Commissions Of Inquiry Act, 1952
No: 60 Dated: Aug, 14 1952
The Commissions Of Inquiry Act, 1952
(Act No. 60 of 1952)
An Act to provide for the appointment of Commissions of Inquiry and for vesting such Commissions with certain powers. BE it enacted by Parliament as follows:—
1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.
(2) It extends to the whole of India:
(3) It shall come into force on such date4 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions .In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) appropriate Government means
(i) the Central Government, in relation to a Commission appointed by it to make an inquiry into any matter relatable to any of the entries enumerated in List I or List II or List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution; and
(ii) the State Government, in relation to a Commission appointed by it to make an inquiry into any matter relatable to any of the entries enumerated in List II or List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution:
[Provided that in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, these clauses shall have effect subject to the modification that
(a) in sub-clause (i) thereof, for the words and figures List I or List II or List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the words and figures List I or List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution as applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-clause (ii) thereof, for the words and figures List II or List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the words and figures List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution as applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be substituted;]
(b) Commission means a Commission of Inquiry appointed under section 3;
(c) prescribed means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
[2-A. Construction of references to laws not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir .Any reference in this Act to a law, which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, shall, in relation to that State, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State].
3. Appointment of Commission .(1) The appropriate Government may, if it is of opinion that it is necessary so to do, and shall, if a resolution in this behalf is passed by [each House of Parliament or, as the case may be, the Legislature of the State], by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a Commission of Inquiry for the purpose of making an inquiry into any definite matter of public importance and performing such functions and within such time as may be specified in the notification, and the Commission so appointed shall make the inquiry and perform the functions accordingly:
Provided that where any such Commission has been appointed to inquire into any matter
(a) by the Central Government, no State Government shall, except with the approval of the Central Government, appoint another Commission to inquire into the same matter for so long as the Commission appointed by the Central Government is functioning;
(b) by a State Government, the Central Government shall not appoint another Commission to inquire into the same matter for so long as the Commission appointed by the State Government is functioning, unless the Central Government is of opinion that the scope of the inquiry should be extended to two or more States.
(2) The Commission may consist of one or more members appointed by the appropriate Government, and where the Commission consists of more than one member, one of them may be appointed as the Chairman thereof.
[(3) The appropriate Government may, at any stage of an inquiry by the Commission fill any vacancy which may have arisen in the office of a member of the Commission (whether consisting of one or more than one member.
(4) The appropriate Government shall cause to be laid before [each House of Parliament or, as the case may be, the Legislature of the State], the report, if any, of the Commission on the inquiry made by the Commission under sub-section (1) together with a memorandum of the action taken thereon, within a period of six months of the submission of the report by the Commission to the appropriate Government].