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WAREHOUSING CORPORATIONS ACT, 1962
58 of 1962
19th December, 1962
Act Objective: An Act to provide for the incorporation and regulation of corporations for the purpose of warehousing of agricultural produce and certain other commodities and for matters, connected therewith.
SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT
(1) This Act may be called the Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962.
(2) It extends to the whole of India 1
(3) It shall come into force on such date2as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
SECTION 02: DEFINITIONS
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
(a) "agricultural produce" means any of the following classes of commodities, namely:--
(i) foodstuffs, including edible oil-seeds;
(ii) cattle fodder, including oil-cakes and other concentrates;
(iii) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seed;
(iv) raw jute; and
(v) vegetable oils;
(b) "appropriate Government" means in relation to the Central Warehousing Corporation, the Central Government, and in relation to a State Warehousing Corporation, the State Government;
(c) "Central Warehousing Corporation" means the Central Warehousing Corporation established undersection 3-;
(d) "co-operative society" means a society registered or deemed to be registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 (2 of 1912), or under any other law with respect to co-operative societies for the time being in force in any State, which is engaged in the processing, marketing, storage, export or import of agricultural produce or any notified commodity or in insurance business and includes a co-operative land mortgage bank; 3[(dd) "nationalised bank" means a corresponding new bank specified in theFirst Schedule to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (5 of 1970);4[or a corresponding new bank specified in the First Schedule to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 (40 of 1980).]
(e) "notified commodity" means any commodity (other than agricultural produce) which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a notified commodity for the purposes of this Act, being a commodity with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws by virtue of entry 33 in List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution;
(f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules under this Act;
(g) "recognised association" means an association which is for the time being recognised by the Central Government under section 6 of the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952 (74 of 1952);
(h) "Reserve Bank" means the Reserve Bank of India constituted under theReserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934);
(i) "scheduled bank" means a bank for the time being included in theSecond Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934)3[, and includes a nationalised bank];
(j) "State Bank" means the State Bank of India constituted under theState Bank of India Act, 1955 (23 of 1955);
(k) "State Warehousing Corporation" means a Warehousing Corporation for a State established or deemed to be established under this Act;
(l) "Warehousing Corporation" means a Warehousing Corporation established or deemed to be established under this Act; and
(m) "year" means the financial year.
SECTION 02A: CONSTRUCTION OF REFERENCES TO ANY LAW NOT IN FORCE OR ANY FUNCTIONARY NOT IN EXISTENCE IN ANY STATE
Any reference in this Act to any law which is not in force, or any functionary not in existence, in any State, shall, in relation to that State, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law in force, or the corresponding functionary in existence, in that State.]
SECTION 03: THE CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION
(1) With effect from such date6as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf, the Central Government shall establish a Corporation by the name of the Central Warehousing Corporation which shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property and to contract, and may, by the said name, sue and be sued.
(2) The head-office of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall be at New Delhi7[or at such other place as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify].
SECTION 04: SHARE CAPITAL AND SHAREHOLDERS
(1) The authorised share capital of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall be twenty crores of rupees divided into two hundred thousand shares of the face value of one thousand rupees each; any shares remaining to be issued may be issued, with the sanction of the Central Government from time to time, as and when the Central Warehousing Corporation may deem fit:8[Provided that the Central Government may, from time to time, by order notified in the Official Gazette, increase the authorised share capital of the Central Warehousing Corporation to such extent and in such manner as that Government may determine.]
(2)9[The Central Government shall, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law for the purpose,] subscribe for forty per cent. of the share capital issued at any time and the remaining sixty per cent. of the share capital may be subscribed for withinsuch period and in such proportion as may be specified by the Central Government, by the following institutions, namely:--
(a) the State Bank;
(b) other scheduled banks;
(c) co-operative societies;
(d) insurance companies, investment trusts and other financial institutions;
(e) recognised associations and companies dealing in agricultural produce or any notified commodity.
