The registration offices shall be inspected and the registers kept therein shall be examined in such manner and by such authority as may be specified by the District Registrar.
19. Registrars to send periodical returns to the Chief Registrar for compilation—(1) Every Registrar shall send to the Chief Registrar or to any officer specified by him, at such intervals and in such form as may be prescribed, a return regarding the entries of births and deaths in the register kept by such Registrar.
(2) The Chief Registrar shall cause the information in the returns furnished by the Registrars to be compiled and shall publish for the information of the public a statistical report on the registered births and deaths during the year at such intervals and in such form as may be prescribed.
CHAPTER V MISCELLANEOUS
20. Special provision as to registration of births and deaths of citizens outside India—(1) The Registrar General shall, subject to such rules as may be made by the Central Government in this behalf, cause to be registered information as to births and deaths of citizens of India outside India received by him under the rules relating to the registration of such citizens at Indian Consulates made under the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955), and every such registration shall also be deemed to have been duly made under this Act.
(2) In the case of any child born outside India in respect of whom information has not been received as provided in subsection (1), if the parents of the child returns to India with a view to settling therein, they may, at any time within sixty days from the date of the arrival of the child in India, get the birth of the child registered under this Act in the same manner as if the child was born in India and the provisions of section 13 shall apply to the birth of such child after the expiry of the period of sixty days aforesaid.
21. Power of Registrar to obtain information regarding birth or death— The Registrar may either orally or in writing require any person to furnish any information within his knowledge in connection with a birth or death in the locality within which such person resides and that person shall be bound to comply with such requisition.
22. Power to give directions—The Central Government may give such directions to any State Government as may appear to be necessary for carrying into execution in the State any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule or order made thereunder.
23. Penalties—(1) Any person who—
(a) fails without reasonable cause to give any information which it is his duty to give under any of the provisions of sections 8 and 9; or
(b) gives or causes to be given, for the purpose of being inserted in any register of births and deaths, any information which he knows or believes to be false regarding any of the particulars required to be known and registered; or
(c) refuses to write his name, description and place of abode or to put his thumb mark in the register as required by section 11, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
(2) Any Registrar or Sub-Registrar who neglects or refuses, without reasonable cause, to register any birth or death occuring in his jurisdiction or to submit any returns as required by sub-section (1) of section 19 shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
(3) Any medical practitioner who neglects or refuses to issue a certificate under sub-section (3) of section 10 and any person who neglects or refuses to deliver such certificate shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
(4) Any person who, without reasonable cause, contrvenes any provision of this Act for the contravention of which no penalty is provided for in this section shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten rupees.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), an offence under this section shall be tried summarily by a Magistrate.
24. Power to compound offences—
(1) Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, any officer authorised by the Chief Registrar by a general or special order in this behalf may, either before or after the institution of criminal proceedings under this Act, accept from the person who has committed or is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence under this Act, by way of composition of such offence a sum of money not exceeding fifty rupees.
(2) On the payment of such sum of money, such person shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against him in respect of such offence.
25. Sanction for prosecution—No prosecution for an offence punishable under this Act shall be instituted except by an officer authorised by the Chief Registrar by general or special order in this behalf.
26. Registrars and Sub- Registrars to be deemed public servants—All Registrars and Sub- Registrars shall, while acting or purporting to act in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
27. Delegation of powers—The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act (except the power to make rules under section 30) or the rules made thereunder shall, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the direction be exercisable also by such officer or authority subordinate to the State Government as may be specified in the direction.
28. Protection of action taken in good faith—(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, the Registrar General, any Registrar, or any person exercising any power or performing any duty under this Act for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
(2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the government for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
29. Act not to be in derogation of Act 6 of 1886—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to be in derogation of the provisions of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1886.
30. Power to make rules—(1) The State Government may, with the approval of the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, such rules may provide for—
(a) the forms of registers of births and deaths required to be kept under this Act;
(b) the period within which and the form and the manner in which information should be given to the Registrar under section 8;
(c) the period within which and the manner in which births and deaths shall be notified under sub-section
(1) of section 10;
(d) the person from whom and the form in which a certificate as to cause of death shall be obtained;
(e) the particulars of which extract may be given under section 12
(f) the authority which may grant permission for registration of a birth or death under sub-section
(2) of section 13;
(g) the fees payable for registration made under section 13;
(h) the submission of reports by the Chief Registrar under subsection (4) of section 4;
(i) the search of birth and death registers and the fees payable for such search and for the grant of extracts from the register;
(j)the forms in which and the intervals at which the returns and the statistical report under section 19 shall be furnished and published;
(k) the custody, production and transfer of the registers and other records kept by Registrars;
(l) the correction of errors and the cancellation of entries in the register of births and deaths;
(m) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed.
1[(3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the State Legislature].
31. Repeal and saving—(1) Subject to the provisions of section 29, as from the coming into force of this Act in any State or part thereof, so much of any law in force therein as relates to the matters covered by this Act shall stand repealed in such State or part, as the case may be.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeals, anything done or any action taken (including any instruction or direction issued, any regulation or rule or order made) under any such law shall, in so far as such thing or action is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions aforesaid, as if they were in force when such thing was done or such action was taken, and shall continue in force accordingly until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
32. Power to remove difficulty—If any difficulty arises in giving effect in a State to the provisions of this Act in their application to any area, the State Government may, with the approval of the Central Government, by order make such provisions or give such directions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appears to the State Government to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:
Provided that no order shall be made under this section in relation to any area in a State after the expiration of two years from the date on which this Act comes into force in that area.
1. Ins. by Act 4 of 1986, s.2 and Schedule (w.e.f.15.5.1986).