Object
of the Act - An
Act to provide for public liability- insurance for the purpose of providing
immediate relief to the persons affected by accident occurring while handling
any hazardous substance and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.
Payment
of Relief
Where any death or injury (injury
includes permanent total or permanent partial disability or sickness arising
out of an accident) is caused to any person (OTHER THAN A WORKMAN, workman has
the same meaning as assigned under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923) or
damage to any property has resulted from an accident, the owner shall be liable
to give such relief as specified in the Schedule.
Schedule
Reimbursement
of medical expenses incurred up to a maximum of Rs. 12,500 in each case.
For fatal
accidents the relief will be Rs. 25,000 per person in addition to reimbursement
of medical expenses if any, incurred on the victim up to a maximum of Rs.
12,500.
For permanent
total or permanent partial disability or other injury or sickness, the relief
will be (a) reimbursement of medical expenses incurred, if any, up to a maximum
of Rs. 12,500 in each case and (b) cash relief on the basis of percentage of
disablement as certified by an authorised physician. The relief for total
permanent disability will be Rs. 25,000.
For loss of
wages due to temporary partial disability which reduces the earning capacity of
the victim, there will be a fixed monthly relief not exceeding Rs. 1,000 per
month up to a maximum of 3 months: provided the victim has been hospitalised
for a period of exceeding 3 days and is above 16 years of age.
Up to Rs. 6,000
depending on the actual damage, for any damage to private property.
Owner
"Owner"
means a person who owns, or has control over handling any hazardous substance
at the time of accident and includes,-
In the case of
firm, any of its partners;
In the case of
an association, any of its members; and
In the case or
a company, any of its directors, managers, secretaries or other officers who is
directly in charge of, and is responsible to the company for the conduct of the
business of the company.
Other provisions:
Every owner
shall take out, before he starts handling any hazardous substance, one or more
insurance policies providing for contracts of insurance for insurance against
liability to give relief as mentioned above.
Any owner
handling hazardous substances before the commencement of this Act, shall take
out insurance policies within 1 year.
Every owner
shall get the insurance policies renewed from time to time before the expiry of
validity thereof so that the insurance policies may remain in force throughout
the period during which the handling is continued.
No insurance
policy shall be of an amount less than the amount of paid up capital of the
undertaking handling any hazardous substance and owned or controlled by that
owner and more than that amount, not exceeding fifty crore rupees as maybe
prescribed.
Every owner
shall, together with the premium, pay to the insurer, for being credited to the
Relief Fund, such further amount, not exceeding the amount of premium, as maybe
prescribed.
Insurer shall
remit the further amount to the Relief Fund in prescribed form and manner and
if he fails to do so, the amount shall be recoverable from the insurer as
arrears of land revenue or of public demand.
Central
Government may exempt any Central/State Government, corporation owned or
controlled by the Central/State Government or local authority, provided that the
owner exempted has established and maintained a fund for meeting the liability
imposed by this Act.
When it comes
to the notice of a Collector that an accident has occurred within his
jurisdiction, he shall verify occurrence of the accident and cause publicity to
be given in a manner he deems fit for
inviting applications.
An application
for claiming relief maybe made:
By the person
who has sustained injury;
By the owner of
the property to which damage has been caused;
Where death has
resulted from the accident, by the legal representatives of the deceased;
By any agent
duly authorized by any of the above.
No application
for relief shall be entertained unless made within 5 years of the accident.
On receipt of
application, the Collector shall after giving notice of the application to the
owner and after giving the parties an opportunity of being heard, hold an
inquiry into the claims and make an award determining the amount of relief he
deems fit and specifying the person/s to whom the relief shall be paid.
Collector shall
arrange copies of the award to be delivered to the parties concerned within 15
days from the date of the award.
When an award
is made:
an insurer who
is required to pay any amount in terms of such award, shall within a period of
30 days, deposit the amount in such manner as the Collector may direct;
The Collector
shall arrange to pay from the Relief Fund, in terms of such award, such amount
and in such manner as maybe prescribed under the Scheme.
The owner shall
deposit such amount within such period and in such manner as the Collector may
direct.
Where the owner
fails to deposit the amount of such award within the specified period, such
amount shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue or of public demand.
Any claim shall
be disposed of within 3 months from receipt of the claim.
Where an owner
is likely to remove or dispose of any of his property with a view to avoid
making payment of the amount given in the award the Collector may in accordance
with the Civil Procedure Code, grant a temporary injunction to restrain it.
Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish a fund to be
known as the Environment Relief Fund which will be utilized for paying, in
accordance with the Act and the scheme, relief under the award made by the
Collector. The Central Government may make a scheme specifying the manner in
which the Fund shall be administered and the payment of relief therefrom. The
right to claim under this scheme shall be over and above any other law for the
time being in force.
If the Central
Government or any person authorized by the Government has reason to believe
that any owner has been handling any hazardous substance in contravention of
this Act, that Government or that person, as the case maybe, shall make an
application to the Court, not inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or
a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class for restraining such owner from such
handling and the Court may pass such order as it deems fit.
Whoever
contravenes any provisions relating to the taking out of insurance policies or
does not follow any of the directions issued by the Central Government shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year
and six months and which may extend to six years, or with fine which shall not
be less than one lakh rupees or with both. Whoever contravenes any of the
aforesaid provisions for the second time, shall be punishable with imprisonment
which shall not be less than 2 years and which may extend to 7 years and with
fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees.
If an owner
fails to supply any information as demanded by a person authorized in this
regard by the Central Government or obstructs the Government in the exercise of
its functions with imprisonment which may extend to three months and with fine
which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
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