(3) If any portion of the sixty per cent. of the share capital referred to in sub-section (2) remains unallotted, it may be subscribed for by the Central Government and the State Bank in such proportion as may be agreed upon between them and in default of such agreement, as may be determined by the Central Government.
(4) The shares of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall not be transferable except to the Central Government,10 [the State Bank or any other scheduled bank], any insurance company, any investment trust or other financial institution or any co-operative society or any recognised association or company dealing in agricultural produce or any notified commodity, in accordance with the regulations made by the Central Warehousing Corporation under this Act.
SECTION 05: SHARES TO BE GUARANTEED BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND TO BE TRUSTED OR APPROVED SECURITIES
(1) The shares of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall be guaranteed by the Central Government as to the repayment of the principal and the payment of the annual dividend at such minimum rate as may be fixed by the Central Government, by notification published in the Official Gazette, at the time of the issue of the shares.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Acts mentioned in this sub-section, the shares of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall be deemed to be included among the securities enumerated in section 20 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882), and also to be approved securities for the purpose of the Insurance Act, 1938 (4 of 1938) and the Banking Companies Act, 1949 (10 of 1949).
SECTION 06: MANAGEMENT OF CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION
(1) The general superintendence and management of the affairs and business of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall vest in a board of directors who, with the assistance of an Executive Committee and a managing director, may exercise all the powers and discharge all the functions which may be exercised or discharged by the Central Warehousing Corporation under this Act.
(2) The board of directors shall act on business principles having regard to public interest and shall be guided by such instructions on questions of policy as may be given to them by the Central Government.
(3) If any doubt arises as to whether a question is or is not a question of policy, the decision of the Central Government shall be final.
SECTION 07: DIRECTORS
(1) The board of directors referred to in section 6-shall consist of the following, namely:--
(a) six directors to be nominated by the Central Government;
(b) one director to be nominated by the National Co- operative Development Corporation established under the National Cooperative Development Corporation Act, 1962 (26 of 1962);
(c) one director to be nominated by the State Bank;
(d) one director to be elected by other scheduled banks;
(e) one director to be elected by co-operative societies;
(f) one director to be elected by insurance companies, investment trusts and other financial institutions, recognised associations and companies dealing in agricultural produce or notified commodities;
(g) a managing director, appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the directors referred to in clauses (a) to
(f): Provided that the three directors to be elected under clauses (d), (e) and (f) may, for the first constitution of the board of directors, be nominated by the Central Government in such manner as to give representation to each class of institutions (whether they have become shareholders of the Corporation or not) referred to in those clauses, but a director so nominated shall hold office only until he is replaced by a director elected as provided in that clause, and the director so elected shall hold office only for so long as the director replaced would have held office had he not been replaced.
(2) The directors referred to in clauses (d), (e) and (f) of sub- section (1) shall be elected in the prescribed manner.
(3) If, within the period prescribed in this behalf, or within such further period as the Central Government may allow, the institutions referred to in clause (d) or clause (e) or clause (f) of sub-section (1) fail to elect a director, the Central Government may nominate a director to fill the vacancy.
(4) The board of directors shall have a Chairman and a Vice- Chairman who shall be appointed by the Central Government from among the directors.
(5) The managing director shall--
(a) exercise such powers and perform such duties as the board of directors or the Central Warehousing Corporation may entrust or delegate to him; and
(b) receive such salary and allowances as the Central Warehousing Corporation may, with the approval of the Central Government, fix.
(6) The directors of the Central Warehousing Corporation other than the managing director shall be entitled to receive by way of remuneration such sums as the Central Warehousing Corporation may, with the approval of the Central Government, fix: Provided that no official director shall be entitled to receive any remuneration other than the allowances, if any, admissible to him under the rules regulating his conditions of service.
(7) The term of office of, and the manner of filling casual vacancies among, the directors shall be such as may be prescribed.
