Part IV
Miscellaneous
14. PENALTIES
(1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the provisions of Sec. 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than, three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both.
(2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under Sec. 3, commits a like offence afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years.
(3) Whoever –
(a) fails to give notice as required by Sec. 9, or
(b) fails to maintain a register as required by Sec. 11 or makes any false entry in any such register; or
(c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of Sec. 3 and this section as required by Sec. 12; or
(d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
15. MODIFIED APPLICATION OF CERTAIN LAWS IN RELATION TO PENALTIES. –
(1) Where any person is found guilty and convicted of contravention of any of the provisions mentioned in sub-section (2), he shall be liable to penalties as provided in sub-sections (1) and (2) of Sec. 14 of this Act and not under the Acts in which those provisions are contained.
(2) The provisions referred to in sub-section (1) are the provision mentioned below :
(a) Sec. 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948);
(b) Sec. 40 of the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952);
(c) Sec. 109 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958); and
(d) Sec. 21 of the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 (27 of 1961).
16. PROCEDURE RELATING TO OFFENCES. –
(1) Any person, police officer or inspector may file a complaint of the commission of an offence under this Act in any Court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Every certificate as to the age of a child which has been granted by a prescribed medical authority shall, for the purposes of this Act, be conclusive evidence as to the age of the child to whom it relates.
(3) No Court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence under this Act.
17. APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTORS. –
The appropriate Government may appoint inspectors for the purposes of securing compliance with the provisions of this Act and any inspector so appointed shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
18. POWER TO MAKE RULES. –
(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the official Gazette and subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying into effect the provisions 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 term of office of, the manner of filling casual vacancies of, and the allowances payable to, the Chairman and members of the Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee and the conditions and restrictions subject to which a non-member may be appointed to a sub-committee under sub-section (5) of Sec. 5;
(b) number of hours for which a child may be required or permitted to work under sub-section (1) of Sec. 7;
(c) grant of certificates of age in respect of young persons in employment or seeking employment, the medical authorities which may issue such certificate, the form of such certificate, the charges which may be made thereunder and the manner in which such certificate may be issued : Provided that no charge shall be made for the issue of any such certificate if the application is accompanied by evidence of age deemed satisfactory by the authority concerned;
(d) the other particulars which a register maintained under Sec. 11 should contain.
19. RULES AND NOTIFICATIONS TO BE LAID BEFORE PARLIAMENT OR STATE LEGISLATURE. –
(1) Every rule made under this Act by the Central Government and every notification issued under Sec. 4, shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made or issued, before each House 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 rule or notification or both Houses agree that the rule or notification should not be made or issued, the rule or notification 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 or notification.
(2) Every rule made by a State Government under this Act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislature of that State.
20. CERTAIN OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW NOT BARRED. –
Subject to the provisions contained in Sec. 15, the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (69 of 1951) and the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952).
21. POWER TO REMOVE DIFFICULTIES. –
(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order published in the official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty : Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President.
(2) Every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before the Houses of Parliament.
22. REPEAL AND SAVINGS. –
(1) The Employment of Children Act, 1938 (26 of 1938) is here-by repealed. (2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken under the Act so repealed shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
23. AMENDMENT OF ACT 11 OF 1948.–
In See. 2 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, –
(i) for Cl. (a), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely : “(a) ‘adolescent’ means a person who has completed his fourteenth year of age but has not completed his eighteenth year; (aa) ‘adult’ means a person who has completed his eighteenth year of age;”;
(ii) after Cl. (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely : “(bb) ‘child’ means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age;”.
24. AMENDMENT OF ACT 69 OF 1951. –
In the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, –
(a) in Sec. 2, in Cls. (a) and (c), for the word “fifteenth”, the word “fourteenth” shall be substituted;
(b) Sec. 24 shall be omitted;
(c) In Sec. 26, in the opening portion, the words “who has completed his twelfth year” shall be omitted.
25. AMENDMENT OF ACT 44 OF 1958. –
In the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, in Sec. 109, for the word “fifteen”, the word “fourteen” shall be substituted.
26. AMENDMENT OF ACT 27 OF 1961. –
In the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961, in Sec. 2, in Cls. (a) and (c), for the word “fifteenth”, the word “fourteenth” shall be substituted.
