The Tamil Nadu Revenue Summonses Act, 1869

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PRS or any persons connected with it shall not be in any way responsible for any loss, damage, or distress to any person on account of any action taken or not taken on the basis of this document. The Tamil Nadu Revenue Summonses Act, 1869 Act 3 of 1869 Keyword(s): Revenue Officer, Power to Summon, Settlement of matters connected with Revenue Administration, Terms of Summons, Service of Summons - - l(T= N W ) ACur No. III OF 186gn. WP T TAMIL NADU) REVENUE S ~ O N S E S An, 1869.1 I (Received the asaent of th Governor m the 9th March 1869, and of the Bovernor-General on the 23rd April 1869, and takes effect fm the 1st June 1869.) An Act to empower Revenue-officers, to sum- mon persons to attend a t their kacharis for the settlement of matters connected with Revenue- administration. WHEREAS it is found that the revenue-administra- pkunbk tion of the country is retarded, because Revenue- officers, namely, Collectors, Sub-Collectors, Assistant Collectors, Deputy Collectors, Tahsildars and Deputy Tahsildars, are not made competent, by express provision of law, to issue summonses for the atten- &nce of persons, or the production of S[documents or other articles] in certain cases in wbich it is their 1 These worda were aubstituted for the word " Madras " by the Temil Nadu Adaptation of Laws Order, 1969, as amended by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws (Second Amendment) Order, 1969, which came into force on the 14th Jenuary 1969. * Short title, " The Madras Rsvenue G.ummonses Act, 1869 " waa given by the Repealing and A m e n b g Act, 1901 (Central Aot XI of 1901). This Aot was extended to the merged State of Pudukkottsi by section 3 of, and the First Schedule to, the Tamil Nadu Merged States (Laws) Act, 1949 ( T d Nedu Act XXXV of 1948). This Act was extended t o the Kanyekumari distriat and the 8hencottah taluk of the b e l v e l i dietrict by section 3 of, a d the Schedule to, the Tamil Nadu (Transferred Territory) Extension of Law8 Act, 1967 (Tamil Nedu Act XXII of 1967). repealing the corresponding law in force in that tellltoq. This Act wss extended to the added territories by section 10 of the Tamil Nadu (Added Territorier) E x t e d o n of h w n Ad, 1964 (Tamil N ~ d u Act 8 of 1964). 200 Revenue Summomrea [I869 : T.N. Aot XU duty to hold investigations ; It is hereby enadd as follows :- f Revenue-officers 1. Collectom, Sub-CoUectors, Ass'rntant @bo- -Powered to tors, Deputy Collectors, Tahsildars and Deputy S ~ O P prso,, to Tahsildars shall have power to summon l[any person], appear or whose evidence may appear to them to be necessary tO~rOduce for the investigation of any matter in which they dooumer)t$. are authorized to hold an inquiry, and also to require tho production of any 2[document or other article] relevant to the matter under inquiry, which may be in the possession or under the control of such person. Tern of s2. Such summona shall be in writing, and summons. authenticated by the signature and seal of the officer by whom it is issued. It shall require the person summoned to appear before the said nfficer a t a stated time and place, end shall specify whether his attendance ia required for the purpose of giving evidence or to produce s %[dooument or other articlel, or for both purposes ; and any particular 2[document or other article], the production of which is required, shall be described in the summons with convenient certainty. Service of 3 3. The summons shall be served personally on 'Ummona the person summoned, or, if he cannot be found, i t may be left for him with some adult member of hisl family residing with him '[or by affixing it on the I outer door or other conspicuous part of the premises in which he is known to have last resided or carried on business or personally worked for gain.] -- 1 Those words wore substituted for the words " all person~ re~idcnt within the district by seation lO of the Tamil Nadu (Added Territories) Extension of Laws Act, 1964 (Tamil Nadu Act 8 of 1904). a These words were substituted for the word " document " bx section 10, ibid. Ss. 2 to 6 of this Act apply, mutatis mulandis, to eum. mona under Tamil Nadu Act V of 1893-See s. 3 of that Act. 4 Theso worda were ~nhstituted the words " or with the ho-d of the v:llttce in which he lives by section 10 of the Tamil Padu ( A d r l d Territories) ExtePeion of Lews &t, 196( (TaJ Nadu Act 8 of 1904 1869 : T.N. A d IIIJ Revenue 8ummmes 201 , 14. Any person may be summoned to produce a Persons summoned to '[document or other article], without being sum- produce may moned to give evidence; and any person summoned send dooumenb merely to produce e *[document or other article] by third Party* shall be deemed to have complied with the summons if he causes such *[document or other article] to be produced, instead of attending personally to produce the same. E B 15. When the person whose evidence may be pte;da~n oy required is ~imble. from siokness or infirmity, to ~tne8ee8 attend before the officer issuing the summons, or is dieperreed with. a person whom by reason of rank or sex it may not be proper to summon, the officer issuing the summons may, of his own motion, or on tho application of the party whose evidence is desired, dispense with the L appearance of such person, and order him to be examined by a subordinate deputed by such officer for the purpose. 8[6. The officer issuing the summons or a sub- Officers to have ordinate deputed by such officer under section 6 , p owerr of a oivil court in certain Central shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil Vof court under the Codo of Civil Procedure, 1908, for- 1908. (a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person end examining him on oath ; and (b ) requiring the production of any document or other article. 7. (1) The State Government may make rules to Power to make wrry out all or any of the purposes of this Act. 1 Seations 2 to 5 of thi3 Act apply. mutatia muhndw, to sum. mons under Tamil Nadu Act V-of 1893-see 8.3 of that Aot. 2 These words were n~ibstituted for the word " document " by section 10 of the Tmil Nadr~ (Added Territories) Extension of Lama Aot, 1964 (Tamil Nadu Act 8 of 1964). ! There seotions were added by motion 10, ibid. (2) In particular end without prejudice &I t h m generality of the foregoing power, auch &a may provide for- (a) the form of uummons to be issued under this Act ; (b) the scale of fees to be levied for the service of processes, when summonses are issued d the instance of parties in an inquiry ; (c) the scale of allowances payable to persons summoned to give evidence and their deposit by parties at whose instance the summonses are ksued. (3) All rules made under this Act shall be pub- lished in the Port St. George Gazette and, unless they are expressed to come into force on a particular day, &all come into force on the day on which they ere so published. (4) Every rule made under this Act shall, as soon aa possible after it is made, be placed on the table of both Houses of the Legislature, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so placed or the next session, both Houses agree in making any modifioation in any such rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall there- after have effect only in such mddified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any &ah modifioation or annulment ehall be without prejudice to the validiby of anything preview done d e o that rule. ]