The Kerala Escheats and Forfeitures Act, 1964 (No.4 of 1964)

87 THE KERALA ESCHEATS AND FORFEITURES ACT, 1964 (Act 4 of 1964) Preamble. Sections CoNTENTS CHAPTER I Preliminary 1. Short title, extent and commencement. 2. Definitions. CHAPTER II Escheats 3. Escheats. 4. Preliminary enquiry. 5. Publication in the Gazette. 6. Investigation and decision. 7. Appeal. 8. Effect of decision. 9. Disposal ofEscheats. 10. Taking possession by Collector. II. Saving of rights to sue. CHAPTER III Unclaimed Property 12. Police to take charge of uncla1med properties found in public places. 13. Publication in the Gazette. 14. Forfeiture of articles. 15. Uncontested claim. 16. Contested claim. CHAPTER IV Miscellaneous 17. Power of Government to make rules. 18. Repeal. 88 THE KERALA ESCHEATS AND FORFEITURES ACT, 1964 (Act 4 of 1964)* An Act lo provzde for th~ ,'!dnanzstratzon, supervrswn, custody and dzsposal of escheats and unclazmed property. Preamble.-WHEREAS it is necessary to provide for the admmistra• tion, supervision, custody and dt~posal of escheats and unclaimed property in the State of Kerala ; BE it enacted m the Ftfteentlt Year of the Republtc of Indta as )..._ follows:- CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY I. Short tztle, extent and commencement.-( I) This Act may be called the Kerala Escheat~ and Forfeitures Act, 1964. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Ker.Ila. (3) Tt shall come it to fotce on such date as the Government ma \', by notification in the Ca'lcttc, appoint 2. Defrnitions.-m thts Act, unless the context otherwise re­ quires,- (a) " B~ard" means the Board of Revenue for the State of Kerala, constituted under the Kerala Board of Revenue Act, 1957 ; (b) " Collector" means the Collector of a dtstrict and includes ;my other officer empowered by the Government to exerctse all or any of the powers of a Collector under this Act ; (c) " court" means any civil court of competent jurisdiction. CHAPTER II ESCHEATS 3. Escheat1.-Where a pf'rson dies intestate and without leaving legal heirs, all hts property shall be escheat and shall belong to the Government 4 Prelzmrnary enquzry.-Whenevet the Collector receives infor• matton from any source that any person m possession of any movable or immovable property lymg wtthin hts jurisdietton has died intestate and without legal heirS, he shall cause an inquiry to be made as to whether the deceased has dted inte>tate and whether he has left any legal hetrs. 5. Publzcatwn zrz the Gazelle.- If, as a result of the mquiry under sectmn 4, the Collector is satisfied that the deceased has dted intestate • Pubhshed in the Gazette Ell.traordinary dated 24th February, 1964. Recetved the assent of the Governor on the 24th day of February, 1964. For Statement of Objecb and Reasom see Gazette Extraordinary dated 26th March, 1963. ) 89 and without legal heirs and that 1t is a przmafacze case of escheat, he shall publish m the Gazette a notice callmg upon all persons who may have any claim to the property of the deceased to appear before h1m and prefer their cla1ms Within six months from the date of publication of the notice. 6. lnvestzgatzon and deczswn.-If any claim is preferred within the penod fixed under section 5, the Collector shall investigate the claim and take m all ev1dence pwduced by the claimant. He shall decide the case after such inqu1ry as he deems fit to make, and issue notice of the decision to the parties concerned. The decisiOn of the Collector shall be final, subJeCt to the provisiOns of sections 7 and II. 7. Appeal.-(!) An appeal shall he to the Board from the deci­ sion of the Collector under section 6 within three months from the date of the not1ce to the parties concerned, and the decision of the Board on such appeal shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section and section II, be final. (2} Any person aggrieved by the order of the Board under sub­ section (I) may, w1thin s1xty days of the date of communication of the order to the part1es concerned, appeal to the Government against such order, and the decision of the Government on such appeal shall, subject to the provisions of section 11, be final. (3) No order under sub-section (I) or sub-section (2) shall be passed without giving all persons interested an opportunity of being heard. 8 Effect of dectszon.-The decisiOn of the Collector shall not be give 1 effect to untll the t1me for the mstitutwn of a suit under sec. tion ll JS over or untJ! the suit, 1f any, instituted IS finally disposed of. 9. Dz~posal of escheats.