The Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985
- Citation
- Act No. 22 of 1985
- Jurisdiction
- IN
- Made by
- Ministry of Textiles
- Instrument
- Act
- Status
- In force
What it requires (3 obligations)
Where the Central Government has by Gazette order reserved an article or class of articles for exclusive production by handlooms, that article may not, from the date of reservation, be produced on any loom other than a handloom. A handloom is defined as any loom other than a power loom, and a power loom as a loom worked by power as defined in the Factories Act 1948.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Producers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- IN
- Penalties
- The section headed "Penalty for contravention of orders made under section 3" provides imprisonment which may extend to three months, or a fine of not less than ten thousand and up to twenty-five thousand rupees per loom, or both; for a continuing or repeated contravention after a first conviction, an additional fine of one thousand and up to five thousand rupees per loom per day. The articles and the powerloom used, together with any package, covering or receptacle, are forfeited to the Central Government unless the court records reasons for not so directing.
A proviso allows a person already engaged in producing the article on a non-handloom immediately before the date of reservation to continue for three months from that date. An order under section 3 must be laid before each House of Parliament for thirty days and may be modified or annulled. The Act confers the power; the Gazette orders made under it decide which goods are caught and from when. The register records the duty, not the current schedule of orders.
Drafted from the section headed "Prohibition of production of articles exclusively reserved for handlooms", with definitions from section 2(b) and 2(d) and the ordering power at section 3.
The Central Government may order a manufacturer to furnish information in their possession about any manufacturing activity or business carried on by them or by another person, in the form and within the period specified, and to furnish samples. Manufacturer includes both the producer and the processor, a processor being a person engaged in dyeing, bleaching, mercerising, calendering, embroidering, printing, raising, cloth embossing or any other finishing process subsequent to the production of cloth.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- IN
The definition of processor reaches finishing houses that never operate a loom, so the information duty is wider than the production prohibition it supports. The Act confers the power; the Gazette orders made under it decide which goods are caught and from when. The register records the duty, not the current schedule of orders.
Drafted from the section headed "Power to call for information or to furnish samples", with definitions from section 2(c), 2(e) and 2(f).
An officer authorised by the Central Government may enter at all reasonable times any place or premises of a manufacturer where textile articles are stored, kept or exposed for sale, may require production for inspection of books of account, registers, records or other documents kept there, and may ask for information about the manufacture, storage or keeping for sale of those articles or about any powerlooms found on the premises. Where there is reason to believe a reserved article is being produced in contravention of an order, the place may be searched and the article or the powerloom seized.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- IN
The power of seizure extends to the powerloom itself, not only to the articles produced on it. Offences under the Act are cognizable. The Act confers the power; the Gazette orders made under it decide which goods are caught and from when. The register records the duty, not the current schedule of orders.
Drafted from the sections India Code prints as "Power to enter and impact." and "Power to search and seize". The first heading is quoted as the corpus prints it; the word is evidently inspect.
This is a register, not advice. It records what an instrument says and when it applies. Whether it applies to a particular company, product or shipment is a question for somebody who knows that business, and the answer is frequently not what the summary above would suggest.
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