Section 10 in Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950
10. Power and duties of the Custodian generally.-
(1)Subject to the provisions of any rules that may be made in this behalf, the Custodian may take such measures as he considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of securing, administering, preserving and managing any evacuee property and generally for the purpose of enabling him satisfactorily to discharge any of the duties imposed on him by or under this Act and may, for such purpose as aforesaid, do all acts and incur all expenses necessary or incidental thereto.(2)Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-sections (1), the Custodian may, for any of the purposes aforesaid, --(a)carry on the business of the evacuee ;(b)appoint a manager for the property of the evacuee or for carrying on any business or undertaking of the evacuee and authorise the manager to exercise any of the powers of the Custodian under this section ;(c)enter, or authorise any other person to enter, any land or premises to inspect any evacuee property ;(d)take all such measures as may be necessary to keep any evacuee property in good repair ;(e)complete any building which has vested in him and which requires to be completed ;(f)require any person, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force relating to the disclosure of any information by a public servant or any other person, to furnish such returns, accounts or other information in relation to any property and to produce such documents in his possession as the Custodian considers necessary for the discharge of his duties under this Act ;(g)require any banking company to furnish such information as the Custodian may require with respect to remittances made after the 14th day of August, 1947, to any such area outside India as may be specified by the Custodian, either generally, or with reference to any person or class of persons ;(h)search any building or place in which the Custodian has reason to believe that any evacuee property or any document tending to show that any person is an evacuee or that any property is evacuee property is being kept or concealed and take possession thereof ;(i)take such action as may be necessary for the recovery of any debt due to the evacuee ;(j)institute, defend or continue any legal proceeding in any civil or revenue court on behalf of the evacuee or refer any dispute between the evacuee and any other person to arbitration or compromise any claims, debts or liabilities on behalf of the evacuee ;(k)raise on the security of the evacuee property such loans as may be necessary ;(l)in any case where the evacuee property which has vested in the Custodian consists of a share or shares in a company, exercise, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (VII of 1913) or in the articles of association of the company, the same rights in the matter of making a requisition for the convening of a meeting or of presenting a petition to the court under the provisions of the Indian Companies Act, 1913, or the articles of association of the company or in any other matter as the evacuee shareholder himself could have done had he been present, although the name of the Custodian does not appear in the register of members of the company ;(m)incur any expenditure, including the payment of taxes, duties, cesses and rates to Government or to any local authority or of any amounts due to any employee of the evacuee or of any debt due by the evacuee to any person ;(n)pay to the evacuee, or to any member of his family or to any other person as in the opinion of the Custodian is entitled thereto, any sums of money out of the funds in his possession ;(o)transfer in any manner whatsoever any evacuee property, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law or agreement relating thereto :Provided that the Custodian shall not sell any immovable property or any business or other undertaking of the evacuee, except with the previous approval of the Custodian-General ;(p)invest any money held by him in any of the securities approved by the Central Government or in the prescribed manner.(q)delegate, by general or special order, all or any of his functions under this Act to such officers or persons as he thinks fit :Provided that the Custodian shall not delegate any of his functions under clause (g) or clause (h) to any officer or person below the rank of an Assistant Custodian.