-( 1) In the case of escheats wh1ch are movable property, the Collector shall take steps for the sale of the pro­ perty by public auction in the manner prescnbed, the sale proceeds being credited to the Government .. (2) Escheats which arc 1mmovablc property shall be d1sposed of in accordance w1th the provisions of the Kerala Government Land· Assignment Act, 1960 and of the rules made thereunder : Provided that lands which have escheated to the Government shall not ordinanly be sold untll 1t has been in the possession of the Govern· ment for twelve years or more. · l 0. Taking possesszon by Collector -( 1) Notwithstandmg anything contained in sections 5 to 9 (both mclusive), the Collector may, if satisfied after the inquiry under section 4 that the person in possesswn of any movable or immovable property d1ed mtestate and w1thout I ega! heirs, take pos~ess10n of such property, provided that the property is not in the possession of any person or the person in possession does not offer any opposition. If there is oppositiOn and there is no nsk of the property being damaged by the delay in takmg possessiOn there­ of and arranging for its care and mamtenancc, the person may be left in possession until the claim ~~ finally settled. If there is nsk of damage, the Collector may file a suit m the court to estabhsh the nght of the Government and take possession of the same. ~0 (2) The property taken possession of under sub-section ( 1) shall be managed by the Government in the manner prescribed: Provided that the Collector may dispose of any perishable property by public auction in the manner prescribed at any time after taking possession under sub-section (I). II . Saving of rights to sue.-Nothing in this Chapter shall be held to prevent parties deeming themselves aggrieved by any decision or order passed or proceedings taken or purporting to be passed or taken under this Chapter from suing the Government in the civil courts : Provided that such suits shall be preferred within six months from the time at which the cause of action arose : Provided further that the whole time occupied by the Board of Revenue and the Government under section 7 shall be excluded from the computation of the period of limitation of the said six months. CHAPTER III UNCLAIMED PROPERTY 12. Polzce to take charge of unclaimed propertus found tn publtc places.­ Any article found in a public place, the owner of which is not known, shall be taken charge of by any police /officer who shall send them for disposal to the Collector. 13. Publtcatzon zn the Gazette.-( I) The Collector shall publish a nottce in the Gazette inviting claimants to prefer claims to the article sent to him by the police under section 12 Withm three months from the date of publication of the notice. (2) Nothing contained in sub-section (I) shall prevent the Col­ lector from disposing of any perishable articles, which come into his possession, at any time, either before or after the publication of the notice under sub-section (I). (3) The articles referred to in sub-section (2) shall be sold in pubhc auction m the manner prescribed, and the proceeds of the sale shall be handed over to the rightful claimants after deducting the ex­ penses of the sale or credited to the Government If no claim is preferred within the period specified in sub-section (I). 14. Forfezture of articles.-If no claim is preferred within the period specified in sub-sectiOn (I) of section 13, the Collector shall pass an order forfeiting the articles, other than those dealt with under sub­ section (2) of the said section, to the Government, and the articles ~hall thereupon be sold in public auction in the manner prescribed, and the sale proceeds credited to the Government. 15. Uncontested claim.-lf a claim is preferred within the time allowed and it is not contested, the article shall be handed over to the claimant. 16. Contested claim.-In the case of a contested claim, the Collec­ tor shall refer the matter to the court and shall be guided by the decision of the court : Provided that nothing contained in this section shall prevent the Collector from disposing of any perishable articles which come mto his -- ------------------------------------ 91 possession by public auction in the manner prescribed, at any time before the decision of the court, and in that case the sale proceeds shall be handed over to the court after deducting therefrom the expenses of the sale. CHAPTER IV MISCELLANEOUS 17. Power of Government to make rules.-(1) The Government may, by notification in the Gazette, make rules for the purpose of 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- (a) the superintendence and disposal of escheats and unclai­ med articles ; (b) the manner in which property shall be managed by the Government under section 10; (c) the procedure to be observed in public auctions under this Act ; (d) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed. (3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if before expiry of the session in which It is so laid or the session immediately following, the Legisla­ tive Assembly agrees that the rule should be either modified or annul­ led, the rule shall thereafter have effect only m such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modi­ fication or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of. anything previously done under that rule. 18. Repeal.-The Madras Endowments and Escheats Regulation 181 7 (VII of 1817) as in force in the Malabar District referred to in sub-section (2) of section 5 of the States Reorgamsation Act, 1956 (Central Act 37 of 1956), in so far as it relates to escheats, is hereby repealed.