe
to the capital of these companies to such extent as may be necessary;
(d) act
as Managing Agents of the companies established by the Corporation;
(e) give
short and medium term loans or furnish guarantees to the scheduled banks for
loans to the companies established by the Corporation in the manner aforesaid;
and
(f) establish,
manage and run the projects under its direct control.
(3) The Corporation may, if it considers
expedient, sell or transfer all or any of the shares subscribed by it under
sub-section (2):---
Provided
that the Corporation shall not, without the previous sanction of Government,
sell or transfer such shares at a rate below the par value of such shares, or
below the prevailing market rate if such rate is higher than the par value of
shares.
CHAPTER
IV
FINANCE
19. Corporation
to be deemed a local authority.— The Corporation shall be deemed to be a local
authority under the Local Authorities Loans Act, 1914, for the purposes of
borrowing money under the said Act, and the making and execution of any scheme
under this Act shall be deemed to be work which such authority is legally
authorised to carry out.
20. Loans.— The Corporation may negotiate and obtain for the purposes of this Act,
loans in local and foreign currency from the local or international financial
institutions:---
Provided
that in the case of loans from international institutions, the Corporation
shall act with the prior approval of Government.
21. Corporation fund.— (1) There shall be a fund to be known as
Punjab Mineral Development Corporation Fund, which shall vest in the Board and
which shall be utilised by the Board to meet expenses in connection with the
affairs of the Corporation including salaries and other remuneration of the
Chairman, Managing Director, Directors, and employees of the Corporation.
(2) The Punjab Mineral Development Corporation
Fund shall consist of,---
(a) investments
made by Government;
(b) grants
made by Government;
(c) loans
obtained from Government;
(d) charges
for the management of companies under the direct control of the Corporation;
(e) managing
agency commission in respect of companies managed by the Corporation;
(f) loans
obtained from the scheduled banks;
(g) foreign
loans obtained by the Corporation; and
(h) all
other sums received by the Corporation.
22. Custody and investment of Corporation fund.— (1) All moneys at the credit of the
Corporation shall be kept in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall be
deemed to preclude the Corporation from investing any such moneys which are not
required for immediate expenditure in any of the securities described in
section 20 of the Trust Act, 1889, in fixed deposits with a bank approved by
Government or in such other manner as Government may direct.
23. Maintenance of accounts.— The Corporation shall maintain complete and
accurate accounts in such manner as may be prescribed.
24. Audit of accounts.— The Corporation shall, with the previous
approval of Government, appoint its auditors who shall be persons holding
certificate under section 144 of the Companies Act, 1913:---
Provided that if Government so directs, the accounts of
the Corporation shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of
Pakistan.
25. Reports to be furnished to Government.— (1) The Corporation shall furnish to
Government as soon as possible, after the close of each financial year an
audited statement in the prescribed form in respect of the assets and
liabilities of its projects and in respect of its transactions as they stand at
the close of that year together with a profit and loss account for that year
and a full report on the working of the Corporation during that year and copies
of the said statements accounts and report shall be published in the official
Gazette.
(2) The Corporation shall submit to
Government its proposals for the ensuing financial year at such time and in
such manner as may be prescribed.
26. Profits to be
paid to Government.— The profits of the Corporation shall be deemed to be the
income of Government and shall be payable to it in such manner as may be
approved by Government.
CHAPTER
V
MISCELLANEOUS
27. Rules.— (1) Government may make rules for the purpose of giving effect to the
provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to
the generality of the foregoing provisions, such rules may provide for,---
(a) the
manner and form of keeping the accounts of the Corporation;
(b) recruitment
of officers, advisers, consultants, experts and other employees of the
Corporation;
(c) terms and conditions of service of the officers,
advisers, consultants, experts and other employees of the Corporation;
(d) functions
of the advisers;
(e) borrowing
by the Corporation;
(f) the
date on which and the form in which the annual budget statement of the
Corporation shall be submitted each year;
(g) procedure
for appropriation and reappropriation of moneys at the credit of the
Corporation;
(h) manner
and form in which and the authorities to whom returns, reports or statements
shall be submitted;
(i) investment
of Corporation funds and surplus moneys;
(j) sale
or transfer of companies and other immovable property of the Corporation;
(k) the
sale of transfer of shares under sub-section (3) of section 18; and
(l) such
other matters relating to the administration and other affairs of the
Corporation as the Government may think fit to prescribe by rules.
28. Regulations.— The Corporation may, with the previous
sanction of Government, make regulations for all matters for which provision is
necessary or expedient for carrying out the purposes of this Act and the rules.
29. Rules and
regulations to be published in the official Gazette.— All rules and
regulations made under this Act shall be published in the official Gazette.
30. Winding up and its consequences.— (1) No provision of law relating to winding
up of companies shall apply to the Corporation.
(2) When, in the opinion of Government, it
is expedient that the Corporation shall cease to exist, Government may, by
notification in the official Gazette, declare that the Corporation shall be
dissolved from such date as may be specified in this behalf in such
notification and the Corporation shall be deemed to be dissolved accordingly.
(3) As from such date,---
(a) all
properties, funds and dues which are vested in or realisable by the Corporation
shall vest in and be realisable by an Administrator or any other officer
appointed by Government in this behalf;
(b) all
liabilities which are enforceable against the Corporation shall be enforceable
only against the Administrator or the officer appointed by Government in this
behalf;
(c) for
the purposes of completing the execution of any scheme, sanctioned under this
Act which has not been fully executed by the Corporation and of realising
properties, funds and dues referred to in clause (a), the functions of the
Corporation and the Chairman under this Act shall be discharged by the
Administrator or the officer appointed by Government in this behalf;
(d) the
Administrator or the officer appointed by Government shall keep separate
accounts of all moneys respectively received and expended by him under this Act
until all loans raised hereunder have been repaid and until all liabilities
referred to in clause (b) have been duly met; and
(e) the
Administrator or the officer appointed by Government in this behalf shall have
power to dispose of the properties, assets, rights, etc. of the Corporation in
such manner as Government may direct from time to time.
(4) Any properties and assets left over
after all the liabilities of the Corporation have been discharged shall vest in
government and all liabilities left undischarged after all the properties and
assets of the Corporation have been disposed of shall become the liabilities of
Government.
(5) The
Administrator or the officer appointed by Government in this behalf may
delegate any of his power under this section to any other officer of Government
or to any officer of the Corporation to such extent and on such terms and
conditions as may be approved by Government.
31. Repeal.—
The West Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation Act 1958 (West Pakistan Act
VI of 1958) is hereby repealed.
[1][1]This Act was passed by the
Punjab Assembly on 5th March, 1975; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab
on 3rd April, 1975; and, published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated
3rd April, 1975, pages 283-294.
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