(1) "Where a person has been convicted of any offence punishable under this Ordinance or any rule made thereunder, the Designated Court may, in addition to awarding any punishment, by order in writing, declare that any property, movable or immovable or both, belonging to the accused and s|»eci&ed in the order, shall stand forfeited to the Governnient free from all encumbrances.
(2) Where any person is accused of any offence under this Ordinance OT any rule made thereunder, it shall be open to the Designated Court trying Mm to paee an order tiiat all or any properties, movable or immovable or both belonging to him, shall, during the period of such trial, be attached, and where such trial ends in conviction, the properties so attached shall stand forfeited to the Government free from all encumbrances.
(3) (a) If upon a report in writing made by a police officer or an officer referred to in sub-flection (2) of section «, any Designated Court has reason to believe that any person, who has committed an offence punishable under this Ordinance or any rule made thereunder, has absconded or is concealing himself so that he may not be apprehended, such court may, notwithstanding anything contained in section 82 of the Code/ publish a written proclamation requiring him to appear at a specified place and at a specified time not less than fifteen days but not more than thirty days from the date of publication of such proclamation.
(b) The Designated Court issuing a proclamation under clause (a) may, at any tim£, order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable or both, belonging to the proclaimed person, and thereupon the provisions of sections 83 to 85 of the Code shall apply to such attachment as if such attachment were made under that Code.
Conferment of powers.
Forfeiturt of property of certain persons.
6 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PAHT II—
(c) Jf, within six months from the date of the attachment, any person, whose property is, or has been, under the disposal of the Government under Sub-Section (2) of section 85 of the Code, appears voluntarily or is apprehended and brought before the Designated Court by whose order the property was attached, or the Court to which such Court is subordinate, and proves to the satisfaction of such Court that he did not abscond or conceal himself for the purpose of avoiding apprehension and that he had not received such notice of the proclamation as to enable him to attend within the time specified therein, such property or, if the same has been sold, the net proceeds of the sale and the residue of the property, shall, after satisfying therefrom all costs incurred in consequence of the attachment, be delivered to him.
(4) Where any shares in a company stand forfeited to the Government under this section, then, the company shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Companies Act, 1956, or the articles of association of the company, forthwith register the Government as the transferee of such shares.
PART III DESIGNATED COURTS
8. (/) The Central Government or a State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute one or more Designated Courts for such area or areas, or for such case or class or group of cases, as may be specified in the? notification.
(2y Where a notification constituting a Designated Court for any area or areas or for any case or class or group of cases is issued by the Central Government under sub-section (1), and a notification constituting a Designated Court for the same area or areas or for the same case or class or group of cases has also been issued by a State Government under that sub-section, the Designated Court constituted by the Central Government whether the notification: constituting such court is issued before or after the issue of the notification constituting the Designated Court by the State Government, shall have, and the Designated Court constituted by the State Government shall not have, jurisdiction to try any offence committed in that area or areas or, as the case may be, the case or class or group of cases, and all cases pending before any Designated Court constituted by the State Government shall stand transferred to the Designated Court constituted by the Central Government.
(3) Where any question arises as to the jurisdiction of any Designated Court, it shall be referred to the Central Government whose decision thereon shall be final.
(4) A Designated Court shall be presided over by a judge to be appointed by the Central Government or, as the case may be, the State Government, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court.
(5) The Central Government or, as the case may be, the State Government may also appoint, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court, additional judges to exercise jurisdiction in a Designated Court.
Designated Court*.
1 of 1956.
SEC. 1] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 7
(6) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge or an additional judge of a Designated Court unless he is, immediately before such appointment, a sessions judge or an additional sessions judge in any State.
(7) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby provided that the attainment by a person appointed as a judge or an additional judge of a Designated Court of the age of superannuation under the rules applicable to him in the service to which he belongs, shall not effect his continuance as such judge or additional judge.
(8) Where any additional judge or additional judges is or are appointed in a Designated Court, the judge of the Designated Court may, from time to time, by general or special order, in writing, provide for the distribution of business of the Designated Court among himself and the additional judge or additional judges and also for the disposal of urgent business in the event of his absence of*the absence of any additional judge.
9. A Designated Court may, on its own motion or on an application f made by the Public Prosecutor, and if it considers it expedient or deair- s able so to do, may sit for any of its proceedings at any place, other than its ordinary place of sitting:
Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to change the place of sitting of a Designated Court constituted by a State Government to any place outside that State.
10, (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, every offence punishable under any provision of this Ordinance or any rule made thereunder shall be triable only by the Designated Court within whose local jurisdiction it was committed or, as the case may be, by the Designated Court constituted for trying such offence under sub-section (1) of section
8.
(2) If, having regard to the exigencies of the situation prevailing in a State, the Central Government is of the opinion that—
(a) the situation prevailing in such State is not conducive to a fair, impartial or speedy trial, or
(b) it is not likely to be feasible without occasioning the breach of peace or grave risk to the safety of the accused, the witnesses, the Public Prosecutor and the judge of the Designated Court or any of them, or
(c) it is not otherwise in the interests of justice, it may, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India (such concurrence to be obtained on a motion moved in that behalf by the Attorney- General), transfer any case pending before a Designated Court in that State to any other Designated Court within that State or in any other State.
(3) Where the whole or any part of the area within the local limits of the jurisdiction of a Designated Court has been declared to be or forms part of, any area which has been declared to be a disturbed area under Place of sitting.
Jurisdiction of Designated Courts.
8 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II— any enactment for the time being in force making provision for the suppression of disorder and restoration and maintenance of public order, and the Central Government is of opinion that the situation prevailing in, the State is not conducive to fair, impartial or speedy trial within the State, of offences under this Ordinance or the rules made thereunder which such Designated Court is competent to try, the Central Government may with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India, specify by notification in the Official Gazette, in relation to such court (hereafter in this sub-section referred to as the local court) a Designated Court outside the State (hereafter in this section referred to as the specified court), and thereupon— («) it shall not be competent, at any time during the period of operation of such notification, for such local court to exercise any jurisdiction in respect of, or try, any offence under thia Ordinance or the rules thereunder;
(b) the jurisdiction which would have been, but for the issue of such notification, eXftreisable by such local cOurt in respect of such offence's! committed during the period of operation °* *"*• fcottflcatiwi Shall be eJceTcisable by the specified court;
(c) all cases relating to such offences pending immediately before the date" of isstte of such notification before such local court shall stand transferred on that date to the specified court;
(d) all cases taken cognizance of by, or transferred to, the specified court under clause (b) or clause (c) shall bo dealt with and tried in accordance with this Ordinance (whether during the period of operation of such notification or thereafter) as If auflh offences hacF been committed within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the specified court or, as the case may be, transferred for trial to it under sub-section
(2).
Explanation 1.—A notification issued under this sub-section in relation to any local court shall cease to operate on the date on which the whole or, as the case may be, the aforementioned part of the afea within the local limits of its jurisdiction, ceases to be a di&turbecl area.
Explanation 2.—For the purposes of this section "Attorney-General" means the Attorney-General of India of, in his absence, the Solicitor- General of India or, in the absence of both, one of the Additional Solicitors- General of India.