(1)Save as otherwise provided in this Chapter, every person who owns, or is in possession, custody or control of, any article or ornament at the commencement of this Act, or acquires the ownership, possession, custody or control of any article or ornament thereafter, shall make, within thirty days from such commencement or from such acquisition, as the case may be, or within such further period as the Administrator may, on sufficient cause being shown, allow, a declaration in the prescribed form as the quantity, description and other prescribed particulars of any article, or ornament, or both, owned, possessed, held or controlled by him:Provided that no such declaration shall be required to be made where a person who, having owned, possessed, held or controlled any article or ornament before the commencement of this Act, has already made a declaration in relation to that article, or ornament, or both:Provided further that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as enabling any declaration to be made in respect of any gold for which the period prescribed or allowed under the law for the time being in force before the commencement of this Act had expired before such commencement.(2)For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the declaration referred to in this section shall be made, in relation to any article, or ornament, or both,-(a)owned by a minor or a lunatic, by the guardian or manager of such minor or lunatic as the case may be;(b)owned by an idol or a deity, by the manager of such idol or deity, whether known as shebait or manager or by any other name;(c)owned, possessed, held or controlled by a person whose properties are under the management of any administrator or receiver, by such administrator or receiver;(d)owned, possessed, held or controlled by a person whose properties are under the management or a Court of Wards, by the manger of such Court;(e)vested in an executor or an administrator of a will or other testamentary disposition, by such executor or administrator;(f)owned, possessed, held or controlled by the members of a firm, by any partner of such firm;(g)owned, possessed, held or controlled by a Hindu Undivided Family, by the head or karta or such family;(h)which is the subject matter of any public or private trust, by the trustee of such trust;(i)owned, possessed, held or controlled by a company, whether incorporated in or outside India, by any person in charge of the management of the affairs of such company;(j)belonging to a temple, church, mosque, gurdwara or any other religious institution, by the person in charge of the management of such temple, church, mosque, gurdwara or other religious institution;(k)which is wakf property, by the mutawalli of such wakf;(l)owned, possessed, held or controlled by any society, club or other association, by the secretary or manager of such society, club or other association;(m)owned, possessed, held or controlled by any other person, by such person as may be prescribed.(3)If any person who did not own, possess, hold or control, before the commencement of this Act, any quantity of gold in excess of the quantities specified in sub-section (5), acquires after such commencement, the ownership (whether by succession, intestate or testamentary, or otherwise), possession, custody or control of any gold and if, as a result of such acquisition, the total quantity of gold owned, possessed, held or controlled by such person exceeds the quantities specified in sub-section (5), such person shall, within thirty days from days from the date of such acquisition or within such further period as the Administrator may, on sufficient cause being shown, allow, make a declaration in the prescribed form stating the total quantity, description and other prescribed particulars of-(a)the gold owned, possessed, held or controlled by him immediately after such acquisition, and(b)the persons from whom the ownership, possession, custody or control of such gold was acquired.(4)If any person who has made a declaration, whether under sub-section (1) or under sub-section (3) or under Part XII-A of the Defence of India Rules, 1962, or under the Gold (Control) Ordinance, 1968 (6 of 1968), as to gold owned, possessed, held or controlled by him, acquires (whether by succession, intestate or testamentary, or otherwise) or parts with, after such declaration, the ownership, possession, custody or control of any quantity of gold, he shall, as often as he acquires or parts with the ownership, possession, custody or control of any quantity of gold, make, within thirty days from the date of such acquisition or parting with, or within such further period as the Administrator may, on sufficient cause being shown, allow, a further declaration in the prescribed form stating the quantity, description and other prescribed particulars of the gold in relation to which such ownership, possession, custody or control has been acquired or parted with by him and giving the prescribed particulars of the person from whom the ownership, possession, custody or control of such gold was acquired or in whose favour the ownership, possession, custody or control of such gold was parted with, as the case may be.(5)No declaration referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) shall be required to be made,-(a)in relation to articles, unless the total unless the total weight of articles owned, possessed, held or controlled by,-(i)a minor, who is not a member of a family, exceeds twenty grammes,(ii)an individual (other than a minor), who is not a member of a family, exceeds fifty grammes,(iii)a family, exceeds fifty grammes,(iv)any person referred to in clauses (b) to (f) and (h) to (m) of sub-section (2), exceeds fifty grammes;(b)in relation to any ornaments, or both articles and ornaments, where both articles and ornaments are owned, possessed, held or controlled, unless the total weight of such ornaments or both articles and ornaments, as the case may be, owned, possessed, held or controlled by,-(i)an individual who is not a member of a family, exceeds two thousand grammes,(ii)a family, exceeds four thousand grammes;(c)in relation to any ornaments, or both articles and ornaments, owned, possessed, held or controlled by any person referred to in clauses (b) to (f) and (h) to (m) of sub-section (2), unless the total weight of such ornaments, or both articles and ornaments, exceeds two thousand grammes.(6)For the purposes of this section, "family" shall be deemed to consist of-(i)the husband, wife and one or more minor children, or(ii)any two or more of them, but shall not be deemed to include any other person.(7)Every licensed dealer or refiner shall make a declaration or further declaration, as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of this section in relation to any gold owned, possessed, held or controlled by him in any capacity other than the capacity of a licensed dealer or refine and the provisions of sub-section (5) shall not apply to such gold.Explanation. - Where the licensed dealer or refiner is a company or other body corporate or a firm, the declaration referred to in this sub-section shall also be made by every director of such company or body corporate or, as the case may be, every partner of such firm, in respect of the gold owned, possessed, held or controlled by him in any capacity.(8)Every declaration made under this section shall be made in triplicate, of which one copy shall be authenticated and signed by the Gold Control Officer and thereafter shall be returned to the person making the declaration and the copy so returned shall be retained by such person as evidence of the declaration made by him under this section.(9)Every declaration made under this section shall be kept by the Gold Control Officer in safe custody and the particulars thereof shall be entered in a register to be maintained for this purpose.(10)A person who has made a declaration shall, as often as he acquires or parts with, after such declaration the ownership, possession, custody or control of any quantity of gold, endorse within thirty days from the date of such acquisition, or parting with, of gold, in such manner as may be prescribed, on the copy of the declaration retained by him, and shall also produce such copy within seven days from the date of such endorsement, before the Gold Control Officer, who shall make necessary changes in the register referred to in sub-section (9) and also in the copy of the declaration kept in his safe custody.(11)No person shall own or have in his possession, custody or control any quantity of gold which is required to be included in a declaration unless such gold has been included in a declaration or further declaration, as the case may be:Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply until the expiry of the period within which a person is entitled to make a declaration or further declaration.(12)A person upon whom a penalty has been imposed or whose gold has been confiscated under the provisions of Chapter XIII for failure to make a declaration shall, if so directed by the authority adjudging the penalty or confiscation, make a declaration within such time as may be specified in the direction.(13)Where the period prescribed or allowed under the law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, for any declaration to be made in respect of any gold, had not expired before such commencement, the declaration may be made within the period prescribed or allowed under such law.
