Updated: Wednesday April 09, 2014/AlArbia'a
Jamada El Thaniah 09, 1435/Budhavara
Chaitra 19, 1936, at 06:10:35 AM
The Sugarcane Act, 1934
(Act No. XV of 1934)
(For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Gazette of
India, 1934, Pt. V., p. 72. This Act has been amended in the
It has been extended to the Leased Areas of
Balochistan, see the Leased Areas (Law) Order, 1950 (G.G.O. 3 of 1950, and also
applied in the Federal Areas of Balochistan, see Gazette of India, 1937, Pt. I,
p. 1499.)
[1st May, 1934]
An Act to regulate the price of sugarcane intended for
use in sugar factories
Preamble:
Whereas it is expedient, for the purpose of assuring to sugarcane growers a
fair price for their produce, to regulate the price at which sugarcane intended
to be used in the manufacture of sugar may be purchased by or for factories;
It is hereby enacted as follows:---
1. Short title, extent and commencement: (1) This Act may be called the Sugarcane Act, 1934.
(2) It extends of the whole of
(3) This section shall come into force at once; the
remaining sections of this Act shall come into force in any Province on such
date as the Provincial Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
appoint in that behalf.
2. Definitions : In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context:---
(1) “controlled area” means any area specified in a
notification issued under sub‑section
(1) of Sec. 3;
(Sub‑Secs. (1‑a) ‑ (1‑e) inst.
by Sugarcane
(1‑b) “Cane grower”, means a person who
cultivates can either by himself or by members of his family or by tenants or
by hired labour and who is not a Cane Growers' Co‑operative Society;
(1‑c) “Cane Growers' Co‑operative Society”
means a society registered under the Co‑operative Societies Act, 1911,
one of the objects of which is to sell cane grown by its members;
(1‑d) “Collector” means the Collector of a
district, and includes a Deputy Commissioner and any officer specially
appointed by the Provincial Government to perform the functions of a Collector
under this Act;
(1‑e) “Crushing season” means the period
commencing on the fifteenth day of October in any year and ending on the
thirteenth day of June of the next following year];
(2) “factory” means any premises (including the
precincts thereof) wherein twenty or more workers are working or were working on
any day of the preceding twelve months and in any part of which any
manufacturing process connected with the production of sugar is being carried
on or is ordinarily carried on with the aid of power; and
(Sub‑sec. (2‑a) ‑ (2‑c) inst.
by the Sugarcane
Provided that where the affairs of a factory are
entrusted to a managing agent such agent shall be deemed to be the occupier of
the factory;
(2‑b) prescribed” means prescribed by rules made
under this Act;
(2‑c) “reserved area” means an area specified in
order issued under Sec. 3‑B];
(3) “sugar” means any form of sugar containing more
than ninety per cent. of sucrose.
2‑A. Construction and extension of a factory : No person shall commence the construction of any
building intended to be used as a factory or any extension of the plant of an
existing factory which is likely to increase its capacity for crushing cane
unless he has been granted a licence by the Provincial Government on such terms
and conditions as may be prescribed.
2-B. Licences for crushing cane: (1) After such date as the Provincial Government may
be notification in the Official Gazette specify in this behalf, no cane shall
be crushed in a factory unless the occupier thereof has obtained a licence
authorising him so to do.
(2) Conditions of licences for crushing cane : A licence granted under sub‑section (1) shall be
subject to such terms and conditions as the Provincial Government may impose in
respect of all or any of the following matters, namely:---
(a) membership of organisation of the sugar industry
recognised by the Provincial Government the main object of which is to regulate
the sale of sugar;
(b) the price above or below which the terms end
conditions on which and the persons to whom or the organisations for which or
through whose agency, and variety, grade or quantity of sugar produced in the
factory may be sold;
(c) the manner in which sugar produced in the factory
shall be graded, marked, packed or stored for sale;
(d) the minimum quantity of the cane that shall be
purchases during the crushing season; and
(e) such other matters as may be prescribed, including
conditions of labour.
2‑C. Appointment of manager : (1) No factory shall commence to crush cane unless the
occupier sends to the collector a notice in the prescribed form appointing a
person to be the manager of the factory for purposes of this Act and the rules
made thereunder.
(2) Any person so appointed shall deposit as security
such amount not exceeding one thousand rupees as may be prescribed.
(3) Whenever another person is appointed as manager, the
occupier, shall send to the Collector a written notice of the change within
fourteen days from the date on which the new manager assumes charge.
(4) If no person has been appointed manager of a
factory under this section, or if the person appointed as manager does not
manage the factory; or has not made the requisite deposit, found acting as
manager, or, if no such person is found, the occupier himself shall be deemed
to be the manager of the factory for purposes of this Act and the rules made
thereunder.
