(1) The Tea Trading Corporation shall be entitled to receive, up to the specified date, to the exclusion of all other persons, any money due to any tea company in relation to its sick tea unit which has vested in the Corporation under sub-section (2) of section 3, and realised after the appointed day, notwithstanding that the realisation pertains to a period prior to the appointed day.
(2) The Tea Trading Corporation may make a claim to the Commissioner with regard to. every payment made by that Corporation, after the appointed day, for discharging any liability of a tea company, not being any liability specified in sub-section (1) of section 24, in relation to any sick tea unit owned by it in respect of any period prior to the appointed day; and every such claim shall have priority, in accordance with the priorities attaching under this Ordinance to the matter in relation to which such liability has been discharged by the Tea Trading Corporation.
(3) Save as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, the liabilities of a tea company in relation to any sick tea unit owned by it in respect of any transaction prior to the appointed day, which have not been discharged on or before the specified date, shall be the liabilities of that company.
16. Every person having a claim against a tea company with regard to any of the matters specified in the Second Schedule, pertaining tn any sick tea unit owned by it, shall prefer such claim before the Commissioner within thirty days from the specified date:
Provided that if the Commissioner is satisfied that the claimant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the claim within the Raid period of thirty days, he may entertain the claim within a further period of ihirtv day? but not thereafter.
17. The claims made under section Ifi shall have priorities in accordance with the following principles, namely: —
(a) Category I shall havp precedent over all other eate^nrips and Category II shall have precedence over Category TIT, and sn on;
Certain powers of the Tea Trading Corporation.
Claims to be made to the Commissioner.
Priority or claims.
8 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II— Examination of claims.
Admission or rejection of claims.
(b) the claims specified in each of the categories shall rank equally and be paid in full, but if the amount paid to the Commissioner under this Ordinance is insufficient to meet such claims in full, they shall abate in equal proportions and be paid accordingly;
and
(c) the question of discharging any liability with regard to a matter specified in a lower category shall arise only if a surplus is left after meeting all the liabilities specified in the immediately higher category.
18. (/) On receipt of the claims made under section 16, the Commissioner shall arrange the claims in the order of priorities specified in the Secr-nd Schedule and examine the same in accordance with such order.
(2) If on an examination of the claims against a tea company, the Commissioner is of the opinion that the •amount paid to him under this Ordinance for payment to such company is not sufficient to meet the liabilities specified in any lower category, he shall not be required to examine any claim in respect of such lower category.
19, (1) After examining the claims against a tea company, with reference to the priorities set out in the Second Schedule, the Commissioner shajl fix a date on or before which every claimant against the tea company shall file the proof of his claim.
(2) Not less than fourteen days' notice of the date so fixed shall be given by advertisement in one issue of any daily newspaper in the English language having circulation in the major parts of the country and one issue of any daily newspaper in such regional language as the Commissioner may consider suitable, and every such notice shall call upon the claimant to file the proof of his claim with the Commissioner within the period specified in the advertisement.
(3) Every claimant who fails to file the proof of his claim within the period specified by the Commissioner shall be excluded from the disbursements made by the Commissioner.
(4) The Commissioner shall, after such investigation as may, in his opinion, be necessary and after giving the tea company concerned an opportunity of refuting the claim and after giving the claimant a reasonable opportunity of being heard, by order in writing, admit or reject the claim in whole or in part.
(5) The Commissioner shall have the power to regulate his own procedure in all matters arising out of the discharge of his functions, including the place or places at which he may hold his sittings and shall, for the purpose of making any investigation under this Ordinance, have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely: —
(a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
(b) the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as evidence;
(c) the reception of evidence on affidavit;
5 of 1908.
SEC 1] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 9 45 of I860.
2 of 1974.
(d) the issuing of any commission for the examination of witnesses.
(6) Any investigation before the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code, and the Commissioner ehall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purposes of section 105 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Ciiminal Procedure, 1973.
'(7) A claimant who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioner may prefer an appeal against such decision to the High Court wilhin the local limits of whose jurisdiction the registered office of the tea company concerned is situated and every such appeal shall be heard and disposed of by not less than two Judges of that High Court.
20. After admitting a claim against a tea company under this Ordinance, the amount due in respect of such claim shall be paid by the Commissioner to the person or persons to whom such amount is due and on such payment, the liability of such tea company in respect of such claim shall stand discharged.