SECTION 08: DISQUALIFICATION FOR OFFICE OF DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a director of the Central Warehousing Corporation--
(i) if he is found to be a lunatic or becomes of unsound mind; or
(ii) if he is, or at any time has been, adjudicated insolvent or has suspended payment of his debts or has compounded with his creditors; or
(iii) if he is or has been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment for not less than six months, unless a period of five years has elapsed from the date of expiry of the sentence; or
(iv) if he has been removed or dismissed from the service of Government or a Corporation owned and controlled by the Government; or
(v) except in the case of the managing director, if he is a salaried official of the Central Warehousing Corporation or any State Warehousing Corporation; or
(vi) if he is personally interested in any subsisting contract made with, or in any work being done for the Central Warehousing Corporation except as a shareholder (other than a director) in any public company as defined in
the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956): Provided that where any such person is a shareholder, he shall disclose to the Central Warehousing Corporation the nature and extent of shares held by him in such company.
SECTION 09: REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS FROM OFFICE
(1) The Central Government may, at any time in consultation with the Central Warehousing Corporation, remove the managing director from office after giving him a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed removal.
(2) The board of directors may remove from office any director who--
(a) is or has become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 8-; or
(b) is absent without leave of the board of directors for more than three consecutive meetings of the board without cause sufficient in the opinion of the board, to exonerate his absence.
SECTION 10: APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS, ETC., AND THEIR CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
(1) The Central Warehousing Corporation may appoint such officers and other employees as it considers necessary for the efficient performance of its functions.
(2) Every person employed by the Central Warehousing Corporation under this Act shall be subject to such conditions of service and shall be entitled to such remuneration as may be determined by regulations made by the Corporation under this Act.
SECTION 11: FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION
Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Central Warehousing Corporation may--
(a) acquire and build godowns and warehouses at such suitable places in Indiazza["or adroad"] as it thinks fit;
(b) run warehouses for the storage of agricultural produce, seeds, manures, fertilizers, agricultural implements and notified commodities offered by individuals, co- operative societies and other institutions ;
(c) arrange facilities for the transport of agricultural produce, seeds, manures, fertilizers, agricultural implements and notified commodities to and from warehouses;
(d) subscribe to the share capital of a State Warehousing Corporation;
(e) act as agent of the Government for the purposes of the purchase, sale, storage and distribution of agricultural produce, seeds, manures, fertilizers, agricultural implements and notified commodities ;zzb[**] zzc[(ea) enter into, with the previous approval of the Central Government, joint ventures with any corporation established by or under any Central Act or any State Act or with any company formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) including foreign company or through its subsidiary companies, for carrying out the purposes of this Act. Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, the expression "foreign company" shall have the meaning assigned to it under clause (23-A) of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);] zzc[(eb) establish subsidiary companies; and.]
(f) carry out such other functions as may be prescribed.
SECTION 12: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(1) There shall be an Executive Committee of the Central Warehousing Corporation which shall consist of--
(a) the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the board of directors;
(b) the managing director; and
(c) two other directors chosen by the Corporation in the prescribed manner.
(2) The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the board of directors shall be the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman respectively of the Executive Committee.
(3) Subject to the general control, direction and superintendence of the board of directors, the Executive Committee shall be competent to deal with any matter within the competence of the Central Warehousing Corporation.
SECTION 13: MEETINGS OF THE CORPORATION
(1) The annual general meeting of the Central Warehousing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the annual general meeting) shall be held every year either at its head- office or at any other office of the Corporation within six months of the close of the financial year, and any other general meeting may be convened by the board of directors at any other time.
(2) The shareholders present at the annual general meeting shall be entitled to discuss the annual accounts, the report of the board of directors on the working of the Corporation during the year under report, as well as the auditors, report on the annual balance-sheet and accounts.
(3) The board of directors of the Central Warehousing Corporation shall, on the requisition of one-third of the number of shareholders of the Corporation, call a special meeting of the Corporation.
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