3. Declaration of controlled areas, and fixing of
prices : (1) The Provincial
Government may, be notification in the Official Gazette, declare any area
specified in the notification to be a controlled area for the purposes of this
Act.
(2) The Provincial Government may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, fix a minimum price or minimum prices for the purchase in
any controlled area of sugarcane intended for use in any factory.
(3) The Provincial Government may, by notification in
the official Gazette, prohibit in any controlled area the purchase of sugarcane
intended for use in any factory otherwise than from the grower of sugarcane or
from a person licensed by the Provincial Government to act as a purchasing
agent.
(Secs. (3-a) – (3-f) inst, by Sugarcane
[3‑A. Estimate of quantity of cane required by
factory : (1) The Provincial
Government may by order require the occupier of any factory to submit to the
Cane Commissioner, on or before the prescribed date, an estimate in the
prescribed form of the quantity of cane which will be required in the factory
during such crushing season as may be specified in the order.
(2) The Cane Commissioner shall examine every such
estimate and shall publish the same in the prescribed manner with such
modifications, if any he may think fit.
(3) An estimate published Under sub‑section (2)
may be revised by the prescribed authority.
3‑B. Declaration of reserved area : (1) The Cane Commissioner may after consulting the
occupier of the factory and after considering any objections that may be
raised, issue an order declaring any area to be a reserved area for the supply
of cane to a particular factory during the ensuing crushing season, and may
likewise at any time cancel such order or alter the boundaries of an area so
reserved:---
Provided that unless the parties concerned consent no
portion of an area reserved for one factory shall, so long as the agreements
entered into by the occupier of such factory with the cane growers in such area
for the supply of cane remain in force, be included within reserved area of
another factory.
(2) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Cane
Commissioner under sub‑section (1) may appeal therefrom to the prescribed
authority.
3‑C. Survey of reserved area : (1) The Provincial Government may order a survey to be
made of the area reserved for a factory under Section 3‑B and may recover
the cost of such survey from the occupier of such factory.
(2) Every such survey shall be made by such officer as
the Provincial Government, may, by general or special order, appoint in this
behalf.
(3) Every person owning. or occupying, land in any
area in respect of Which a survey is being made shall afford the officer making
the survey such assistance for making the survey as may be prescribed.
(4) Any amount due from the occupier of a factory
under sub‑section (1) shall be recoverable from such occupier as an
arrear of land revenue.
3-D. Purchase of cane in reserved area: (1) A cane grower or a Cane Growers' Co‑operative
Society in a reserved area may offer to supply to the occupiers of the factory
for which the area is reserved, cane grown by the cane grower or by the members
of such Cane Growers' Co‑operative Society, as the case may be, not
exceeding the quantity, if any, prescribed for such grower or Cane Growers Co-operative
Society.
(2) The occupier or manager of a factory for which an
area is reserved shall enter into an agreement to purchase the cane offered in
accordance with sub‑section (1):---
Provided that he shall not enter into an agreement to
purchase cane from a person who is a member of a Cane Growers' Co‑operative
Society.
(3) Except with the permission of the Provincial
Government, cane grown in a reserved areas shall not be purchased in such area
by a purchasing agent, or by any person other than the occupier of the factory
for which such area has been reserved.
(4) Cane grown in a reserved area shall not be sold by
any person other than a cane grower or a Cane Growers' Co‑operative Society:---
Provided that a cane grower or a Cane Growers Co‑operative
Society may deliver cane intended for use in factory through another cane
grower or through a carrier.
(5) If the Provincial Governments are satisfied that
there is likely to be in the area reserved for a factory any quantity of cane
available for sale to the occupier of the factory in excess of the quantity for
which he is required to enter into agreement, the Provincial Government may,
during the crushing season, direct that cane shall not be purchased outside the
reserved area until the occupier of the factory enters into agreement to
purchase all the cane offered to him in the reserved area:---
Provided that such prohibition shall not apply in
respect of cane for the supply of which agreements in writing have been entered
into before sucr direction was issued.
3‑E. Penalties : (1) If any person commences the construction of a new
factory or if the occupier of a factory makes any extension of the plant of the
factory, in contravention of the provisions of sub‑section (1) of Section
2‑A, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand
rupees.
(2) If the occupier of a factory crushes cane without
obtaining a licence under Section 2‑B, he shall be punishable with fine
which may extend to five hundred rupees for each day on which cane is crushed
at the factory without such licence.
(4) If the Provincial Governments are satisfied that
there has been breach of the conditions of a licence under Section 2‑B
they may refer the same for advice to a Tribunal constituted in the prescribed
manner, and on the advice of such Tribunal, cancel the licence and imposed on
the occupier of the factory concerned any one or more of the following penalties,
that is to say:---
(a) if the breach consists of a failure or to sell
sugar in accordance with the conditions of the licence, the penalty may extend
to an amount calculated at fifty palisas per maund of the sugar produced or
sold it contravention of such condition;
(b) if the breach consists of the willful failure to
purchase a minimum quantity of cane, the penalty may extend to an amount,
calculated a, a rate not exceeding six paisas per maund of cane which he has
failed to purchase; and
(c) in any other case of a breach of a condition or
conditions of the licence, the penalty shall not exceed the sum of five
thousand rupees.
