The Essential Commodities Act, 1955
Bare Act
(1) If the Central Government is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do for maintaining or increasing supplies of any essential commodity or for securing their equitable distribution and availability at fair prices, or for securing any essential commodity for the defence of India or the efficient conduct of military operations, it may, by order, provide for regulating or prohibiting the production, supply and distribution thereof and trade and commerce therein.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by sub-section (1), an order made thereunder may provide -
- (a) for regulating by licences, permits or otherwise the production or manufacture of any essential commodity;
- (b) for bringing under cultivation any waste or arable land, whether appurtenant to a building or not, for the growing thereon of food-crops generally or of specified food-crops, and for otherwise maintaining or increasing the cultivation of food-crops generally, or of specified food-crops.
- (c) for controlling the price at which any essential commodity may be bought or sold;
- (d) for regulating by licences, permits or otherwise the storage, transport, distribution, disposal, acquisition, use or consumption of, any essential commodity;
- (e) for prohibiting the withholding from sale of any essential commodity ordinarily kept for sale;
- (f) for requiring any person holding in stock, or engaged in the production, or in the business of buying or selling, of any essential commodity, -
- (a) to sell the whole or a specified part of the quantity held in stock or produced or received by him, or
- (b) in the case of any such commodity which is likely to be produced or received by him, to sell the whole or a specified part of such commodity when produced or received by him, to the Central Government or a State Government or to an officer or agent of such Government or to a Corporation owned or controlled by such Government or to such other person or class of persons and in such circumstances as may be specified in the order.
- Explanation 1- An order made under this clause in relation to foodgrains, edible oilseeds or edible oils, may, having regard to the estimated production, in the concerned area, of such foodgrains, edible oilseeds and edible oils, fix the quantity to be sold by the producers in such area and may also fix, or provide for the fixation of, such quantity on a graded basis, having regard to the aggregate of the area held by, or under the cultivation of, the producers.
- Explanation 2- For the purpose of this clause, production with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions includes manufacture of edible oils and sugar;
- (g) for regulating or prohibiting any class of commercial or financial transactions relating to foodstuffs which, in the opinion of the authority making the order, are, or, if unregulated, are likely to be, detrimental to the public interest;
- (h) for collecting any information or statistics with a view to regulating or prohi… Read the complete text with KanoonGPT Pro.
