Section 23: Provisions where licence of a licensee is revoked

(1) Where the Commission revokes, under sub-section (1) of Section 21, the licence of a licensee, the following provisions shall have effect, namely:- (a) the Commission shall serve a notice of revocation upon the licensee and shall fix a date on which the revocation shall take effect: and on and from that date, or on and from the earlier date, on which the undertaking of the licensee is sold to a purchaser in pursuance of any of the succeeding clauses or is delivered to a designated purchaser in pursuance of sub-section (3), all the powers and liabilities of the licensee under this Act shall absolutely cease and determine: (b) the Commission shall invite applications for acquiring the undertaking of the licensee whose license has been revoked and determine terms and conditions of the sale of the undertaking: (c) the Commission may, by notice in writing, require the licensee to sell, and thereupon the licensee to sell, and thereupon the licensee shall sell the undertaking to the person whose application has been accepted by the Commission and such person is referred to in this section as the "purchaser": and (d) the Commission may make such interim arrangement in regard to the undertaking of the licensee for maintaining the electricity transmission, distribution and supply as may be considered appropriate including the appointment of administrators and special directors for the undertaking. (2) Where an undertaking is sold under sub-section (1), the purchaser shall pay to the licensee the purchase price of the undertaking determined by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 7-A of Indian Electricity Act, 1910 (Central Act No. 9 of 1910) or as the case may be, sub-section (3) of that section. (3) Where the Commission issues any notice under sub-section (1) requiring the licensee to sell the undertaking, it may by such notice require the licensee to deliver, and thereupon the licensee shall deliver on a date specified in the notice the undertaking to the designated purchaser pending the determination and payment of the purchase price of the undertaking: Provided that in any such case, the purchaser shall pay to the licensee, interest at the Reserve Bank rate ruling at the time of delivery of the undertaking plus one per centum, on the purchase price of the undertaking for the period from the date of delivery of the undertaking to the date of payment of the purchase price. (4) Where before the date fixed in the notice issued under clause (a) of sub-section (1) being the date on which the revocation of the license shall take effect, no notice has been issued to the licensee requiring him to sell the undertaking or where for any reason no sale of the undertaking has been effected under that sub-section, the State Government shall acquire the undertaking on the date of revocation of the license and shall pay to the licensee an amount determined in accordance with sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 7-A of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 (Central Act No. 9 of 1910), as applicable in the State and shall perform all the obligations of the licensee until such time as the State Government is able to sell the undertaking to a new licensee which it shall endeavour to do expeditiously without undue delay.