(4) If the occupier or manager of a factory:---
(a) intentionally fails to enter into agreement as
required by sub‑section (2) of Section 4‑D; or
(b) intentionally fails to purchase cane in accordance
with the terms of an agreement entered into sub‑section (2) of Section 3‑D;
or
(c) purchases cane outside a reserved area in
contravention of the provision of sub‑section (5) of Section 3‑D;
or
(d) knowingly enters into are agreement with a cane
grower, who is a member of a Cane Grower's Co‑operative Society in
contravention of the provisions to sub‑section (2) of Section 3‑D,
he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
(5) If any person knowingly purchases or sells cane in
a reserved area in contravention of the provisions of sub‑section (3) or
sub‑section (4) of Section 3‑D, he shall be punishable with
imprisonment which may extend to six months or with in which may extend to two
thousand rupees or with both.
(6) Any person contravening any of the provisions of
this Act for which no penalty is otherwise provided shall be punishable with
fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
(7) Any penalty imposed on the occupier of a factory
under sub‑section (3) shall be recoverable from such occupier as an
arrear of land revenue.
3-F. Tax on sale of cane: (1) The Provincial Government may by notification in
the official gazette impose a tax on the sale of sugarcane at a rate not
exceeding six paisas per maund or at a rate not exceeding five per cent. of the
sale price, and may, by like notification, exempt from such tax sale in any
area, or any class or classes of such sales to be specified therein.
(2) If any agreement for the sale of cane is entered
into before the imposition of a tax under this section, the, seller will be
entitled to recover from the buyer in addition to and as part of the contract
price, the amount of such tax to which the seller may be liable.
(3) Any sum payable under this section shall be
recoverable as an arrear of land revenue.)
4. Previous publication of notifications under Section
3 : Not less than thirty days before
the issue of any notification under sub‑section (1) or sub‑section
(2) of Section 3, the Provincial Government shall publish in the Official
Gazette and in such other manner (if any) as it thinks fit a draft of the
proposed notification specifying a date on or after which the draft will be
taken into consideration, and shall consider any objection or suggestion which
may be received from any person with respect to the draft before the date so
specified.
5. Penalty for purchase of sugarcane in contravention
of notification under Section 3: Whoever
in any controlled area purchases any sugarcane intended for use in a factory at
a price less than the minimum price fixed therefore by notification under sub‑section
(2) of Section 3 or in contravention of any prohibition made under sub‑section
(3) of Section 3 shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two thousand
rupees.
6. Sanction for prosecution under this Act :
7. Power of Provincial Government to make rules : (1) The Provincial Government may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the
objects of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing power such rules may provide for:---
(a) the carrying out of inquiries preliminary to the
exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3;
(b) establishing Advisory Committees for any purpose
connected with the administration of this Act and defining the powers,
functions and procedure of such committees;
(c) the issue of licences to purchasing agents, the
fees for such licences, and the regulation of the purchase and sale of sugarcane
by and to such agent;
(d) the organisation of growers of sugarcane into
societies for the sale of sugarcane to factories;
(e) the authorities by which any functions under this
Act or the rules made thereunder are to be performed; and
(f) the records, registers and accounts to be
maintained for ensuring for the compliance with provisions of this Act;
(Inst. by Sugarcane Punjab (Amendment) Act, IX of
1943.)[(g) the. issuing and renewal
of licences, the forms and conditions of licences, the periods for which they
are to be issued and the fee to be charged therefor;
(h) the amount of deposit under sub‑section (2)
of Section 2‑C;
(i) the procedure to be followed in making a survey
under Section 3‑C the manner of calculating the cost of such survey and
the powers to be exercised and the duties to be performed by the officer making
the survey;
(j) the form in which and the date by which an offer
under sub‑section (1) of Section 3-D, shall be made; and
(k) the form in which, the date by which and the terms
and conditions subject to which, an agreement under sub‑section (2) of
Section 3‑D shall be entered into;
(l) in sub‑section (3), the words, brackets and
letters “under clause (c) or clause (f) of” shall be deemed to be omitted.]
(3) In making any rule under sub‑section (1) or
under clause (c) or clause (f) of sub‑section (2), the Provincial
Government may provide that a breach of the rule shall, where no other penalty
is provided by this Act, be punishable with fine not exceeding two thousand
rupees.
8. Power as Provincial Government to make rules : The Provincial Government after previous publication
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules providing for the
exemption of factories or any class of factories from the provisions of this
Act.
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