Section 13 in Bihar Sugarcane (Regulation of Supply and Purchase) Act, 1981
13. Appointment of Cane Officer.
(1)The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be Cane Officers for the purposes of this Act within such local limits as may be assigned to them.(2)The Cane Commissioner, every person appointed under sub-section (2) of section 12 to assist the Cane Commissioner, every District Magistrate and every Sub divisional Magistrate shall be an ex-officio Cane Officer within his jurisdiction.(3)The State Government may also, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint such officers as it thinks fit to be Additional Cane Officers for all or any of the purposes of this Act within such local limits as it may assign to them respectively.(4)In any area where there are more Cane Offices than one, the State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare the functions which each Cane Officer shall perform.(5)A Cane Officer may, within the local limits of his jurisdiction,-(a)either any place which is or which he has reason to believe to be used as a factory or a unit or a godown or any place, where cane is weighed or payment is made therefore, and make such examination as he may think necessary of the weighbridge or scales or any other machine used for weighment and of any records, registers, accounts maintained in connection with the purchase of cane;(b)Cause cane-crafts or wagons including trucks and any other means of transport, or consignments of cane to be weighed or re-weighed in his presence:Provided that cane already loaded shall not ordinarily be required to be unloaded for the purposes of reweighment except under special circumstances to be intimated in writing to the manager of the factory and the Cane Commissioner;(c)record the statement of any person whom he may deem necessary to examine for the proper discharge of his duties;(d)call from the occupier or manager of a factory or owner of a unit any information relating to the production, supply or crushing of cane, the manufacture of sugar and the quantity or the quality of sugar, rab or molasses produced, issued or in stock any payment of the prices of cane;(e)call for from a sugarcane-grower any information relating to the production, cultivation and supply of sugarcane or cane and payment of the price thereof and any other relevant matter;(e-1) call for any book, account or other account relating to cash/ credit accounts;(f)shall perform such other functions as may be prescribed or directed by the State Government.(6)Where the Cane Officer has reasons to believe that the provisions of this Act. And the rules or the terms or conditions of any licences granted thereunder has been, are being or are about to be contravened, he may-(a)direct the owner of the unit to produce any book, accounts or other documents relating to such contraventions.(b)inspect or break open and search in the presence of two witnesses any part of the unit or its premises or any place used for the purpose of the unit;(c)take or cause to be taken extracts from or copies of documents showing transactions relating to such contraventions;(d)search, seize and remove in the presence of two witnesses any vital part of any machinery of the unit including any power-crusher, so as to make it inoperative;(e)for reasons to be recorded in writing seize accounts, registers or documents of the factory or unit relating to purchase of cane or cane juice or payment of price of cane by or on behalf of the occupier of the factory or the owner of the unit, as the case may be and shall grant a receipt for the same and such seized accounts, registers or documents shall be retained for so long as may be reasonably necessary for examination thereof or for a prosecution under section 52 or any proceeding under section 57 and shall thereafter be returned in the prescribed manner:Provided that if the seized accounts, registers, or documents are retained by the Cane Officer for more than ninety days, the reasons for doing so shall be recorded in writing and the approval of the Cane Commissioner shall be obtained.Explanation. - For the purpose of clause (d) the expression power-crusher means a crusher working with the aid of diesel, electric or stream power engaged or ordinarily engaged in crushing cane and extracting juice thereform for manufacture of rab or khandsari sugar.(7)A Cane Officer may call for information relating to-(i)production, purchase, supply or survey of cane, the price of cane, the amount deducted from the price of cane and its deposit under section 44; or(ii)the production or supply of cane juice and its price from the occupier of factory, owner of a unit situated outside his jurisdiction if such occupier or owner purchases cane or juice of cane grown within his jurisdiction.(8)The Cane Officer may issue such instruction for equitable purchase of cane as he deems necessary and such instructions shall be complied with immediately: Provided that the prescribed authority may, either suo motu or on an application being made to it by any party concerned, suspend the operation of the instruction and after giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties concerned, revise the instruction and the order in revision shall be final.(9)The occupier of a factory, the owner of a unit, persons acting on their behalf, every suarcane-grower or cane-grower or other person or a co-operative society shall comply with any order, direction or instruction issued under this section.(10)(i)- The occupier, manager and the weigh-ment clerk of a factory, a person responsible for weigh-ment of sugarcane in a unit shall be responsible for the correctness of weighbridge and weigh-ment of sugarcane thereof. If a cane officer, during his inspection of the weigh-bridge and the weigh-ment of sugarcane, finds any wrong weighment or under weigh-ment he shall be able to impose a fine up to rupees ten thousand only.(ii)If a requisition slip issued by an occupier/ manager of a factory is found to be in a false name and based on wrong measurement of sugarcane, the cane officer shall impose a fine as per clause (i) of this sub-section.(iii)A person aggrieved by the orders passed under clause (i) & (ii) of this sub-section, shall appeal before the Assistant Cane Commissioner within a week and against the order of the Assistant Cane Commissioner he shall appeal before the Cane Commissioner within one month.Provided that the aggrieved person shall be able to appeal only after he has deposited the amount of fine so imposed in the district treasury concerned.
